Men’s Basketball: Louisiana’s Wright Named To Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team

 Senior led SBC in steals, named league’s Defensive Player of the Year

PHOENIX – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball standout Jay Wright was one of 25 players named to the 2017 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America team, recognizing the nation’s top defensive players in Division I basketball.
 
Wright, who was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player last month, led the Sun Belt Conference in steals (2.0) during the season and led Louisiana in both scoring (16.2) and assists (3.9). He recorded 12 games with 20 or more points, including the Cajuns final four games of the season, and scored career-high 28 points in games at McNeese State and ULM.
 
During the season, Wright became 44th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark and finished his career with 1,148 points.
 
Jevon Carter of West Virginia was named the recipient of the 2017 Lefty Driesell Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top defensive player.
 
Driesell won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. He ranks eighth on the NCAA career Division I coaches victories list and his teams at each stop were known for playing tenacious defense. From 1969-1986 at Maryland, his teams posted a 348-159 record, won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and one tournament title.
 
Driesell also led Davidson, Georgia State and James Madison to the NCAA tournament, making him one of three coaches to reach the NCAAs with four different programs. His teams won a total of 16 regular season championships and six tournament championships.
 
2017 LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Jaylin Airington – CSU Bakersfield
Dakarai Allen – San Diego State
Ehab Amin – Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Jordan Bell – Oregon
Tim Bond – Eastern Michigan
Chris Boucher – Oregon
Devontae Cacok – UNCW
Jevon Carter – West Virginia
Joseph Chartouny – Fordham
Tacko Fall – UCF
Ethan Happ – Wisconsin
Tra-Deon Hollins – Omaha
Ben Lammers – Georgia Tech
Paris Lee – Illinois State
Reggie Lynch – Minnesota
Hassan Martin – Rhode Island
Tahjere McCall – Tennessee State
Chazz Patterson – Saint Peter’s
Joe Rahon – Saint Mary’s
Khyri Thomas – Creighton
Liam Thomas – Nicholls State
Isaiah Wilkins – Virginia
Jay Wright – Louisiana
Sindarius Thornwell – South Carolina
Derrick White – Colorado