Monica Wright

Monica Ashante Wright Rogers (née Wright; born July 15, 1988) is an American basketball executive and former player and coach. She played college basketball for Virginia^[1] and was selected second overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2010 WNBA draft.^[2] Outside of the WNBA, she played professionally in Poland, Turkey, Australia, South Korea and Iceland.^[3] She is currently the assistant general manager for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA.^[4]

Monica Wright

Wright with the Minnesota Lynx in 2010
Phoenix Mercury
Position	Assistant general manager
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1988-07-15) July 15, 1988 (age 36) San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight	182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school	Forest Park (Woodbridge, Virginia)
College	Virginia (2006–2010)
WNBA draft	2010: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Minnesota Lynx
Playing career	2010–2016
Position	Guard
Number	22
Coaching career	2018–2021
Career history
As player:
2010–2015	Minnesota Lynx
2010–2011	Lotos Gdynia
2011–2012	Botaş SK
2012–2013	Dandenong Rangers
2013	Shinsegae One FX
2015–2016	Seattle Storm
2015–2016	Bnot Herzliya
2016	Keflavík
2016	Perth Lynx
As coach:
2018–2019	Liberty (assistant)
2019–2021	Virginia (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
2× WNBA champion (2011, 2013) WNBA All-Rookie Team (2010) WBCA Defensive Player of the Year (2010) All-American – USBWA (2010) State Farm Coaches' All-American (2010) First-team All-American – AP (2010) ACC Player of the Year (2010) ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2010) 2x First-team All-ACC (2009, 2010) 2x ACC All-Defensive Team (2008, 2010) ACC Rookie of the Year (2007) ACC All-Freshman Team (2007) McDonald's All-American (2006)
Career WNBA statistics
Points	1,293 (7.3 ppg)
Rebounds	388 (2.2 rpg)
Assists	292 (1.6 apg)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's Basketball Representing  United States U18 and U19 2007 U19 Bratislava, Slovakia Team Competition

Early life

Wright was born to Garry and Lynette Wright in San Antonio, Texas. She has an older brother named Gerard. Her family later moved to Woodbridge, Virginia, where she attended Forest Park High School. At Forest Park, she averaged 22.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 4.0 steals per game. She was also the Gatorade Virginia Player of the Year and was ranked No. 2 guard and No. 11 player overall in the nation.

Wright was named a WBCA All-American.^[5] She participated in the 2006 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored eleven points,^[6] and earned MVP honors for the White team.^[7]

College career

Wright attended the University of Virginia. In her freshman year as a Cavalier, she was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore, she was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team and also notched her 1,000th point. She missed being named to the All-ACC first team by two points that season. As a junior, Wright was named to the All-ACC defensive team and was also rewarded with a spot on the All-ACC first team as the league's top scorer. As a senior, Wright was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and National Defensive Player of the Year.^[8] She was also the 2010 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year.^[9][10]

College statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2006–07	Virginia	34	512	41.2	24.0	76.3	6.0	2.2	2.3	0.4	15.1
2007–08	Virginia	34	598	46.8	36.0	73.7	5.0	2.5	2.4	0.6	17.6
2008–09	Virginia	34	696	42.0	28.5	74.5	5.6	3.1	2.8	0.2	20.5°
2009–10	Virginia	31	734	44.6	31.3	81.1	6.5	2.5	3.7	0.6	23.7°
Career		133	2540	43.6	30.1	76.8	5.7	2.6	2.8	0.4	19.1

Professional career

WNBA

Wright was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the second overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft.^[11] She went on to be named to the WNBA's all-rookie team. In 2011 and 2012, Wright played off the bench, backing up at both guard and forward. She expanded her role in 2013, becoming the primary backup at shooting guard and point guard, averaging 9.0 points per game. She won WNBA titles with the Lynx in 2011 and 2013.

On July 20, 2015, Wright was traded to the Seattle Storm in exchange for Renee Montgomery and a 2016 second-round draft pick.^[12] She missed the rest of the 2015 WNBA season due to a right knee injury. After recovering from the injury, she debuted for the Storm in 2016.^[13]

Overseas

For the 2010–11 season, Wright played in Poland for Lotos Gdynia. For the 2011–12 season, she played in Turkey for Botaş SK. For the 2012–13 season, she played in Australia for the Dandenong Rangers of the WNBL.

