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Only half an hour after Utah's season ended in Houston, Delon Wright was leaning back into a chair in the team locker room, seemingly still taking in that his college career was over.
His pride was bruised, but he kept his head high. The senior said he had achieved what he came to do when he decided to join the Utes two years before.
"They always say, 'You turned around the program,' but I go back to the team," he said. "I'm just a part of the puzzle that I hope turned around the program. I'm happy. I always said that was a reason I came here: Try to turn a program around and leave a stamp."
Adding to his already considerable legacy at Utah, Wright was named to three All-American teams on Monday morning.
The Los Angeles native earned second-team spots on the AP All America, National Association of Basketball Coaches All America and the Wooden teams, three of the more prestigious postseason honors in college basketball. The honors cap a career that includes two first-team all Pac-12 honors, a Sweet 16 berth this season, and helping lead the resurgent Utes to a pair of 20-plus win seasons in his tenure.
Wright was a captain and statistical leader on the team: His 14.5 points, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals per game led the Utes, as did his 19.1 efficiency rating. He also was Utah's second-leading rebounder (4.9 rpg) and third-leading shooter (50.9 percent). He got to the line often, and made 98 more free throws than any other Ute, shooting 83.6 percent.
For his career, Wright finished with 1,022 points, 397 rebounds, 352 assists, 155 steals and 77 blocks in two seasons.
The AP first team included Duke standout Jahlil Okafor, Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, Notre Dame's Jerian Grant, Kentucky's Willie Cauley-Stein and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell. Joining Wright on the second team was Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns, Northern Iowa's Sean Tuttle, Arkansas' Bobby Portis and Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon. Wright was the leading vote-getter on the second team, according to the AP release.
Wright is Utah's first All-American pick since 2005, when Andrew Bogut earned the honor on his way to becoming the No. 1 NBA Draft pick later that year. He's the first Utah guard to earn AP All-American status since Andre Miller did it in both 1998 and 1999.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
AP All America
First Team
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
D'Angelo Russell, Ohio State
Second Team
Delon Wright, Utah
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Seth Tuttle, Northern Iowa
Bobby Portis, Arkansas
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Third Team
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga
Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga
Honorable Mention
(Beehive State players)
Kyle Collinsworth, BYU
Tyler Haws, BYU