Lou DiGironemo knew Josh Wright would play Division I basketball the first time he saw him set foot on a varsity basketball floor for Utica’s Thomas R. Proctor High School.

Odd, considering Wright was in eighth grade.

‘He was kind of tall and lanky, and he looked like a kid,’ said DiGironemo, Proctor’s athletics director. ‘But man, he was the fastest thing on the court. He could shoot and run and just make all kinds of things happen. It was something special.’

Wright, now a 6-foot-1 senior point guard who’s rated in the top 25 of his recruiting class by several online experts, verbally committed to play at Syracuse yesterday for the 2004-2005 season.

SU beat out Connecticut to land Wright, who becomes the first member of the Orangemen’s 2004 recruiting class. Wright has scored 1,241 career points, just 99 short of the all-time district record.

‘We’re all glad that SU won,’ DiGironemo said. ‘Syracuse is kind of in everybody’s hearts here, and we always root for them. Plus, Syracuse will find a spot for him. He’s talented enough to play there.’

Wright, an All-State selection as a junior, made a name for himself this summer at the famed ABCD camp in Teaneck, N.J, where he played brilliantly.

His performance drew interest from Seton Hall, Boston College, Pittsburgh and UConn.

‘It was crazy waking up and seeing all those coaches in the house,’ said Mike, Wright’s brother.

In the end, SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins edged the Huskies for Wright’s services, and a visit to the Carrier Dome last Saturday to see last year’s national champions receive their title rings didn’t hurt, either.

While his virtuoso play at ABCD earned him a spot at SU, his entire summer wasn’t so smooth. In August, The Post-Standard reported that New Hartford police charged Wright with with second-degree criminal trespassing and third-degree assault. Both charges were misdemeanors. Wright was charged along with six other teenagers.

Syracuse has also shown interest in Rudy Gay, a 6-foot-9 forward from Baltimore, and Dayshawn Wright, a 6-foot-6 forward from Syracuse who now goes to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., where current SU point guard Billy Edelin attended high school.

Staff writer Eli Saslow contributed to this story.

Published on September 17, 2003 at 12:00 pm