Chris Wright enters his third season as the Head Men’s Basketball at Langston University. The 2023-2024 season saw the Lions post a 35-2 record capped off by a trip to the NAIA National Championship Game. Langston spent much of the season ranked No.2 in the national polls. For the second consecutive season, the Lions ran away with the Sooner Athletic Conference title by going 23-1 and winning the SAC Conference Tournament. Wright was once again named the John Hudson SAC Coach of the Year.
After inheriting a program that went 1-27, Wright engineered the single biggest turnaround in the history of college basketball. The Lions finished the season at 31-3 overall and climbed to No. 3 in the national polls. The program became the first ever HBCU to win the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season crown along with capturing the SAC Conference Tournament Championship. The Lions advanced to the NAIA Sweet 16 in Kansas City before falling to Georgetown College.
The program boasted a 3.14 team GPA in the Fall semester and was named a recipient of the NABC’s Academic Excellence Award. For his efforts in 2022-2023 Wright was named the John Hudson SAC Coach of the Year, NAIA National Coach of the Year by Hoopdirt.com, as well as the Jack Bennett Man of the Year which exemplifies winning with integrity. In his two seasons at Langston the program has seen 16 out of 16 seniors graduate.
In his eleven years as a head coach Wright has compiled 242 wins and has proven that he can win at challenging places. It should also be noted that has recruited, coached, and developed 53 players that have played professionally overseas.
Before arriving at Langston, Wright spent four years at Talladega College as the Head Coach, building the Tornadoes into a perennial national power. Wright’s teams compiled a 106-25 record and reached the NAIA National Tournament in all four seasons. The 2021-2022 season saw Talladega College ranked as high as number two in the country and become the first HBCU to play for an NAIA National Championship in over 35 years. Dega finished the season 32-6 and fell in the national title game to conference foe Loyola University New Orleans.
In 2020-2021 he led Talladega to a 25-4 record along with capturing the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championship. The Tornadoes finished the season ranked ninth in the country before falling to Loyola in the Second Round of the NAIA National Tournament. Wright was recognized as the GCAC Coach of the Year. In 2019-2020 the Tornadoes put together another successful campaign as they finished the season 25-7 and soared to a number six national ranking. Talladega once again qualified for the NAIA National Tournament before the season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite being hired at the end of July 2018, Wright was able to put together a team that compiled a 24-8 record in his first season. The Tornadoes qualified for the NAIA National Tournament and finished the year ranked in the NAIA Top 20.
During the 2017-2018 season he served as the Head Coach at Central Baptist College. In his one season in Conway, he led the Mustangs to their first-ever NAIA National Tournament appearance. The team also earned their first national ranking in the history of the program after winning 14 consecutive games. Wright’s team finished 21-9 and earned a second-place finish in the American Midwest Conference. While at Central Baptist, he was able to capture his 100th career win as a head coach.
In 2016-2017 he was an assistant coach at NCAA Division II powerhouse Angelo State University. The Rams were ranked as high as fifth in the country, and advanced to the Lone Star Conference Championship. Wright was instrumental in signing the number one ranked junior college point guard in the country and helped the program achieve the highest team GPA in program history.
Wright spent the 2015-2016 season as the Head Coach at Graceland University. He was able to change the culture of the program and produce an 11-game improvement. He guided the Yellowjackets to only their second winning season in the past 21 years. The team advanced to the Heart of America Conference semifinals and won six games against Top 25 opponents, along with defeating Mid-American Nazarene for the first time in 25 attempts.
In 2014-2015 Wright served as assistant coach at Arkansas Tech University. He helped lead the Wonderboys to a Great American Conference Tournament Championship, and a trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
Wright first became a head coach at the age of 27 at Fresno Pacific University. Wright had two twenty-win seasons and successfully transitioned the program from NAIA to NCAA Division II in his final two years. In the Sunbirds' first year of Division II competition, he led FPU to a second-place finish in the 14-team Pacific West Conference. Had Fresno Pacific been eligible for post-season play the Sunbirds would have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. FPU was led by former National Junior College Player of the Year, John Taylor who led all of college basketball in scoring at 27.5 ppg.
Before becoming the head coach at FPU, Wright spent four seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator there under Jim Saia before being promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2009. It was then that he established himself as one of small-college basketball's elite recruiters. His efforts in recruiting helped transform the program from a bottom-tier GSAC team to a nationally prominent program. In his last seven years at FPU, Wright helped the Sunbirds compile 140 wins and was a part of five of the best eight seasons in the program’s history. The Sunbirds knocked off two Division I opponents, USC and the University of San Francisco in that span. The Sunbirds also ascended to number three in the national polls, the program’s highest ever national ranking.
Before his time in Fresno, Wright served on staff during the 2005-06 season at NCAA Division I Texas State University under Head Coach and former NBA player Dennis Nutt. He also worked from 2003-2005 as an assistant at Division II St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas
During the 2002-03 season, Wright served as an assistant at Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas. It was there that he helped produce a 10-game improvement from the previous season, while also helping the team reach the program's first-ever playoff bid.
Wright is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Learning and Development. He also holds a Master of Arts in Kinesiology from Fresno Pacific.
| Season |
Team |
Overall |
Conference |
Standing |
Postseason |
| 2010-11 |
Fresno Pacific |
20-11 |
12-8 |
4th |
|
| 2011-12 |
Fresno Pacific |
15-15 |
6-12 |
8th |
|
| 2012-13 |
Fresno Pacific |
21-9 |
14-4 |
2nd |
|
| 2013-14 |
Fresno Pacific |
11-17 |
6-14 |
9th |
|
| 2015-16 |
Graceland (Iowa) |
17-14 |
11-11 |
5th |
|
| 2017-18 |
Central Baptist |
21-9 |
16-6 |
2nd |
NAIA National Tournament Opening Round |
| 2018-19 |
Talladega College |
24-8 |
11-3 |
2nd |
NAIA National Tournament Opening Round |
| 2019-20 |
Talladega College |
25-7 |
9-5 |
3rd |
NAIA National Tournament Qualifier / COVID-19 Shortened Season |
| 2020-21 |
Talladega College |
25-4 |
8-0 |
1st |
NAIA National Tournament Second Round / GCAC Conference Champions |
| 2021-22 |
Talladega College |
32-6 |
15-3 |
2nd |
NAIA National Tournament Runner-Up |
| 2022-23 |
Langston University |
31-3 |
20-2 |
1st |
NAIA National Tournament Round of 16 / SAC Regular Season & Tournament Champions |
| 2023-24 |
Langston University |
35-2 |
21-1 |
1st |
NAIA National Tournament Runner-Up / SAC Regular Season & Tournament Champions |
| Total |
|
277-105 |
149-67 |
|
|
