La Sierra University to honor Spurs GM Brian Wright with jersey retirement

On Saturday, Jan. 11 La Sierra University will host a jersey retirement celebration for Brian Wright, the Spurs’ general manager. The event will begin at 6 p.m. in the university’s Alumni Pavilion and will feature women’s and men’s Golden Eagles basketball teams in games against the Pacific Union College Pioneers from Angwin, Calif. Pacific Union College and La Sierra University are higher education institutions within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and contests between the two teams are a long-held tradition popular with campus members and alumni from both institutions.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the women’s game between the two teams taking place at 6 p.m. A jersey presentation ceremony honoring La Sierra University President Christon Arthur and former interim president Richard Osborn will take place at half time. The men’s game will begin at 8 p.m. with Wright’s Golden Eagles No. 12 jersey retirement ceremony occurring at half time. The evening’s musical guests include a drum corps from Mt. Rubidoux Seventh-day Adventist Church and a national anthem performance led by La Sierra University Director of Bands Giovanni Santos. Tickets are $15 general admission and are available only online at https://www.lsugoldeneagles.com/hometown-ticketing.

“We are incredibly excited to honor Brian Wright’s legacy.” -- Javier Krumm, La Sierra University Athletics Director

Wright moved into the general manager’s role in July 2019 after three seasons as the Spurs’ assistant general manager. Prior to that, he served as the Detroit Pistons’ assistant general manager for two seasons which followed a position as director of college scouting for the Orlando Magic. He began his trajectory in sports management as a summer intern with the Magic in 2006.

Wright attended Takoma Academy in Maryland before enrolling at La Sierra University where he graduated with a business degree in 2004. He was honored by the Riverside Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and 2004 for his exceptional performances as a guard with the Golden Eagles basketball team. Wright earned a master’s in sports business management from the DeVos Sports Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida.

In 2014 Wright was recognized for his career accomplishments during La Sierra’s alumni weekend with a Rising Star award from the Zapara School of Business. Wright was also among 100 La Sierra University Presidential Awardees recognized during the university’s centennial celebration at the Riverside Convention Center in October 2022. He has returned to La Sierra several times to give student colloquium presentations at business school.

“We are incredibly excited to honor Brian Wright’s legacy,” said La Sierra University Athletics Director Javier Krumm. “This jersey retirement is a significant moment, not only for La Sierra University basketball, but for the entire academic community. It is a tribute to the excellence Brian has shown both on and off the court, and we are proud to celebrate his accomplishments as one of our own.”

Krumm noted the extensive efforts of university staff members in organizing the jersey retirement event. “The decision to retire Wright’s jersey has long been in the works, and thanks to the tireless efforts of Lovelyn Razzouk from the Zapara School of Business, Elsa Sanchez [Office of Human Resources], a close classmate of Brian’s, and our basketball coaches Ethan Lowe and Kevin Mitchell, this long-awaited moment has now become a reality,” Krumm said. “Having Brian Wright -- an exceptional athlete and now an esteemed alumnus -- associated with La Sierra University Athletics continues to enhance the university's reputation, showcasing the strength of its programs and the lasting impact of its former student-athletes.”

In January 2023, Wright gave a colloquium talk to students and student-athletes at the Zapara School of Business during which he also received the school’s inaugural Hall of Fame award. He discussed his beginnings in 2000 at La Sierra University as a pre-health pharmacy major-turned business major while playing for and leading the Golden Eagles basketball team. He noted core principles he formed along a pathway that presented unexpected opportunities for learning, growth, and the formulation of a vocation he previously had not considered. 

Wright recalled as a new student at La Sierra he slept through 8 a.m. pharmacy chemistry classes which came after 6 a.m. basketball practices. He soon realized pharmacy wasn’t in the cards and switched to information systems management which also proved a poor fit. Family members and alumni who had studied in La Sierra’s business school advised him to consider its programs and following conversations with Zapara School of Business Dean John Thomas, Wright changed majors. 

“It kind of opened my eyes up to something different. Basketball was a guiding force for me throughout life, and it helped me put the two of them [basketball and business] together, which kind of ultimately led me to what I'm doing now,” he said during his talk. “I never had this grand plan, but with the education I got here, it kind of helped me kind of figure out what was next.”

For further information about the January 11 jersey retirement games and celebration, email sportsinfo@lasierra.edu.