Get to know Manchester HS girls basketball HC Rasheed Wright
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Rasheed Wright is the local Director of Pro Skills Richmond youth basketball organization and the Head Varsity Girls basketball coach at Manchester High School. He has been coaching youth basketball of all levels for five years.
Rasheed is the all-time leading scorer at Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was ranked nationally as a Senior in High School as well as the top shooting guard in the state of North Carolina. He was a 1st team AAU All American. Rasheed played college basketball at Old Dominion University from 1999 – 2003, where he scored over 1000 points and earned several all conference honors. He then continued to play professionally in France for 13 years (2003 – 2016) for six different clubs. During his career he earned MVP honors, won a national championship, and then had his jersey retired.
Rasheed’s father inspired him to play the game and he is the one that put the ball in his hand when he was a baby. He is also inspired by great players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Steph Curry. Rasheed also was inspired by all of his coaches throughout the years on some level. In his basketball programs there are three pillars of success that are aimed to focus on every day: Energy, Effort, and Focus. It is an everyday job for his coaching staff and players to consistently get better at all three. He uses a quote often that he got from his college coach Blaine Taylor, “Everyday in every way, we get a little better.”
“It is a joy to be a girls basketball coach,” said Rasheed. “I never saw this for myself. However now with four daughters and being able to teach life to them through a game that I love is a great feeling. My oldest daughter Rayne Wright is a freshman on my varsity team. My wife is from this area and returning here with her and positively impacting young people using the sport of basketball is what we are all about!”
The Manchester Girls Basketball team had a really good start to this season. “The most memorable win so far has to be versus Powhatan High School,” said Rasheed. “It was a back and forth game that we won at the end with a big time shot made by our talented freshman Rayne Wright.”
Rasheed calls basketball “life school”. The pursuit of excellence as coach puts him in a position to demand the best from his players. At the same time, that requires him to demand the best from himself. It works both ways. “The biggest lesson that I have learned as a coach is that by humbling yourself in front of the people you are leading, you are also empowering them to be great,” stated Rasheed.
“Because so many people are paralyzed by their fear of failure, they will be reluctant to try. I aim to use my negative and positive experiences to show players how much alike we are and how they can reach their goals if they have the right mindset. I constantly talk about next-play mentality. It is important that we work hard and prepare for games in a way that gives us the best chance to win. At the same time, more is learned from losses than wins. So we try and find ways that we can improve from every situation, including losses.”
He isn’t sure of his proudest coaching moment, but Rasheed however, finds joy in seeing kids improving on every level. “When I see a kid change and improve, it is always a great moment for me regardless of how small or great the improvement,” Rasheed stated. “I hope that I leave a legacy of belief in oneself. My goal is to empower young people to believe in themselves and to have a growth mindset.”
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