BYU Hoops Final Grades: Did Robert Wright III live up to transfer hype from Baylor?

Robert Wright III was the third leg in the BYU "Big Three" stool along with AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders.

The Cougars were expecting great things from the big-time sophomore transfer from Baylor. As we look back on BYU's 2025-26 campaign, let's evaluate how well the 6-foot-1 point guard lived up to the hype in his first season in Provo. As we do, let's first take a look at his raw stats:

Robert Wright's statistical summary

Season stats: 35 Gs, 34.8 MPG, 18.1 PTS, 3.5 REB, 4.6 AST, 1.2 STL

Shooting splits: 46.7% FG, 41.0% 3PT, 82.1% FT

Statistically speaking, Robert Wright had a great campaign. His 18.1 points per game were needed from a BYU offense that struggled to find any consistent source of points outside of the Big Three. If Dybantsa, Saunders, or Wright had an off game, BYU was going to struggle. Wright proved to be a consistent scorer, and was even dominant at times, all while shooting an efficient 46.7% from the field. Many of his buckets came as a result of his lightning quick first step and ability to attack the paint and get to the rim despite diminutive size.

And the importance of RWIII's 3-point shooting was massive. As a freshman at Baylor he shot a "good enough" 35.2% on 2.5 attempts per game. In his first season in Provo those numbers shot up to 41.0% on 4.0 attempts per game. He was BYU's most efficient shooter from deep on a team that desperately lacked 3-point shooting as his 41.0% was significantly ahead of BYU's next best shooter in Richie Saunders at 37.6%.

He had two dominant games this past season, including a 39 point effort in a win over Colorado and a 30 point revenge game in a victory over Baylor. All five of Wright's highest scoring games came in Big 12 conference play, and BYU won four of those games.

His most memorable moment was his incredible buzzer-beater against Clemson.

Now, there were more than a few times this past season when Wright put his head down, penetrate into the paint, then pick up his dribble with nowhere to go. He also had a penchant for putting up off balance, contested layups in transition when it might have been wiser to back it out and find a teammate. But you take the good with the bad with aggressive offensive players, and Wright's "good" clearly won the day.

Robert Wright III was named All-Big 12 Third Team for his outstanding season.

Assessing Robert Wright III relative to expectations to begin the season

Expectations for BYU's new point guard were massive in his debut season in Provo.

He understandably drew the ire of Baylor fans after his outstanding freshman campaign in 2024-25, only to hit the transfer portal and end up at a Big 12 rival. But fans only get upset when good players transfer out, and even as a freshman at Baylor Robert Wright III was a good player.

Expectations for Wright with his new team at BYU were to break down defenses, initiate the offense, and be an efficient scorer. When it quickly became clear that nobody outside of the Big Three was capable of consistently generating offense, the new expectation for Robert Wright III went from "efficient scorer" to "volume scorer", and he did just that.

Expectations were high for Robert Wright III, and he delivered.

Cougar fans were hoping for a really strong season, and he delivered an All-Big 12 campaign.

Final season grade: Slightly exceeded very high expectations