11th season at Texas Todd Wright begins his 11th season as the strength and conditioning coach for the men's basketball program at The University of Texas. The 38-year-old Wright, who enters his 15th year of association with Rick Barnes, is widely recognized as one of the elite coaches nationally in his field. During his 10 years in Austin, the Longhorns have made a school-record 10 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament while posting a 247-93 (.726) record. The 247 wins mark the most number of victories in a 10-year period in school history. UT also set a school record by recording its ninth straight 20-win season in 2007-08. Texas is one of just eight programs to have advanced to each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, joining Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Wisconsin. In the last seven seasons, Wright has helped move the Texas program into one of the nation's elite. UT is one of only three programs to have advanced to at least the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament in five of the last seven seasons, joining Duke and Kansas. Included in this seven-year stretch was a trip to the 2003 Final Four, marking the third time in school history and first since 1947 (a span of 56 years) that UT had advanced to the Final Four. Texas advanced to the "Elite Eight" in 2006 and 2008 and the "Sweet 16" in 2002 and 2004. Wright also has played a huge role in producing individual success. Texas is the only school in the country that can claim two National Player of the Year winners in the last six years, T.J. Ford (2003) and Kevin Durant (2007). UT has had four consensus first-team All-Americans during Wright's time in Austin (Chris Mihm in 2000, T.J. Ford in 2003, Kevin Durant in 2007 and D.J. Augustin in 2008), and Augustin claimed the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard in 2008. Texas also has produced 10 NBA Draft picks in the last 10 seasons, including five lottery picks in Chris Mihm, T.J. Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. Both Aldridge (2006) and Durant (2007) were selected as the No. 2 overall picks in their respective drafts. In fact, UT became the first school to have a Top Two pick in consecutive NBA Drafts since DePaul in 1981-82. Texas has produced four Top 10 picks in the last six years, the top total in the nation during this stretch. Connecticut, Florida and North Carolina have each had three Top 10 selections in this span. Wright came to Texas after spending five years at Clemson, including the last four under Barnes' direction. He spent his first three years as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach, before becoming a full-time staff member prior to the 1996-97 season. During his time at Clemson, his strength, agility and conditioning programs helped Clemson earn a reputation as one of the best-conditioned teams in the country. A native of Peabody, Mass., Wright earned his bachelor's of science degree in health and fitness from Springfield College in 1993. He also worked as a strength and conditioning coach at Boston College in the spring of 1993 prior to his graduation. Wright is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and also is a certified strength and conditioning specialist. In the fall of 1997, he wrote a strength and conditioning chapter for basketball in the book, "Basketball for Dummies." He has served as a facilitator for Gray Institute for Functional Transformation. Wright also is a well-respected speaker in the field of strength and conditioning. During the summer of 2006, he spoke on the subject of "Vertical Core Training," where he discussed training the core in the upright position at the Perform Better Training summits in Long Beach, Calif., Chicago and Providence. In the summer of 2007, Wright spoke on the subject of "Juhoplepsking," where he discussed using ground reaction to enhance functional performance by jumping, hopping, leaping and skipping at the Perform Better Training summits in Long Beach, Chicago and Providence. Wright and his wife, Kate, reside with their two daughters, Hannah Katherine (born June 10, 1999) and Abigail Margaret (Jan. 18, 2001) and son, Charles Austin (born May 25, 2004), in Austin. |
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