Former Farragut Basketball Star Found Dead in Brooklyn

Farragut High School coach says team Michael Wright played on ”one of the best in Illinois history.” Wright, 35, went on to play for University of Arizona and was the first round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 2001.

A former Chicago high school basketball standout was found dead inside his car in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Tuesday morning.

Michael Wright, 35, had been reported missing by a roommate on Sunday night. He was found dead from a head wound in his Lexus SE Tuesday morning, the New York Daily News reported.

His death was ruled a homicide late Wednesday by the medical examiner.

Investigators are looking into a man he may have possibly met on the gay dating app Grinder, law enforcement sources told the New York newspaper.

As a freshman playing for Farragut High School in the 1990s, the 6-foot-8-inch power forward played on the same basketball team as NBA superstar Kevin Garnett.

“The class he graduated with was one of the best in Illinois history,” Farragut basketball coach Wolfe Nelson told the Chicago Sun Times. “They had four McDonald’s All-Americans. He was that good.”

Wright went on to play for the University of Arizona, where he helped lead his team to the 2001 NCAA Championship, where the Wildcats lost to Duke.

He was the New York Knicks’ first round draft pick in 2001, but never played for the NBA. Wright spent most of his career playing in teams overseas in Spain, Poland, Turkey, Israel and France, the Sun-Times said.

Family members told the New York Daily News that Wright left his French team in February but was planning to go back to Europe to play.

Authorities said Wright was found lying in the back seat covered with black garbage bags, dead from an apparent skull fracture.

Family members described Wright as a “gentle giant” and “good person.”