Women's Basketball vs. Mercyhurst

Women's Basketball Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Wright Featured Speaker at Grace Leadership Institute Fall Speaker Series on Thursday

ERIE, Pa. – Gannon University women's basketball coach Cleve Wright will be the featured speaker on Thursday, September 15 for the Grace Leadership Institute Fall Speaker Series. Wright is scheduled to speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Grace Leadership Institute at 701 Holland Street in Erie. Admission is free and the event is open to the public with the doors opening at 7 p.m.

The theme of the Fall Speaker Series is Championship Leadership, focusing on Servant Leadership. Wright certainly knows about that topic. The veteran coach is in his 15th season as the women's basketball coach at Gannon late. He is in his second stint as Gannon's head coach, serving from 2002-13 and then returning to Gannon in 2019. During that time he has enjoyed immense success while building the Golden Knights into one of the top Division II programs in the country. He owns a 295-114 record in 14 seasons as Gannon's head coach and has an overall record of 330-201 in 18 years as a head coach.

Last year Wright led Gannon to a 24-7 record as the Golden Knights won their second straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the seventh time in his tenure, including four of the last five years. Gannon has won 20-or-more games seven times in Wright's 14 seasons at Gannon. That includes a pair of 30-win campaigns. The 2009-10 Gannon edition finished at 37-1, reaching the NCAA Semifinals, and the 2012-13 Golden Knights were 31-5 and reached the Elite Eight. Four of Wright's last five Gannon squads won at least 22 games, interrupted only by a 13-1 finish in 2020-21 while playing an abbreviated schedule due to the pandemic.

Wright's teams have also emphasized success in the classroom and the community. Most notable among the community efforts is the annual Pink Zone game which helped local cancer survivors in their fight against cancer. The program has raised nearly $150,000 since its inception, with funds that stay entirely local. In the classroom, Gannon has traditionally ranked among the top teams in the country with team grade point averages annually exceeding 3.00.
 
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