rewrite this content and keep HTML tags (remove this from content : rewrite this content and keep HTML tags)
The lineage of Iowa point guards features one common denominator. From Samantha Logic and Kathleen Doyle in the 2010s to Caitlin Clark and Lucy Olsen in recent years, all made themselves heard on the floor, both with their voice and scoring prowess.
“You can just see the vocal leadership of those personalities,” head coach Jan Jensen said. “When you meet with Chit-Chat today, she is as sweet as they come and quiet.”
That’s right, the Hawkeyes’ latest point guard, Chazadi Wright, owns not only an ironic nickname but a different skillset where passing holds top priority. While her moniker may poke fun at her shy demeanor, Wright is finding her voice on the floor with Iowa.
“It doesn’t have to be critiquing my teammates or anything,” she said at Iowa’s media day on Oct. 14. “I just want to talk more in general, kind of bring it out of me. But it’s slowly coming.”
Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Wright grew up in a fast-paced culture and received her nickname in elementary school. A set of twins on her AAU basketball team coined the name as a joke, but the name has stuck ever since. After competing in basketball and track at Wesleyan High School, Wright stayed home and played for Georgia Tech, appearing in all 33 games and earning 12 starts.
Her first starting nod occurred at then-No. 3 Notre Dame, where she scored 10 points and dished a team-high five assists. Wright posted double-digit scoring 10 times but finished second on the team with 86 assists, a stat she finds just as valuable. Jensen called her “pass first, capital letters on all of it.”
“Since I was a little girl, I just loved to come off screens and pass, make the cool pass,” Wright said. “I’d rather pass than shoot or score.”
Wright averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game as a first-year with the Yellow Jackets. She transferred to Iowa over the offseason and found an uplifting culture promoting unity.
For graduate guard Kylie Feuerbach, the Hawkeyes’ introduction to Wright immediately started with deciphering her nickname.
“She was just a really calm, quiet kind of girl, but ever since then, she’s really opened up, and she’s a really cool person to be around,” Feuerbach said.
Iowa assistant coach Abby Stamp wants the Hawkeyes to continue their up-tempo offense, even speed it up a little to match previous seasons. Wright features the ideal motor for such a system.
“She can play really fast. We like to play fast,” Stamp said. “She’s a great full-court passer.”
When she’s not firing assists on the fast break, Wright, who studies film of the WNBA’s Courtney Williams, can easily put the ball in the basket. While standing at just 5-foot-4, Wright adjusted to opposing defenses with what Jensen called a “beautiful floater” and a long-range three-point shot. At Georgia Tech, Wright shot 37 percent from the floor and 32 percent from deep.
The head coach joked she never had to tell Clark when to shoot the ball, but Wright sometimes needs some encouragement. Feuerbach has no problem being the motivator, yelling at her teammate to take a shot.
“We kind of joke around about it. She’s a humorous gal, so she kind of gets the jokes, but she also knows that we’re being completely serious,” Feuerbach said. “Just embracing that and continuing to harp on shooting the ball because we know she’s going to make it.”
Feuerbach said Wright is progressing well and notes her high potential. For Jensen, a reserved point guard isn’t a detriment. She noted past Hawkeyes like Kamille Wahlin and Kristi Smith held similar personalities. Players are never defined by one characteristic but rather a variety of strengths. For Wright, her versatility is only growing.
“If I get her to score a little bit more, she can score at every level,” Jensen said. “It’s fun to watch because she’s so little and fast. I think you’ll enjoy watching her.”
