Gannon University Athletics

Cleve Wright enters his 18th season overall as Gannon’s head women’s basketball coach in 2025-26, the seventh season of his second stint in Erie.

A coaching veteran of over three decades at both the NCAA Division I and II levels, Wright served as the Gannon women’s basketball head coach from 2002-13, before taking over as the head coach at NCAA Division I Miami (Ohio) from 2013-17 and as an associate head coach at NCAA Division I Eastern Illinois in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Wright departed Gannon in April 2013 as the school’s all-time winningest basketball coach regardless of gender at the time. He has done nothing but add to that legacy since returning in 2019. After winning 233 games in 11 seasons in his first stint, he has gone 126-22 since returning to boost his record in 17 seasons at Gannon to 387-129. That’s an impressive .750 winning percentage. All told, Wright has a 422-216 record in 21 years as a head coach.

Wright ranks among the Division II active coaching leaders in both victories and winning percentage (.661). He is second in the PSAC in victories among active coaches, trailing only Janet Malouf of Kutztown (467).

2024-25 proved a monumental year for Wright. It began with a nine-game winning streak. Along the way Wright earned his 400th win as a head coach, a 55-39 win over Daemen on November 13. The Golden Knights eventually climbed to fourth in the WBCA Div. Top 25.

Gannon ultimately finished at 16-4 in the Western Division, good for the second seed in the PSAC Tournament. Following a 60-52 win over Seton Hill in the quarterfinals the Golden Knights dropped a 64-58 decision to eventual PSAC champion Kutztown in the semifinals.  

The Golden Knights returned to Edinboro, the site of the PSAC Tournament, six days later for a fifth trip to the Atlantic Regional in six years, and this time there was no stopping them. Their journey to a second straight regional crown began with a 60-50 win over Fayetteville State. In the semifinals the Golden Knights outscored Seton Hill 80-70.

That left Gannon and PSAC West rival Indiana (Pa.) playing for a ride down I-79 to the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight. Wright’s squad pulled away for a 72-59 win over the Crimson Hawks behind 19 points from Bri Claxon and 18 more from Tournament MVP Kate Ratliff. It was Wright’s fourth regional title.

Gannon drew the eighth-seed in the Elite Eight and faced a dominant Grand Valley State team. A bad-shooting night led to 60-32 loss to the eventual national champion, but it could not diminish the luster of a 28-7 finish. Gannon ended the year ranked 11th in the final WBCA Division II Top 25.

Wright’s year wasn’t done. In June he was one of nine inductees into the Erie Sports Hall of Fame. Maybe as important to him, valued assistant coach Brittany Batts was named the head coach at USC Aiken.

A WINNING CULTURE
In 17 seasons as Gannon’s head coach Wright’s squads have posted ten 20-win seasons including seven in a row (not including the abbreviated 2020-21 COVID season. He has guided the Golden Knights to three 30-win campaigns.
Last season’s trip to the NCAA Div. II Tournament was the fifth straight year in the Big Dance and the tenth overall. In fact, Wright’s last seven Gannon editions have reached the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Knights have now advanced to the Elite Eight four times during Wright’s tenure. In addition, he has coached Gannon to four PSAC Championships along with one GLIAC title.
All told, Gannon has qualified for the PSAC Tournament nine of a possible ten years and made the GLIAC Tournament all six years under Wright.
3 FOR 30
Wright’s Gannon squads have reached 30-wins three times. In 2009-10, Wright produced the most successful season in the history of the women’s basketball program. Gannon advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in school history. The squad broke the NCAA Division II record at the time for most victories (37) in a season and still holds the record for most consecutive wins (37) in a single season while ending the year at 37-1.

Along the way the program won its first-ever PSAC Championship and first-ever NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional before a sold-out crowd at what was previously known as the Hammermill Center. The Golden Knights defeated their three opponents in the regional by an average of 21 points per game, defeating Millersville 65-48 to reach the Elite Eight. A 70-66 win over Tusculum advanced Gannon into the semifinals against Emporia State. The two played a classic game before Emporia State prevailed in overtime 97-94.

