Three-star DB Alan "Taco" Wright commits to Vanderbilt
It's Taco Tuesday - sort of. The plan was to announce his commitment Tuesday June 2, but due to the situation across our country, that was pushed back to Wednesday June 3 to honor #BlackoutTuesday.
Alan Wright, known as "Taco" by most has announced his commitment to Vanderbilt. He saw his brother Mike Wright sign with the Commodores back in February, and now, the two will be able to play together again down the road in Nashville.
The older Wright had nothing to do with the decision. It was all Alan's.
Vanderbilt won him over, over the last couple months and the decision was final a couple weeks ago.
"I picked Vanderbilt over Tulane, Maryland, Memphis, Air Force and East Carolina," said Wright. "I really picked Vanderbilt for many reasons. I want to go into the medical field, and Vanderbilt has one of the top programs for that in the country, then I still get to play big-time football in the SEC.
"I know all the coaching staff, I know people that have gone there, I have asked a lot of people questions about it, and nothing negative ever came out of it. The only thing I heard negative was the work was very hard, but that is what I want, so I see that as a positive.
"Woodward Academy has prepared me for a school like Vanderbilt, so I will be ready and I love the fit."
Almost a year ago is when the SEC program started to recruit the 5-foot-11, 180 pound cornerback out of Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga. Things started off a little slow, Wright was leaning towards another school not too long ago, but things really changed the last couple months.
"Vanderbilt started recruiting me last summer, so they got my attention right away. It is has always been on my mind, but honestly I was leaning towards Tulane for a while. I had a good connection with the Tulane staff, but over the last month or two, I started really thinking more about Vanderbilt and leaning towards committing.
"I did more research. I talked to more people about the program. I talked to the coaches more. I got to know more about the coaching, the school, the program, and once I got that information and feeling, it was really a wrap.
"I have known my decision for a little while now."
One by one, the Vanderbilt staff found out Wright's decision had been made. It started a couple of weeks ago and he made sure it was handled the right way.
"I told the coaches May 18 I believe it was. It was a process. I called coach Mattiolo, coach Roof, coach Phillips, coach Mason — I talked to almost all the Vanderbilt coaches about my decision.
"It was little steps for me. I talked to them about the process to commit to Vanderbilt, I wanted to make sure the offer was committable, and all the coaches gave me great feedback. They would tell me to make sure, to talk to my family, to talk to my brother, and once I got the feedback from one coach, I would call the next one.
"It ended with coach Mason, and we talked for a while on FaceTime and we settled it all. I told him I was committed to Vanderbilt 100%, that there was no chance I would back out and that I was ready to go.
"He was excited, he pulled over from the road and it was a great feeling for us both."
A couple of years ago, Wright felt this day may come. He knew it wouldn't be easy, and he wasn't sure to what level his football career may stop at, but he kept working, he kept pushing and it paid off.
He thought he may be going to college to play an instrument when he was entering high school, but instead, he will be suiting up and playing in the SEC.
"I thought I was going to be playing in the band somewhere in college, not going to play football in the SEC at a school like Vanderbilt," said Wright. "Early on, I did not think this was possible.
"The feeling is outstanding to know that I am going to Vanderbilt. If you would have told me I was going to a school like Vanderbilt in the 9th grade, I would laughed and thought you were crazy.
"Stuff happened so fast and it is an amazing feeling. I started off playing center in little league, then I moved to guard, then to running back, then to quarterback, and now I am going to Vanderbilt to play defensive back.
"I kept working, I kept working, and to get here now, it is truly a blessing. It is hard to believe, but I know I put the work in, and I am so blessed to be able to call myself a Commodore."