Billy Wright, a former Ball State basketball assistant and former head coach at Western Illinois, has been hired as assistant coach at BSU. Wright, a native of nearby Richmond, Indiana, was on James Whitford‘s staff at Ball State during the 2013-14 season.
“I am really excited to bring Billy back to Ball State. I have known Billy since his days as a high school coach at Pike, and have had the pleasure of working alongside him for the 13-14 season,” Whitford said. “Billy is an outstanding basketball coach, and a man of character and integrity. He has a track record of developing great guards, such as Marquis and Jeff Teague at Pike, and Kobe Webster. He also spent time working as an assistant for Jim Molinari, one of the most respected defensive minds in our game.
“Billy had a big impact in our program during the one year he spent with us, and confident he will make an even bigger impact this time around. It is with great pleasure that we welcome Billy, Monica and his son Trey back to the program.”
Wright coached Western Illinois for six seasons, winning 53 games. He led WIU to the league tournament semifinal in 2019, highlighted by a win over conference No. 1 seed South Dakota State. In 2015, Wright had WIU receiving national votes for the first time ever after a win at 17th-ranked Wisconsin. His team set the school record for 3-pointers in 2016 with 254 and twice he had WIU off to a 7-2 season start, the best the program has had as a member of NCAA Division I. He was also an assistant head coach at Western Illinois from 2008-10 and was elevated to associate head coach from 2010-13.
Before getting into college coaching in 2008, Wright coached 12 seasons at the high school level. He was head coach at Pike in Indianapolis for two seasons.
In his career, Wright has coached seven players who played professionally, including four NBA Draft picks. First-round draft picks Marquis and Jeff Teague and Courtney Lee as well as second-rounder Robert Vaden all came up through Pike High School in Indianapolis when Wright was the head coach there.
As a player, Wright enjoyed a hall of fame career at Bradley, where he led the team to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996 and a pair of NIT trips. He was a three-time MVC All-Defensive Team pick and a 1993 MVC All-Freshman Team honoree. He was voted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, and was also an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Silver Anniversary Team member that same year.
Wright rejoins Ball State Men’s Basketball Staff
