Wright’s 900th win along the way is a good by-product
By Steve Williams
Jody Wright is the state’s winningest active high school boys basketball coach, but he says that’s only a “by-product” of his position at Fulton. “That’s never been the goal.”
Wright notched win No. 900 on Saturday, Jan. 10, as his Falcons won a close game against rival Austin-East.
“It was a typical A-E game,” he said.
“People had told me before the game that this could be No. 900. But you’re in the ball game and you’re focused on what’s going on. To be honest, I didn’t spend time before the game thinking about it.”
Three days later, Jody saw his team post number 901 with a win over Carter.
The magic number of 1,000 will gradually fade away, like No. 800, 700 and 600. The average length of time between the milestone wins is four years.
Wright also knows he could pass the late Buck VanHuss’ all-time win total in the state, which is 1,023 victories. But it’s not a goal. There are more important things
Now 64, Father Time naturally could become a factor and Jody knows that.
“I feel really good for my age to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m in pretty darn good health. I look at Coach Barnes (at UT), who is 71 and is still doing this at a high level.
“My prayer has always been Lord, let me know. Let me know when it’s time. And He has let me know that I’m right where I’m supposed to be and doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I still enjoy it.
“I’ve been blessed over the years to coach a lot of good guys and work alongside a lot of really good men that have been my assistant coaches.”
Wright pointed out he had never made a shot or gotten a rebound during the 900-plus games either.
Jody had great and loving parents growing up in the Lake City area, which is now called Rocky Top. His dad, Gene Wright, had coached 18 years at the high school level and like Jody now, he too was a school administrator, finishing as an assistant principal at Anderson County High. His dad being a coach played a part in Jody going into coaching.
After playing and graduating at LMU, Wright got his first high school head coaching position at Horace Maynard in Maynardville in 1984-85. He still remembers his first coaching win against Van Gilder Occupational Training Center, a small Knox County trade school.
The next school year Wright started teaching and coaching at Fulton.
“I was blessed to come to Fulton and work alongside Steve Brewer and Bob Black,” said Jody. “They really showed me what a high school coach was – to really impact young boys and help them grow up to be men and good Godly men. I think that’s the role of a high school coach, I really do.
“We live in a society where it’s all about winning, but I think the value of a high school coach is measured far beyond winning and losing these days. I learned that here at an early age and thank goodness I was able to work with men that really showed me the true value of a high school coach.”
His dad was part of that, too.
“I can remember when he passed away,” said Jody. “I had a lot of his former players that came up to me and said, ‘Jody, you’ll never know the impact your dad had on me.’”
Those few words meant a lot and Wright has never forgotten them. “I hope my guys can say the same thing, that I’ve made a difference and an impact on them.”
Coach Wright says being ranked first or fifth or sixth all-time in wins has never been his goal. “I’m not chasing records here. When that starts the whole motive of coaching leaves you. I’m not here to win a thousand games. I’m not here to win ‘x’ number of state championships. I’m here because God has placed me here. I truly believe that. Again, I’m here to do the job that I’m supposed to do, which again is teaching boys how to become men and to use basketball as a tool to do that.
“We love the game of basketball and love to compete, but yes I’m not chasing records or trying to win ‘x’ number of games. That’s never been the goal. It’s been a nice by-product along the way, but that’s never been the goal.”
