Sherrod Wright may live and play basketball north of New York City now, but he still knows enough city players to get him amped up any time his Mount Vernon varsity boys’ team plays a non-league game against a team from the five boroughs.

Such was the case this past weekend as the 6-foot-7 forward who grew up in the Bronx before moving to Mount Vernon in the sixth grade, helped his Knights to a championship in the Second Annual SNY Invitational at NYU’s Cole Sports Center.

In front of 1,097 fans, Wright led Mount Vernon (10-2) to a 76-65 semifinal win over Thomas Jefferson with a game-high 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals on Friday night, January 23rd.

One night later, in the championship game, he followed up with 28 points and 5 rebounds in a 70-54 victory over St. Raymond’s.

Perhaps it’s out of sight, out of mind with Wright mostly playing outside of the city limits, but he’s been somewhat of an afterthought when most think of the tri-state area’s best high school players.

Wright has received interest from college programs like Xavier, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Providence, but his head coach, Bob Cimmino, believes many other schools have been missing out on a great talent in Wright. “[New York City] is where he got his rep, he’s a New York City ballplayer,” Cimmino said. “I think there are plenty of coaches in the Big East who are missing the boat."

Cimmino however, thinks Wright’s stellar performance in the tournament aired on SNY-TV may have given Wright the exposure he needed, saying “I’m sure the BlackBerry’s of college coaches are buzzing.”

Wright’s efforts earned him the Invitational MVP honors and make him our Athlete Of The Week.