Wright grew up swimming and playing tennis. He did not play basketball until he was entering high school. Wright attended Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he played on the junior varsity team for his first two years. He competed for the Raleigh Hawks, a homeschool team, as a junior before making Enloe's varsity team in his senior season. He averaged 21.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game per game as a senior.[2] He committed to playing college basketball for Georgia Tech.[3] He was lightly recruited by NCAA Division I programs and not ranked by major recruiting services.[4]
College career
Wright averaged 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in his freshman season at Georgia Tech.[5] On March 12, 2019, he recorded a sophomore season-high 25 points and seven rebounds in a 78–71 loss to Notre Dame at the first round of the ACC tournament.[6] As a sophomore, Wright averaged 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. On February 22, 2020, he posted a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds in a 79–72 loss to Syracuse.[7] In his junior season, he averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game.[8] On November 25, he registered 31 points and 20 rebounds in a 123–120 loss to Georgia State in quadruple overtime.[9]
On March 8, 2021, Wright was named the ACC Player of the Year and first-team All-ACC for his senior season.[10] He missed the NCAA tournament round of 64 game against Loyola Chicago after testing positive for COVID-19.[11] As a senior, he averaged 17.4 points, 8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. On March 28, 2021, Wright declared for the 2021 NBA draft.[12]