University of North Carolina Athletics
Wright Goes Eighth Overall To Charlotte, Traded To Golden State
June 28, 2007 | Men's Basketball
June 28, 2007
Former University of North Carolina men's basketball player Brandan Wright became the 36th first-round NBA Draft pick in Tar Heel history on Thursday night when the Charlotte Bobcats selected the freshman forward with the eighth overall selection of the first round. The Bobcats then traded Wright to the Golden State Warriors for veteran guard Jason Richardson.
Carolina's 36 first-round draft picks are more than any other school in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Duke is second with 27.
Carolina senior Reyshawn Terry went with the 14th pick in the second round (44th overall) to the Orlando Magic. Terry then was traded to Dallas, where he will join former Carolina All-America Jerry Stackhouse with the Mavericks.
Wright joins fellow former Tar Heels Raymond Felton and Sean May, both of whom were lottery picks in the 2005 NBA Draft, with the Bobcats. Former UNC star Michael Jordan, the Managing Member of Basketball Operations and part-owner of the Bobcats, helped make the selection, as did fellow former Carolina player and Bobcats Director of Player Personnel Buzz Peterson.
Wright is the fifth Carolina lottery pick in the NBA Draft in the last three years, joining Marvin Williams, Felton, May and Rashad McCants, all of whom went in the first 14 picks of the 2005 Draft.
"I'm going to be ready," Wright told ESPN shortly after his selection. "This league is about competing and I'm going to go out and do the best I can. I'm definitely going to be ready by next season, trust me."
Wright won the 2007 ACC Rookie of the Year award and was named second-team All-ACC after starting all 37 UNC games and averaging 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in 2006-07. He shot 64.6 percent from the floor to lead the ACC and was named the ACC Tournament MVP after leading the Tar Heels to their first conference tournament title since 1998.
Terry was a two-year starter at small forward for the Tar Heels, earning third-team All-ACC honors as a junior. In 2006-07, Terry averaged 9.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game and developed into a defensive leader for the Tar Heels.
