Neumann-Goretti High School junior Robert Wright is the 2022-23 Gatorade Pennsylvania boys basketball player of the year.
Wright is the second Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Neumann-Goretti High School throughout the 38 years of the award and the first since Tony Chennault in 2010.
Chennault, a point guard, went on to play four years at Villanova University. Wright, also a point guard, is verbally committed to play at Baylor University following his high school graduation in 2024.
The Gatorade Player of the Year award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court.
Wright easily fit those categories by holding a B-plus average in the classroom at Neumann-Goretti while volunteering locally at a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in addition to donating his time as a youth basketball coach.
At the time of his selection, on the court, Wright has led the Saints to a 22-3 record and the team continues to progress through the Class 4A state tournament. This season, the Saints were Philadelphia Catholic League runners-up, following PCL and state championships in 2022 while reeling in 2022 Class 4A Player of the Year honors.
Through his first 25 games this season Wright has averaged 22.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game. He was the MVP of both the 2023 Iolani Classic in Hawaii and the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts and he’s ranked as the nation’s No. 45 recruit in the Class of 2024 by ESPN.com.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner from each state that sanctions high school basketball, as well as the District of Columbia. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Wright joins recent Gatorade Pennsylvania Boys Basketball Players of the Year Dereck Lively (2021-22, Westtown School), Stevie Mitchell (2020-21, Wilson High School), Ethan Morton (2019-20, Butler Area Senior High School), and Oscar Tshiebwe (2018-19, Kennedy Catholic High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