In 2013–14, Wright played in Korea for Shinsegae One FX,^[14] but left the team in December 2013, reportedly without permission.^[15] For the 2014–15 season, she re-joined the Dandenong Rangers, but was released prior to the start of the season after complications with a troublesome knee arose.^[16] She started the 2015–16 season with Bnot Herzliya of Israel before signing with Keflavík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna in January 2016.^[17] On 22 March 2016, she scored a season high 29 points in a loss against Grindavík.^[18] In 6 games for Keflavík, she averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.^[19]

On July 14, 2016, Wright signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2016–17 WNBL season.^[20] She played in the Lynx's first four games of the season, but due to complications with a long-term knee injury, she was released by the team on October 19, 2016.^[21]

WNBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

†	Denotes seasons in which Wright won a WNBA championship

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2010	Minnesota	34	24	25.5	.370	.340	.819	2.9	1.5	1.0	0.2	2.0	11.1
2011†	Minnesota	29	0	13.6	.379	.259	.740	1.6	1.1	0.8	0.2	1.0	5.1
2012	Minnesota	34	7	19.4	.458	.364	.740	2.4	1.9	1.0	0.2	1.9	8.6
2013†	Minnesota	33	3	22.5	.428	.256	.791	2.9	2.3	1.0	0.2	1.8	9.0
2014	Minnesota	24	9	18.4	.419	.278	.738	2.2	2.1	0.7	0.3	1.5	5.8
2015	Minnesota	7	0	11.4	.200	.167	.857	0.9	1.1	0.3	0.1	1.0	2.1
2016	Seattle	16	0	6.1	.308	.100	.600	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.9	1.3
Career	7 years, 2 teams	177	43	18.5	.402	.303	.771	2.2	1.6	0.9	0.2	1.6	7.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2011†	Minnesota	8	0	10.6	.360	.250	.333	1.3	0.6	0.8	0.3	0.8	2.5
2012	Minnesota	9	0	19.3	.386	.286	.700	2.3	1.1	1.6	0.2	1.2	5.6
2013†	Minnesota	7	0	21.1	.472	.222	.667	2.6	1.1	0.9	0.1	1.6	9.1
2014	Minnesota	5	0	15.4	.391	.400	1.000	1.2	1.2	0.6	0.2	1.0	4.6
Career	4 years, 1 team	29	0	16.7	.414	.280	.682	1.9	1.0	1.0	0.2	1.1	5.4

National team career

Wright was selected as a member of the USA Women's U19 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bratislava, Slovakia. The event was held in July and August 2007, when the USA team defeated Sweden to win the championship. Wright averaged 9.8 points per game and led the team in steals.^[22]

Coaching career

After injuries ended her playing career, Wright turned to coaching. She was an assistant coach at Liberty University during the 2018–2019 season. In May 2019, she was hired as an assistant coach for the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team.^[3]

In January 2023, Wright was hired as an assistant general manager to the Phoenix Mercury.^[4]

Personal life

In 2013, Wright became engaged to NBA superstar Kevin Durant, though the two eventually ended their relationship.^[20] She is married to Michael Rogers.^[23]

References

1. "Monica Wright Bio". VirginiaSports.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
2. "Lynx draft Wright with 2nd overall pick". USA Today. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
3. Jeff White (26 June 2019). "Monica Wright Thrilled to Be Back at Alma Mater". news.virginia.edu. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
4. "Phoenix Mercury name Monica Wright Rogers as assistant general manager". Phoenix Mercury. WNBA. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
5. "Past WBCA HS Coaches' All-America Teams". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
6. "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
7. "WBCA High School All-America Game Team MVP's". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
8. "Wright Named ACC Player of the Year". Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
9. "WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
10. "Virginia's Monica Wright named national defensive player of the year". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
11. Press, Daily. "Virginia's Monica Wright picked second in WNBA draft". dailypress.com. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
12. Seattle Completes Trade with Minnesota; Acquires Wright
13. Finally Healthy Again, Monica Wright Eager to Begin First Seattle Storm Season
14. Chart: Where Lynx players are headed now
15. Kyutae, Lee (December 5, 2013). "What happened to Kevin Durant's fiancee in Korea?". koreatimesus.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
16. Monica Wright Released
17. Tómas Þór Þórðarson (27 January 2016). "Keflavík fær tvöfaldan WNBA-meistara". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
18. Sveinn Ólafur Magnússon (22 March 2016). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Keflavík - Grindavík 77-84 - Grindavík í úrslitakeppnina". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
19. "Monica Wright - Statistics". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
20. Nick Rynne (July 14, 2016). "Lynx sign WNBA champion Wright". Archived from the original on August 23, 2016.
21. PERTH LYNX RELEASE MONICA WRIGHT
22. "Seventh FIBA Women's U19 World Championship -- 2007". USA Basketball. February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
23. Fawcett, Dave (July 13, 2020). "Forest Park graduate Monica Wright Rogers makes immediate impact coaching at UVA". Inside Nova. Retrieved February 15, 2023.

External links

• WNBA profile
• Virginia Cavaliers bio Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine