more on D.J. Wright

On December 17, we posted about a Jimmy Watson-written Shreveport Times report indicating Louisiana Tech recruit D. J. Wright had been determined not eligible by the NCAA and wouldn't be in Ruston this season.

The article didn't indicate anything about Wright's future plans.

Here's the initial three paragraphs to help refresh your memory:

"D.J. Wright fails to qualify.

One of the most highly touted recruits announced by Louisiana Tech coach Kerry Rupp this summer will not be attending the school.

D.J. Wright did not qualify academically to enroll at Tech, according to a souce at the school. That means that Wright will have to go the JUCO route or sit out a year to become eligible.

Wright is a 6-foot-7 perimeter player from Sault St. Marie, Ontario, who originally committed to LSU. He averaged 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds for his high school career at Toronto Academy Prep and was expected to team with LSU transfer Magnum Rolle to create opponent miss matches for Rupp's squad next fall..."

A few days later after we re-posted Watson's article, we received the following. In following up, we received the okay to post this but not the name of the person who sent it:

"Your feature about D J Wright is incorrect. I don't know who Jimmy Watson is but he lacks credibility as a journalist as he did not do any research for that article. He had no quotes from anybody that has knowledge of the situation. His quotes were from past articles, he has not spoken to any of DJ's future coaches, high school coaches, aau coaches, family or friends about the situation or even a current player at Louisiana Tech who is friends with D J, Olu Ashaolu. I know people who are close to the situation and DJ did not take his SAT test in time to qualify because of family and personal problems that I am not at liberty to get into. I think if Jimmy Watson did his research, he could have found that out. He is scheduled to take the test in the next couple of weeks in hopes of qualifying for the fall. His plans are now to redshirt this year and play as a freshman next year. He is in Canada working with some of the National Team (Team Canada) coaches on his game and his body. From talking to the coaches, he has grown to 6'8" with shoes, he has gained 16 pounds of muscle and now weighs 238 lbs and is quicker and more athletic. The coaches have fielded calls from Syracuse, Minnesota, Kansas, Texas A&M and others about his situation, but D J maintains that he can't wait to get to Louisiana Tech because of his relationship with Coach Nikita Johnson. Also because of the fact that his old AAU teammate, Olu Ashalou has kept in contact with him, keeping him updated with the team and the excitement about turning the program around next year.

I think you need to correct that article and tell Jimmy Watson to his job as a journalist."

The original article wasn't our feature -- it didn't originate with us --so we located Jummy Watson's email address and sent it to the person who emailed us with the above.

Hopefully, Watson or another member of the media covering LA TECH men's basketball will produce the definitive article on D.J. Wright's current status and future plans.