After climbing to number one in Division II for three weeks, the Golden Knights finished No. 2 in the final USA Today ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Gannon’s 2023-24 season was also magical while riding the talents of PSAC West Player of the Year and All-American Sam Pirokso. Minus three starters from 2022-23, the Golden Knights began the year unranked but made an early statement with three wins in the D2 CCA Tip-Off Tournament, two coming against nationally-ranked teams.

Gannon quickly jumped into the WBCA and D2CSC national polls. The Golden Knights climbed as high as second for three weeks in the WBCA Division II Top 25 and made it to third in the D2CSC poll while running off 21 straight wins. That is the second-longest winning streak in team history. Gannon's second place ranking was the highest attained by the Golden Knights since they were also second throughout the first half of the 2013-14 season.
 
The Golden Knights ended the year with a 35-3 record, winning the PSAC Championship for the third time in four years while advancing to the Elite Eight. The 35 wins were the second-highest season total.
After winning the PSAC West regular season title with a 21-1 record Gannon’s playoff run began with wins over Edinboro and West Chester, the latter in the semifinals. In the finals the Golden Knights pulled away from Eastern Division champion Lock Haven 80-65 on the Bald Eagles’ homecourt.

Gannon entered the Atlantic Regional as the number one seed and began its journey to the Elite Eight with a 73-53 win over No. 8 West Virginia State. The semifinal game was a rematch with Lock Haven, but the result was the same as the PSAC title game, a 91-72 victory.
That left the Golden Knights facing third-seed Fayetteville State with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. After a slow start it was all Gannon in front of a raucous crowd at the Hagerty Family Events Center. Gannon ran away for a 72-47 win.

Gannon entered the Elite Eight as the top seed but ran into an athletic Cal St. San Marcos team. In a game that went down to the wire Gannon’s season came to an end with an 85-80 loss in overtime, snapping an 11-game winning streak. Gannon ended the year fourth in the final WBCA Division II Top 25.

Gannon concluded the 2012-13 campaign with a 31-5 record, representing the third-most victories in school history. The Golden Knights won the PSAC Western Division regular-season and the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional titles en route to the program’s second NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance in the span of four seasons.

The season eventually came to an end against Ashland, 74-63, in the national quarterfinals, marking Gannon’s third straight NCAA Tournament appearance that ended with a loss against the eventual national champion. The Golden Knights ended the year sixth in the Division II Top 25.

LET THE HONORS POUR IN
With winning comes postseason recognition and Wright and his players have received plenty of awards. Wright was named NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in 2010.

All told he is a four-time conference coach of the year. He has been named the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2010, 2013 and 2024, while also earning the honor from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in 2007.

Sam Pirosko became the most decorated player in Gannon women’s basketball annals in 2023-24. She was selected the PSAC West Athlete of the Year for the second straight year, then went on to be a consensus first team All-American. Gannon’s all-time leading scorer was selected the WBCA Division II Player of the Year and the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Player of the Year. The Collegiate Women Sports Awards also selected her as the basketball finalist for the DII Honda Athlete of the Year award.

Academically, the College Sports Communicators voted her a first team Academic All-American for the second consecutive year, and she was named the CSC Academic All-America Team Member of the Year as the premier student-athlete in NCAA Division II women's basketball. She also received the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete Award recipient as the PSAC’s top scholar-athlete. Pirosko was one of nine finalists for the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year.
All told Pirosko was a three-time WBCA All-American and two-time D2CCA All-American.

Christina Jackson was Wright’s first All-American, earning WBCA honorable mention recognition in 2004-05 and again in 2006-07.

In 2009-10 Kristina Freeman was a first team WBCA All-American and a second team DII Bulletin All-American. Brittany Tabron earned honorable mention honors from both organizations that same year.

Jen Papich earned honorable mention WBCA and D2 Bulletin All-American accolades in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Papich also joins Pirosko as an Academic All-American, named to the second team both in 2013 and 2014. Pirosko was a two-time first team selection.

A year ago Bri Claxon was accorded first team All-PSAC West honors with Kate Ratliff selected to the second team. Wright has had a total of 12 first team All-PSAC selections and 14 more second team.

