La’Vell Wright has history at Houchens-Smith Stadium stretching back eight years.

As a freshman at North Hardin High School in 2017, Wright saw his first high school action in a 42-7 loss to Bowling Green in the Trojans’ season opener. Wright had a team-high 72 rushing yards on 17 carries and added a catch for four yards.

Wright, now in his first season at Western Kentucky as a graduate senior running back, faced off that night against future Kentucky teammates Justice and Jordan Dingle, both standouts for the Purples.

“It was a fun game – all my boys that (eventually) went to college, I played with them that game,” Wright said. “It was really nerve-wracking, I can say. I think probably my first varsity fumble too, against Justice Dingle. That’s my boys too – the Dingle brothers, I love them. But yeah, I actually played in Future Stars here too – something that Rico Hughes does for the kids of Kentucky, I played in that here as well. It’s a blessing just to be on this field.”

Wright took a winding path to get back to the Houch. After a standout high school career at North Hardin, where he rushed for 4,396 yards and 56 touchdowns as a four-year starter, Wright headed to Lexington as a prized recruit for the Wildcats – a three-star prospect who ranked as the No. 12 all-purpose back nationally by Rivals.com and the No. 51 running back nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

As a true freshman in 2020, Wright made the most of four game appearances to preserve a redshirt season of eligibility. He had nine carries for 118 yards and a touchdown – a 41-yard scoring run in a win against Louisville.

Wright tallied 39 carries and 120 rushing yards while playing in all 13 games for Kentucky as a redshirt freshman, but then missed the entire 2023 season due to injury.

A member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll in each of his three years in Lexington, Wright opted to enter the NCAA transfer portal and landed at FCS-level Austin Peay.

Healthy again, Wright stacked up 609 rushing yards and five TDs on 115 carries for the Governors, including back-to-back 100-yard rushing games against Alabama A&M and Southern Utah.

The 6-foot, 222-pound Wright left APSU after one season to take another shot at the FBS level.

“Austin Peay was definitely a humbling situation for me,” Wright said. “It was just a year coming off surgery, so a lot of things that I had to battle mentally but I overcame them. I attacked every single day as if I were at Kentucky or at a top program. I love Austin Peay for the time I was there. They taught me a lot. I grabbed a lot of things from them. Coach (Jeff) Faris is doing a great job over there. Bringing it here, it just helps me out – just continue to take things from other programs and just bring it with me as some things in my toolbox.”

Tools is something Wright thinks he brings to the Hilltoppers’ running backs room, and a full set of tools is required by WKU running backs coach Bryan Applewhite to get on the field.

Wright sees a diverse skill-set among his fellow running backs, something he thinks will benefit the offense this season.

“I wouldn’t say everybody’s the same,” Wright said. “Everybody has their different attibutes, but we feed off each other in that running back room. Once George (Hart III) goes and he does great, he comes off the field – now I’m ready to go. Then once I’m done, Jaden (McGill) or Jaylen (Hampton), they’re ready to go. And then we’re bringing the young ones along. That running back room is really special. We have a lot of tools in our belts that coach Applewhite continues to bring out of us. We’ve just got to continue to tread lightly and just stack days and compete.

“ … I try to do as much as possible just to be a leader, all-around back. Coach Applewhite, he presses there’s no first down, second down and scat – there’s none of that, you know. You have to be a back that he can rely on first down, second down, third down, even fourth.”

Wright has focused on his receiving skills even more since becoming a part of WKU’s pass-heavy offense, just another tool he thinks will get more use than ever before this season.

“I would say I had to perfect my hands,” Wright said. “It’s kind of an Air Raid offense, but not fully an Air Raid offense. They get a running back out wide a lot, put us in the open field, give us those one-on-one situations in catching the ball. So just being able to have confidence in my hands – you know, running backs tend to be a little shaky with the hands – but just catching the JUGs (football passing machine) every single day, making sure I have hands in, looking into the tuck, just over-exaggerating the little things.”

Wright is looking forward to making some more history at Houchens-Smith Stadium this year, starting with the Week 0 season opener Aug. 23 against Conference USA rival Sam Houston.

“It’s almost like a homecoming,” Wright said. “It’s always a blessing being back home. My family can come watch me anytime, come watch me practice. Just having that support system from the state and from my family is probably one of the biggest things that I’m grateful and happy for.”