‘Heart like a lion’: Remembering Wichita man, a former North athlete, who died in crash

North High School basketball was down by three at home versus South High School with five seconds left in regulation during a 2008 game.

The inbound pass went to Chekiel Wright, a sophomore who had earned more and more time playing on varsity because of his work ethic, skill and ability to control the tempo of the game.

Wright — the shortest player on the court, ironically nicknamed “Shaq” at a young age because his name is pronounced like the famously tall NBA center Shaquille O’Neal — took two dribbles and launched a half-court shot over the outstretched arm of a much taller defender. Most people he played against were taller but that never stopped him.

“He had wiggle,” said Ben Mitchell who was head coach that year at North. “He was a point guard, just naturally. Although he was small, he had a big mentality. He wasn’t afraid, and if the bigger guys or the older guys were to push him around a little bit in drills … he didn’t cower in the corner. He didn’t back up. He had heart. He also had basketball acumen.”

Many knew Wright from basketball, but even more people knew him off the court where he had friends in all different social circles.

“Shaq got along with everybody, like the wrestlers, baseball, the soccer squad … the track team and the debate team,” said Zachary Davis, who started hanging out with Wright when he was a freshman and Wright was a sophomore.

Twins Brison and Briston White said Wright was their triplet. They grew up together, attending Bryant Elementary School and Hadley Middle School before teaming up again at North High.

The three of them would eventually become the leaders of the North team, with Wright commanding the game and throwing alley-oops to the White brothers.

Brison White said Wright got his magnetic personality from his family.

“They welcome everybody into their home,” he said. “That’s where Chekiel gets that magnetic personality where people are so drawn to him.”

The 32-year-old died in a Dec. 29 crash in the Delano neighborhood. He was a passenger in the vehicle. He leaves behind his father Courtney Wright; his mother Nora David-Wright; a sister, Ashanti Green-Wright; and daughters Danielle and Hayden, ages 6 and 4.

A funeral service is planned for 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11, at Berean Assembly, 1215 West Carey.

For the Whites, the loss of Wright feels like the loss of a brother.

A Sept. 1, 1998, photo in The Wichita Eagle about the first day of school showed an apprehensive photo of spectacle-wearing first-grader Briston White, who had his head on his arms crossed on his desk.

“And I would always tell people, I would have cried too if I didn’t have Shaq with me,” Brison White said.

The White brothers met Wright for the first time that day.

Brison White was in a class with Wright; his brother in another classroom. The teacher sat the class alphabetically so White and Wright ended up right next to each other.

Wright leaned over and told White they would be on the same team for basketball at recess. White told him his brother would be on their team too.

“Ever since then, he became our triplet,” Brison White said.

Brison White had Wright in his class for first, second and third grade at Bryant Core Knowledge Elementary; Briston White got Wright for fourth and fifth.

But, by second grade, they all hung out and did sleepovers together.

Wright’s father, Courtney, became a father figure to the White brothers and to others, including Deonte Gray, who played on the Wichita Golden Bulldogs pee-wee football team where he coached his son and others for years.

Gray and Chekiel Wright both played wide receiver and cornerback.

“He was one of the littlest guys on our team, but he had a heart like a lion,” Gray said.

Gray, Wright and Brison White would later start a group they called “Long Hair, Don’t Care” after a line in Lil Wayne song. They didn’t cut their hair for years but kept it in long braids past their shoulders.

Gray and Wright continued to play football together into high school.

“I remember this one time he got an interception (against) Campus,” Gray said. “He jumped so high, you wouldn’t even believe he was that short. He jumped so high and got the interception and ran it back for a touchdown.”

Most people say he was around 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-6 his first couple years of high school but closer to 5-foot-8 when he graduated and still grew a little after that.

The consensus among the Whites and Gray is that Wright’s basketball career wouldn’t have ended in college had he been 6-foot or taller. His collegiate career included stints at Coffeyville Community College and Dodge City Community College, where he scored 118 points and had 62 assists in 29 games.

Half-court shot

That half-court shot his sophomore year against South went off the backboard and in.

The crowd went wild.

“It was one of those moments, where it was like ‘Oh my God,” said Brison White, who was suited up but sitting on the bench. He added, in retrospect, it wasn’t anything outside of what you’d expect from Wright.

A Feb. 13, 2008, story in The Wichita Eagle about that game said the “sophomore guard wasn’t too impressed with the half-court shot.”

Wright said this after the game: “A couple weeks ago, I was in a (junior varsity) tournament. We were playing against Northwest, and I hit one at the buzzer to send us into overtime.”

The momentum against South carried into overtime, where North went on to win 74-64.

That electrifying moment was mentioned in another Eagle story on Jan. 7, 2009, when Wright hit a 15-footer as time expired to beat Bishop Carroll, 56-54.

“In situations like that, I feel like I don’t necessarily have to be the one to take the shot, but I have to be the one to create something for the team, to make something happen,” Wright told The Eagle when he was a junior. “In this case, the ball ended up in my hands and I just put it up there and it went in.”

Wright was known for controlling the game and hitting other open players, including freshman Conner Frankamp when Wright was a senior.

“We had so many battles on the court back at North my first year,” Frankamp wrote on social media on Dec. 29. “You were always there for me if I needed anything or had questions. Thank you for being a great leader.”

Gary Squires coached Wright his junior and senior year.

“He made a lot of guys better,” Squires said, adding that he also made everyone laugh. “He brought a lot of passion, which coaches really enjoy. He wanted to win, man. He really wanted to win.”

Playing college, giving advice to a pro

When Wright played college ball at Dodge City, he played against Briston White when he was on Seward County Community College.

“It was a lot of competition, but it was a lot of smiles,” White said, adding at one point Wright fouled him on a fast break and laughed after White fell. “I loved it. I remember like it was yesterday.”

Brison White went on to play pro basketball for a couple years in Czech Republic. He got moved to point guard for the first time. He started watching old YouTube videos to reference what Wright did at the position.

“That was the best passer I ever played with,” White said.

He also consulted with Wright about playing the position. At one point, White shattered his ring finger. He thought that would be the end of his career, but Wright encouraged him to practice hard still with the team and use his right hand until his left hand healed.

“He tried his best to teach me … a little bit of heart, but he was just wired differently,” White said. “He was always smaller in stature, but he was able to cover so much ground with his confidence and his will.”

White followed Wright’s advice and didn’t get cut. White said he later told Wright he had him to thank for that.

Wright’s discipline in basketball made him excel as a father, White said.

“Every day we grew together, and being able to learn and grow with him, helped me be the man I am today, and I owe that to my brother and Chekiel,” he said.