All Wright is Joplin's latest star, plus updates on a few former standouts
Dec. 20—Fans of Joplin athletics have been blessed for several years now with the chance to watch a multitude of high-level athletes play for the Eagles.
The latest star is 6-foot-4 junior All Wright, who watched older brother Always stand out the last few years while making some big contributions himself.
He's taken it to another level so far this season. The younger Wright, through seven games, has already scored 220 points. That's better than 31 points every contest, with a season-high 39 against Pittsburg earlier this month. He combined for 68 points in two games on Friday and Saturday and punctuated Saturday's effort against Rogers with three nice dunks. He also made five 3-pointers in that game.
Wright was the tournament MVP after guiding the Eagles to the championship of the 76th Carthage Invitational just over a week ago. He poured in 11 points in the fourth quarter alone against the hosts in the title game.
Always, meanwhile, is quickly making a name for himself at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He was a unanimous all-Central Ozark Conference pick after his senior season at Joplin in which he averaged 21.4 points and shot 52% from the floor and 48% from three-point range.
This season at NEO, he's averaging 15.6 points per game and has helped the Golden Norsemen to a 12-2 start. He's currently shooting 55% from the floor and 49% from beyond the arc and has added 5.9 rebounds, seven assists and better than two steals per game.
Davis, Westmoreland making headlines In referencing the talent that's come through Joplin in recent years, I was also thinking back to the dynamic duo of Isaiah Davis and Zach Westmoreland who were integral parts on Joplin's 2019 team that played for the Class 6 championship.
Davis, who was the Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, is now a junior at South Dakota State University and is in the midst of another big postseason push.
The Jackrabbits are 13-1 and set to face North Dakota State in the FCS championship game on Jan. 8.
Against Montana State last weekend, he rushed 16 times for 158 yards and a touchdown in SDSU's 39-18 win. In three playoffs games he's totaled 418 yards and four touchdowns — and he's averaging nearly eight-and-a-half yards per carry.
For the year, Davis has 1,374 yards rushing yards and 14 scores.
As for Westmoreland, he's spent the last two seasons at Eastern Michigan and now has plenty of suitors lining up after announcing earlier this month he was entering the transfer portal.
So far, he's received offers from the University of Tennessee at Martin, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, New Mexico State and more. Missouri Southern has also offered him.
There are some local ties to New Mexico State, for those who aren't aware. The Aggies are coached by Jerry Kill, who's first head coaching job was at Webb City from 1988-90. He was a defensive and offensive coordinator at Pittsburg State and went on to coach Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota (2011-15) before retiring due to health issues.
He didn't stay away for long — he was offensive coordinator at Rutgers, an assistant at Virginia Tech and Texas Christian and then took over New Mexico State this season.
Back to Westmoreland — it's worth repeating what he did for Joplin. How about 254 career receptions for 3,539 yards and 41 touchdowns. He scored 74 times overall.
Whoever lands him is sure getting a weapon.
