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WACO — While trying to describe Kendall Wright’s outlandish talent, Baylor free safety Jordan Lake probably summed it up the best.
"He’s just freakishly fast," Lake said of the Bears’ inside receiver. "From start to stop, faster than anyone I’ve ever played against before or ever seen."He’s a great athlete, great hands. He’s a small guy, but he’s fearless going over the middle. He’s just got rubber legs. It’s not even fair."Wright, who celebrated his 20th birthday Thursday, also is a multi-talented athlete with a 45-inch vertical leap.The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder was a quarterback, cornerback and punter on his Pittsburg high school team, rarely leaving the football field. And he also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds. In 2007, he won Class 3A state titles in the long jump (24 feet, 3/4 inches) and triple jump (48-5 1/4 ). In 2008, he won the state triple jump gold medal again, setting a meet record with 50-8 3/4 . And in basketball, Wright averaged 24.5 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals per game as a senior.At Baylor, Wright emerged as the team’s leading receiver as a true freshman last year with 50 catches for 649 yards and five touchdowns, and also picked up another 168 yards and a touchdown on 29 rushing attempts.This year Wright has enjoyed a similar impact with 50 catches for 597 yards and four touchdowns, while adding 123 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries. He hopes to add to that total Saturday when the Bears (4-5, 1-4 Big 12) host No. 2-ranked Texas (9-0, 5-0) at 11 a.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium.Wright, who also played basketball for the Bears last season, had 10 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns during last week’s 40-32 upset victory over Missouri. It was his fifth career 100-yard receiving game and third this season."Everybody told me it was time for a game like that, so I’m glad I had a good game and everybody played well," Wright said. "I felt like I was overdue for a game like that."Coach Art Briles has noticed a change in Wright that also was long overdue."The thing I’m really proud about Kendall, especially the last couple of weeks, is I think he’s really learned how to become a great teammate," Briles said. "He’s not ever had to do that, quite honestly, growing up in Pittsburg, Texas, where he was the team."Then coming in here last year and everything happening real fast for you, and so now he’s having to change his role with our team and I’m proud of the way that he’s done the last couple of weeks. He’s become a more vocal leader, a better practice player and just a little more passionate teammate."The soft-spoken Wright said he was forced to change the way he communicates with his teammates by the season-ending knee injury to quarterback Robert Griffin in September."Usually, I’m not the one who talks a lot," Wright said. "But I saw how the team was when Robert went down. I felt like I was the next best player on offense, so I had to just step up and be that leader."By stepping up and showing those leadership skills, Briles said Wright now has become a complete athlete.Dwain Price, 817-390-7760
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