By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – What some might perceive as pressure, Chazadi “Chit-Chat” Wright sees as opportunity; the chance to be the Iowa women’s basketball team’s starting point guard.

Her playing style might be different from those who have preceded her, with the latest being the high-scoring Lucy Olsen, and before Olsen the even higher scoring Caitlin Clark.

But the purpose, and the goal remains the same – run the offense and help Iowa win games.

Wright, who played her freshman season for Georgia Tech, liked the opportunity that Iowa presented her enough to pull up roots from her home state of Georgia and then move to a place far away from her home in Atlanta.

“I have had to grow just with being more vocal and then also stepping into this new role of coming to a new school and never having been outside of Georgia or lived outside of Georgia,” Wright said. “So, it’s like everything is new, but I am embracing it.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m ready to take on that challenge.”

The challenge will climb to a new level when Iowa faces Ashland in an exhibition game next Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa will then face Southern in the season opener on Nov. 3 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I wouldn’t look at it as pressure,” Wright said of her new role. “I just look at it as opportunity, room to grow, room to learn from others that were great before me.”

Wright is only about 5-foot-4, but she compensates with cat-like quickness and with strong ball handling and passing skills.

She appeared in all 33 games for Georgia Tech last season with 12 starts. She scored in double figures in 10 games while averaging 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She was also second on the team in assists (86).

Second-year Iowa head coach Jan Jensen is sort of in a strange position with having to encourage her point guard to shoot more because most of Iowa’s recent point guards have been willing to shoot and highly capable.

“If I get her to score a little bit more, she can score at every level, and it’s fun to watch because she’s just so little and fast,” Jensen said. “I think you’ll enjoy watching her.”

Jensen has had discussions with Wright about being more willing to shoot.

“She does want me to shoot more,” Wright said. “I’ve had meetings with her. She wants me to be a little but selfish, and that’s just not in my game.”

Wright’s nickname is sort of misleading because it hardly describes her personality.

“Her name, ironically, they call her Chit-Chat, but it’s because she’s quiet,” Jensen said.

Jensen said at Iowa’s media day that they were working on getting Wright to be more talkative.

One area in which Wright doesn’t need any work is her athleticism, most notably her quickness, which stands out the moment you see her play.

“She’s a really fast, explosive, definitely pass first,” Jensen said of Wright “Pass first capital letters on all of it, and she’s got a beautiful floater because she’s had to. She’s got a really pretty three, and it’s deep.

“But she is so generous. So I’m trying to get the balance of her to go ahead and force a shot here or there. Yes, I never had to tell that to Caitlin Clark. Caitlin was just going to take it.

“That’s been fun. But she’s fast. She can handle the ball. She’s really great on defense. She gives us a lot of different things. But we’re just missing a little bit of that really more of a presence at the point guard with the voice.”

Wright isn’t the only new addition from Georgia Tech to have joined the Iowa program as assistant coach Lasondra Barrett also made the move from Atlanta to Iowa City after last season. Barrett spent the previous three seasons as a Georgia Tech assistant coach, and she was also named the recruiting coordinator prior to last season.

“It’s nice having her with me, a familiar face” Wright said. “She’s helped make the transition easier.”

Wright is probably the only pure point guard on Iowa’s current roster.

She is also one of five newcomers on the Iowa roster, along with fellow transfer Emely Rodriguez and freshmen Addie Deal, Layla Hays and Journey Houston.

The 6-foot Deal, who is from Irvine, California, was ranked as a five-star recruit coming out of high school. She is also expected to play a prominent role in Iowa’s backcourt alongside Wright.

Iowa also has a nice blend of veteran leadership with All-Big Ten senior forward Hannah Stuelke and with sixth-year guard Kylie Feuerbach leading the way.

The challenge for Jensen will be to find the right mix of youth and experience, while Wright’s performance at point guard could go a long way in determining how it goes.

“It’s so exciting, and it’s fun because we have a lot of different ways we can go, said Jensen, who led Iowa to a 23-11 record, and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. “But I think the word, and I think I’m talking to myself here more than anybody else, is “patience.”

“I think we’re planting a lot of seeds for this year, and we’re going to be using a lot of water with that patience. I think it’s not only this year but in everything that will come after this year.”