NATCHITOCHES – Services are set for one of Northwestern State's top 100 men's basketball players of all time.
 
Gene Wright, a member of Northwestern State's Gulf States Conference champions in 1959-60, passed away Oct. 14 and will be laid to rest at 2 p.m. Sunday at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Negreet.
 
Wright was one of 15 players from the 1950s era who were included in the "Fantastic 50" portion of Northwestern's top 100 players of all-time who were selected during the Demons' 2012-13 centennial celebration season.
 
A Negreet product, Wright's career spanned the 1958-62 seasons as Northwestern, who earned first-team All-Gulf States Conference honors and was part of a pair of N-Club Hall of Fame players alongside Truitt Weldon who helped N-Club Hall of Fame coach Huey Cranford's squad post a 23-5 mark in 1959-60.
 
Wright was inducted into the N-Club Hall of Fame in 1989. During Wright's career, Northwestern posted a 71-43 record.
 
Following his playing career, Wright enjoyed a career as a teacher, principal and coach, continuing his lifelong love affair with basketball.