IOWA CITY - Chit-Chat Wright spent much of the offseason replaying Iowa women’s basketball’s loss to Virginia, going back to the game almost every day and picking apart what went wrong.
For Wright, the repeated viewings were less about dwelling on the defeat and more about finding the details she could clean up before the next season arrives.
“I just kept rewatching and seeing what I could have done better,” Wright said during the Hawkeyes’ summer workouts July 7 “Although I can't go back in the past, I still can work on things to get better for the upcoming season.”
That mindset fits the role Wright is stepping into. She is one of five players back from last year’s roster and one of three returning starters, but Iowa’s 2026-27 team is going to look very different. Even so, the 5-foot-4 point guard will have a familiar face beside her in former teammate Dani Carnegie, who transferred from Georgia to Iowa this year.
Wright and Carnegie go back to AAU basketball, where they built a strong on-court connection. When Carnegie entered the portal, Wright said they talked some about Iowa, but she wanted her now-teammate to make the choice on her own.
Carnegie has already added another layer to her resume since committing to the Hawkeyes, as she was part of USA Basketball’s 3×3 team before returning to Iowa City for her first summer practice on July 7.
“I think I always say Dani brings a side, she's opposite of Chat. Chat’s kind of very cerebral, very quiet processes.
Dani's the complete opposite. She's a firecracker, and she's just excited,” Assistant coach Lasondra Barrett said.
“I think, she brings Chat’s voice out more, and I think Chat probably brings a more calmness with her, so they've always been a really good yin and yang since they were young kids.”
The summer work has been centered on building habits, getting new players comfortable in Iowa’s system and sorting through what the lineup might eventually become. At the same time, it’s a chance for players to chase individual goals.
For Wright, the goal is clear: she wants to become one of the best point guards in the country. The coaching staff has noticed the change in her since the offseason began, with Wright carrying herself with more confidence and speaking up more.
“She can back just with a different aura,” Barrett said. “I think she's way more vocal. I think she's a little bit more confident … I think she came and really assessed who she was (last season).”
Last season, Wright averaged 12.5 points per game and finished with 138 assists against 63 turnovers. She believes there’s room to push those numbers higher, and the NCAA Tournament second round loss to the Hoosiers has only sharpened her edge.
“I just had this different mentality of I know what it takes to get to that point,” Wright said. “And I just really want my teammates to be successful, and this program to be successful, so I'm just going to do whatever it takes to get to that point.”
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