Dec. 18, 2003

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Jason Wright, Northwestern's two-time first-team Academic All-American, has accepted an invitation to play in the 2004 Hula Bowl Maui All-Star game, slated for Saturday, Jan. 17 (7 p.m. CT, ESPN).

This is the third straight year that Northwestern has sent at least one student-athlete to the Hula Bowl Maui.

Wright, who has led Northwestern to the school's second bowl game in four years, led the Wildcats in rushing (95.9 ypg), scoring (10.0 ppg) and all-purpose yardage (127.9 ypg), despite playing the latter half of the Big Ten schedule with an injured ankle.

He still earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media, and repeated as Northwestern's Most Valuable Player.

Wright is only the third player in NU history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, joining All-America running backs Damien Anderson and Darnell Autry as the only Wildcats to accomplish the feat. Wright is currently fifth on NU's all-time rushing list (2,388 yards) and fourth in scoring (204 points).