Freeman was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Year in 2009-10, with Papich earning the award in 2012-13 and Pirosko in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Claxon was the Freshman of the Year in 2022-23.

Jackson was named the GLIAC Player of the Year in 2006-07 and was one of nine named first team All-GLIAC. Wright also had five second team selections. 

STRONG IN THE CLASSROOM AND THE COMMUNITY
As successful as Wright’s teams have been on the court, they have excelled even more in the classroom and in the community. During his first session coaching Gannon he introduced the Pink Zone game. The annual Pink Zone event began in 2008 to help local cancer survivors in their fight against cancer. The program raised nearly $150,000, with funds that stayed entirely local. The Golden Knights were honored as the Outstanding Young Philanthropist by the American Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in 2011.

Upon returning to Gannon, Wright announced a set of charitable games to take place throughout the 2019-20 season. The inaugural Goals for Life game tipped off vs. Wheeling. The Knights partnered with Strong Vincent Middle School inviting over 800 students, faculty and staff. The Goals for Life Game was in partnership with Gannon's Erie-GAINS strategic partner to help better the neighborhood and community.

Wright also introduced the SERVE Game. Gannon and students from six schools within the Erie Catholic School System partnered with the Inner-City Neighborhood Art House and the Sister Gus' Kids Cafe to help raise awareness and funds to help address the issue of youth poverty in the Erie Community. In the inaugural season, the women's basketball program and the six schools raised over 30,000 items for donation and $4,500.

The final game Wright introduced was the CARE Game, which replaced the annual Pink Zone Game. The CARE Game looked to help all survivors of cancer rather than just breast cancer. Wright hopes to carry on the Pink Zone success in the coming years in the Highmark Events Center.

In the classroom, Gannon has traditionally ranked among the top teams in the country. While producing the best team grade point average in the PSAC during the 2011-12 season, Gannon annually ranks among the nation’s top 25 in team GPA. The run included a No. 12 ranking in 2008-09 (3.497) and 2009-10 (3.491). In 2006-07, the Golden Knights achieved their highest national ranking ever, tabbed sixth with a 3.494 GPA.

Emma Wright was named the PSAC Women’s Basketball Champion Scholar for the second straight year in 2022-23 and was an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.

THE WRIGHT RESUME
After his successful run at Gannon, Wright spent four campaigns as the head coach at Miami (Ohio). The Redhawks ranked sixth among all NCAA Division I programs in team grade point average in 2017. He guided the Redhawks from 2013-17 and then served as an associate head coach at NCAA Division I Eastern Illinois in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Wright has 35 years of college coaching experience, including three seasons (1999-02) as the top assistant at Division I Northwestern of the Big 10 Conference. The Women’s Basketball Journal named Wright one of the top 25 assistant coaches in Division I during the fall of 2002.

From 1997-99, he was an assistant coach in the Horizon League at Division I Butler. He then moved to Northwestern in 1999 after Butler coach June Olkowski accepted the head coaching job for the Wildcats.

Prior to coaching at Butler, Wright spent four seasons as the head girls’ basketball coach at Southwestern High School in Somerset, Kentucky. At Southwestern, Wright earned Commonwealth Coach of the Year honors and 48th District Coach of the Year accolades in 1997.

Wright began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ball State from 1990-92. Prior to his coaching stint at Southwestern High School, he served as an assistant at Duke (1992-93) before joining Olkowski at Butler.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING
In the summer of 2024 Wright was appointed to the WBCA National Board of Directors. It marks the second time Wright has served on the Board of Directors representing Division II. He was previously on the board from 2011-13. Wright is one of three Division II representatives on the board. In addition, Wright and former assistant coach Brittany Batts were selected to work the prestigious College Basketball Academy.

Wright received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989 from Berea (Ky.) College. He was a two-sport athlete, competing in both basketball and track. As a student at Berea, he served as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team after competing with the men’s team for one year. He went on to earn his master’s degree in Athletics Administration from Ball State in 1992.

He and his wife, Diane, reside in Fairview, Pa. and have two adult daughters, Chloe and Emma.