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Superstitious Blazer won’t watch little brother play in NCAA Tournament

Delon Wright is a star guard for Utah, which plays in Portland

By Erik Gundersen, Columbian Trail Blazers Writer
Published: March 19, 2015, 12:00am
2 Photos
Don Ryan/Associated Press
Utah guard Delon Wright, brother of the Blazers' Dorell Wright, practices at the Moda Center for the Utes' NCAA Tournament game Thursday vs. Stephen F. Austion
Don Ryan/Associated Press Utah guard Delon Wright, brother of the Blazers' Dorell Wright, practices at the Moda Center for the Utes' NCAA Tournament game Thursday vs. Stephen F. Austion Photo Gallery

PORTLAND — Even if schedules break right and the glass slipper fits, Portland Trail Blazers forward Dorell Wright won’t be there in person to see his brother, Utah’s Delon Wright, compete in the NCAA tournament.

“I’m not going to no more games,” Dorell Wright said prior to his team leaving for a week-long road trip. “I don’t give a damn if it’s the National Championship playing against Kentucky. I’m not going.”

Delon Wright and his Utah teammates are one of the eight teams playing in the NCAA Tournament’s second round at the Moda Center in Portland. They’ll face Stephen F. Austin in the South Region match-up.

Dorell Wright is superstitious, you see. Among other things, he always wears his socks inside out. Every time that Dorell has gone to see his younger brother Delon, a Second-Team All-American, play for the Utes, they’ve lost.

So, Dorell being Dorell, he sees the writing on the wall.

Wright said: “0-4 in 2 years. That’s telling me a lot. I’m very superstitious with everything I do too. I read signs in between the lines.”

His younger brother Delon thinks that Dorell takes the cake as far as who is more superstitious.

“Not too much,” Wright said with regards to his own superstitions. “I do have my superstitions. But he has a couple: him not coming to our games.”

While Dorell and the Blazers are gone, he is, however, open to letting his little brother borrow his locker.

“He can have my locker,” Dorell said. “That’s fine. He can have my vacant one right here that I share with Chris (Kaman).”

According to the the Utah Basketball team’s official twitter account, the Utes had a tour of the Blazers’ practice facility in Tualatin, Ore.

While Delon is excited to play on the same court as his brother, he also doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal.

“It’s a good feeling, I guess, to play on the same floor he plays on regularly,” Delon said. “As far as that, it’s not too much of a big deal.”

Dorell still talks to Delon before every game, he says.

According to Delon, he gave Dorell advice — although Wright skipped the madness and went directly to the NBA after high school.

“Before our first Pac-12 Tournament, he kind of told me now is the time to leave everything on the court,” Delon said. “You know, every game is one-and-done. He told me to continue playing the way I am, to be more aggressive and to leave on the court because it’s my last go-round.”

And while Dorell is not letting himself be a part of the adventure, it doesn’t mean his side of the family won’t show up.

“My wife and son, they’re welcome,” he said. “I’m not.”

Delon — who could likely be in the NBA this time next year — and his Utes teammates already have enough problems.

They take on the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, who already have a tournament win under their belt after last season’s win over Virginia Commonwealth in the first round. VCU, coincidentally is also playing in Portland this spring.

The Lumberjacks are seventh in the NCAA in offensive efficiency.

“They’re a good team all the way around,” Utah guard Brandon Taylor said of the Lumberjacks. “They’re a good 3-point team. They get out in transition. They’re a very fast team.”

The Utes finished 16th in NCAA Division I offensive efficiency, so it has the potential for a shootout.

The Utes are fresh off a tough loss in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals to Oregon on a last-second buzzer beater.

Still, the Utes have hopes of making a deep run in the tournament, and they will start working on that goal Thursday.

“It’s on, and we’re ready to rock and roll,” Utah coach Larry Krystowiak said.

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Columbian Trail Blazers Writer