McKinley Wright down to Minnesota and Dayton; Sept. 15 announcement

After his official visit to the Gophers last week, Champlin Park senior point guard McKinley Wright tweeted that he would announce his college decision Sept. 15 at a school ceremony.

Wright still plans to take a trip to Dayton this week. But his two other visits to Memphis and Xavier were cancelled. That means it's down to Minnesota and Dayton, Wright confirmed Tuesday night.

It's pretty clear what Wright likes about the Gophers, especially after he spent a few days with the team. He even spoke with new Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle.

"I have a good relationship with pretty much everyone on the Gophers roster," Wright said. "I'm really cool with those guys."

But why are the Flyers one of his finalists?

"People say they're not a big name, but I don't really pay attention to the name of the school," Wright said. "It's more about what I could do there. And Dayton is a good school. They've been to the (NCAA) tournament a lot. (Three) years in a row."

Wright has a good relationship with Dayton coach Archie Miller and assistant Tom Ostrom, who is a Minnesota native and U graduate. They've been recruiting Wright since his sophomore year.

"The first time I ever talked to them, they were on me pretty hard," he said. "I talked with the players. They really want to win. Nobody on the team was ranked in the top 100 (as a recruit). But they just get the job done. When I was down there (for an unofficial visit in the summer), they were going 5-on-5 at 1 o'clock in the morning. That impressed me."

Dayton is ranked No. 23 preseason and picked to win the Atlantic 10 conference in Athlon's college basketball preview magazine. Minnesota is picked to finish 12th in the Big Ten. But Wright said his decision won't be solely based on which program is more successful right now.

Wright believes the Gophers will be much improved this season.

"I feel like they will be a lot better," he said. "Not that they were terrible last year, but it's just they had young players. They needed some work. Now that they've got (experience) I think they'll be a lot better this year."

Champlin Park teammate Theo John visits the Gophers this weekend. John hasn't set an announcement date, but he hopes to make a decision about a month from now.