Moses Wright was recently named the 2021 ACC Player of the Year for his standout senior season with Georgia Tech, which saw the men's basketball team claim their first ACC tournament title since 1993. But before leading the Yellow Jackets to glory, Wright's sports career began on the tennis court.
Introduced to the game by his parents and older brother, the Raleigh, North Carolina, native first picked up a racquet around age 4 and played the sport competitively through his teenage years. Wright credited Arthur Ashe with inspiring him and his family to play the sport.
"Him being a great African-American tennis player in a sport that's not really tailored to African-Americans, him being so great of an athlete and just dominating the way he did," Wright said, "it gave my family, me and my brother, inspiration that we could play tennis, too."
Wright was also a swimmer in his younger days, but he picked up basketball in high school and, aided by a timely growth spurt, made the decision to switch his focus to the hardwood. At 6-foot-9, Wright stands just one inch shorter than John Isner, and two inches below Reilly Opelka.
Despite starring on the Georgia Tech basketball team, he still manages to get onto the tennis court, sometimes hitting with school's women's tennis team, of which his girlfriend is a member. Though he may not play as much as he did in his junior days, Wright looks forward to sticking with tennis as a sport for a lifetime.
Wright dunks against Florida A&M. Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics.
Wright at a tennis tournament in his junior days. Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech Athletics.
"It's definitely a sport that you can keep forever," he said. "You can go out and be any age and play. It's really something that keeps you in shape. And it can be fun to play even if you don't really know how to play it well yet."
After finishing his senior year, Wright won't be able to stay at Georgia Tech forever—though he does have the option to return for a fifth year of eligibility, due to COVID-19 exceptions. As of this writing, he has not made a decision on a potential return.
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2020-21 season with a 17-9 record (11-6 in the ACC) and earned a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Wright led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.4 points and eight boards per game.
Check out the video below to learn the Top 3 transferable skills that Wright takes into basketball from his tennis days.
Sign up for our Newsletter
Sign up for our Newsletter