Men's Soccer Boasts The Wright Stuff
Oct 28 | Men's Soccer
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - His "obsession with soccer," as Jason Wright calls it, began when he was 3 or 4 years old, kicking anything he could find that was scattered along the streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Stones, sticks, bottles - it didn't matter.
"I would imagine there was goal and I'd kick whatever I could into that goal," he said.
Wright's surroundings have changed dramatically since then, but two constants have remained for the Rutgers sophomore forward: His ability to find the back of the net - real ones these days -- and his love for the game.
"I remember in high school I watched videos for hours and hours - videos of Messi and Ronaldinho, players like that," Wright said. "It didn't matter what time it was, even if it was late at night, I'd go out and practice some of the things I saw right away. I was maybe 13 or 14 and a lot of my friends were doing other things. I literally spent hours watching film of those great players to pick up whatever I could.
"That's my obsession with the game."
That work ethic, combined with a rare combination of physical traits - speed, explosiveness, strength and ball skills - has helped Wright emerge as the Big Ten's leading scorer this season, while simultaneously reversing the Scarlet Knights' fortunes from a year ago.
Freshly-minted at No. 21 in the latest NSCAA and TopDrawerSoccer Polls and No. 22 in the CSN Poll, Rutgers (10-4-1) finishes up the home portion of its regular season on Saturday against Nebraska-Omaha. And Wright, as much as anyone, is the central figure behind the turnaround from a 6-11-1 campaign a year ago, when he scored a team-leading 10 goals as a freshman.
The Scarlet Knights' current six-game winning streak is the program's longest since 1997.
"I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but coach (Dan Donigan) brought me here to score goals and I'm pretty sure that he's very satisfied with my contribution to the team and to the University as a whole because I'm a fine student as well," said Wright. "I think my contributions to this program and this team have helped generate a lot of interest, even back home. A lot of kids in Jamaica now have heard about Rutgers and want to come to Rutgers."
Wright's production this season has been nothing short of remarkable, especially considering he's a known entity after earning unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman honors a year ago.
Even with extra attention paid to him, Wright ranks second nationally in goals with 13 and fourth in total points with 29. He has five game-winners this year, adding two to that total last week in victories over Army and No. 18 Ohio State. That earned the 5-7, 165-pounder College Soccer News' National Player of the Week honors.
"I'm used to the extra attention from defenders," he said. "But how I'm dealing with it now is kind of different. I've been more creative and more deceptive in my movement, because now defenders are going to be all over me. So I try to deceive them and don't let them know what I'm about. I mix it up much more now. I don't want to be predictable."
It's not as if any of this is new to Wright, either. He said from the time he can remember playing soccer, he was able to score goals.
"Tons of them," he said. "It just continued at every level."
That led to him playing for Jamaica's U-17 and U-20 National Teams. It also led to Donigan landing his eventual star when Wright's club coach, who had a connection with the Rutgers coach, called to recommend Wright.
"Based on my accomplishments in Jamaica both on and off the field and the history of colleges recruiting Jamaican athletes for sports, my dad and my family expected me to go to college," said Wright, the first member of his immediate family to attend college. "But it was still a great accomplishment and something they were very proud of, knowing I had the luxury of going to such a fine institution on scholarship. It's an extraordinary feeling for any parent to experience that."
Wright honed his soccer skills as a pre-teen, he said, playing against teenagers. He was always accepted because of his scoring ability. He said that participating in track and field "helped with my development in terms of speed, agility and explosiveness."
"I'm naturally gifted with good touch and good technical ability but I still work on that a lot," he said. "That's critical in the game. A lot of people say I'm gifted with my technical ability but I still work at it a lot.
"That's why I can't say I am surprised by my achievements, because I know I should accomplish certain things based on my work. I work a lot behind closed doors. I'm that person. I'll do a ton of work behind closed doors. So I know what I can do and what I can expect from myself."
The goal-scoring, though, would not mean nearly as much to Wright if it wasn't accompanied by the winning. That's why he views this season as a particularly satisfying one, with Rutgers on track to return to the NCAA Tournament - and Wright in the running for Big Ten Player of the Year.
"I'm really excited about this program," he said. "Last year we struggled a lot at times. In the space of a couple of months we're totally on the opposite side and we've been through a lot as a team, a lot of ups and downs. I'm very pleased to see where we're at right now. It's a great feeling. We just hope to continue to be successful in our season."
