Jacobi Wright shares experiences playing with South Carolina men's basketball stars
Jacobi Wright has played on three very different South Carolina men’s basketball teams during his college career.
The Gamecocks had a 19-13 overall record during Wright’s first collegiate season. At the end of that season, former head coach Frank Martin was fired to make way for Lamont Paris to take the helm.
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Paris’ first year with South Carolina did not fare much better, as the team stumbled to a 11-21 record, including a 4-14 mark in SEC play.
That momentum did not carry into the 2023-24 campaign, though, as the Gamecocks had their best single-season turnaround in program history. Not only did the team win 26 games, but it reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
Specifically in the last two seasons, Wright has gotten the opportunity to play with two of South Carolina’s most recent individual talents in GG Jackson and Collin Murray-Boyles. Wright described both as having skills that can help them succeed at the next level.
Wright played with Jackson while the latter was a freshman two seasons ago. That year, Jackson averaged 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game on his way to earning SEC All-Freshman honors.
Wright said he knew Jackson had what it took to play in the NBA from the get-go.
“You play a few possessions with him, and you can tell he’s a pro,” Wright said during the Garnet Trust Hour on 107.5 The Game. “He has a pro build – 6-foot-9, can dribble, he can shoot. A lot of guys at that height can’t really do that, so you can tell he’s special when you play with him.”
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The Memphis Grizzlies would select Jackson with the 45th overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. Originally signed to a two-way contract, Jackson would eventually spend much of the season with the Grizzlies, as opposed to the team’s G League affiliate. He appeared in 48 contests for Memphis, averaging 25.7 minutes and 14.6 points per contest at just 19 years old.
Wright said he is excited to see Jackson continue to improve as his career progresses.
“He’s going to be great. He’s killing it in his first year. And in the future, he’ll really be good,” Wright said. “I love watching him, and I hope he keeps getting better. I just want to see him do as good as he possibly can.”
He added that Murray-Boyles shares many traits with Jackson and could be the next South Carolina player to take his skills to the NBA.
“Those guys coming out of high school are pretty high ranked and all that stuff. You can kind of tell, just being a basketball player playing with different guys for a long time… who’s a little different,” Wright said. “He’s also huge – 6-foot-9, strong. He has a lot of pro attributes to him as well.”
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Murray-Boyles emerged as a breakout star for the Gamecocks during the team’s most recent season. Despite missing the start of the year to mono, he would finish the campaign averaging 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Wright praised Murray-Boyles for his ability to contribute to South Carolina’s scoring and rebounding efforts.
“I think Coach (Paris) just wanted him to go to his strongest suit, which, at the time, was going to the rim. And just making plays, making decisions going in the paint,” Wright said. “I think that’s just where he was best at at the time and for what the team needed. That’s what we needed him to do. And he did that really well.”
Murray-Boyles will likely be a foundational piece to South Carolina’s roster when college basketball returns to Colonial Life Arena in the late fall. And he has the potential to be even better than he was this year, Wright said.
“When he first came in in the summer last year, he hit a lot of threes. He was stretching the floor. So if he gets back to that, I don’t see how many people could guard him,” Wright said. “He’s already almost unstoppable going to the rim. If he gets a jump shot, good luck to anyone guarding him. He’s a pro.”
