Alabama A&M Athletics

The late James Wright, who passed away in January, was in his fourth year as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs.

He came to The Hill from the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Before that, he was an assistant at the University of West Alabama where then-Athletic Director E.J. Brophy nicknamed him "The Recruiting Machine."

Wright also served as the coach, president and general manager of the AAU basketball team Rise & Shine from 1993-2004. His team was consistently ranked in the AAU Top 25 from 1998-2002 and 85 percent of his players went on to play Division I or II basketball, including former Alabama Crimson Tide standout, Maurice (Mo) Williams and the University of Mississippi’s Justin Reed.

A 1993 graduate of Jackson State, Wright had also served as senior director of the Mo Williams Basketball Camp and the Lindsey Hunter Basketball Camp.