Iowa Baseball lands Houston RHP Dan Wright
The Houston to Iowa City pipeline continues after the addition of former Cougars pitching coach Sean Kenny to the Hawkeyes coaching staff. On Friday night, Houston right-handed pitcher told HawkeyeReport that he had committed to Iowa out of the transfer portal. He is a graduate transfer and will have one year of eligibility. It’s a homecoming for Wright, as he is a native of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.
“The main thing that stands out is the environment Coach Heller has built in the program. It can be hard to tell the true state of the union as an outsider looking in, but I feel comfortable entering this program from talking with the coaches and players I know on the team,” Wright told HawkeyeReport. “One of my best friends in the world is Brant Hogue, who just finished up his first year in the program. We were rivals in high school and eventually roommates at Iowa Western. When I entered the portal he spoke highly of the program and teaming up with him again was hard to pass up.”
Wright spent the last two seasons with the Houston Cougars program, appearing in 31 games with 11 starts and 51.0 total innings. This past season, he appeared in ten games with nine starts, as the Cougars main midweek starter. Daniel posted a 3.86 ERA over 21.0 innings, including 15 strikeouts to 13 walks. Opponents batted just .200 against him and averaged 0.71 hits per inning.
The biggest improvement from 2023 to 2024? In 2023, opponents batted .389 against him and averaged 1.63 hits per inning. Those numbers both saw drastic improvement this year.
“Last season I threw both 4 seams and sinkers, but primarily sinkers. Both pitches were consistently in the 90-92 range but have run it up to 95. I also throw sliders and changeups with another pitch in the works currently.”
“My best pitch is probably my sinker because I can throw it very steep and force lots of ground balls and weak contact that way.”
An Iowa native, Wright attended Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School. He was a three-sport athlete for the Warriors, playing football, basketball and baseball. As a quarterback for Sergeant Bluff, Wright completed 69.7% of his passes for 2,997 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior. On the basketball court, he was a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee. On the diamond, Wright posted a 0.95 ERA over eight starts for the Warriors, including 54 strikeouts to 14 walks over 44.0 innings. Daniel initially committed to play football at the University of Sioux Falls, but opted to walk-on at Wisconsin.
“Coming out of high school I was not really sure which sport I wanted to play. I had basketball offers, football offers, and was lightly recruited to play baseball. I ultimately chose football because Wisconsin gave me the opportunity I had dreamed of my whole life, playing quarterback in the Big Ten.”
“I enjoyed my time at Wisconsin immensely, but I got to a point where I had grown another inch and a half and added muscle and suddenly was 6’9″ and 255 pounds. I suppose normal people would consider switching positions, but I started considering switching sports because I figured I could throw a lot harder with this new frame and I missed playing baseball.”
Wright spent his true freshman year with the Wisconsin Badgers football program, before transferring to Iowa Western CC, where he started his collegiate baseball career. He appeared in 14 games with three starts, posting a 2.55 ERA over 24.2 innings. Wright totaled 31 strikeouts to five walks and opponents averaged just 0.77 hits per inning. After one season with the Reivers, he entered the transfer portal and joined the Houston Baseball program.
Q: Talk through your recruitment in the portal. How did Iowa come up as a potential candidate?
WRIGHT: I entered the portal just a couple weeks ago so my recruitment was very brief. The idea of playing closer to home at Iowa was at the front of my mind going into this process so when they called right away I knew it would be a good possibility. I did not visit Iowa because I have been through the facilities before. I went to camp growing up and I was raised a Hawkeye so I know my way around Iowa City pretty well.
Q: What offers did you have after entering the portal? Any other schools that you seriously considered?
WRIGHT: After entering the portal I heard from a handful of schools from coast to coast and it was exciting to hear what each school had to say. I did consider a couple other schools because I have a lot of respect for their coaching staffs, but ultimately I wanted to be closer to home and that made Iowa the clear choice.
Q: Where does the coaching staff see you fitting in with the pitching staff? What role do they see you filling?
WRIGHT: I think the coaching staff believes I can fill a starting role next spring, but I have pitched in all kinds of roles in my career. I will be comfortable pitching wherever I am asked, but every pitcher’s goal is to win a starting role and I am no different.
Q: What is your relationship like with Sean Kenny? Why is he someone that you wanted to follow to Iowa?
WRIGHT: I thought Coach Kenny and I meshed well from the beginning at Houston. He came in sometime in July of last summer, my second year at Houston, and he was very helpful right away. Coach Kenny is a great communicator and always makes an effort to check in with everyone to make sure things are okay. I feel comfortable coming with him to Iowa because last year I made good progress as a pitcher, and in a new environment I think he can help me make a bigger jump next season.
Q: What are you most trying to focus on this season in terms of improvement?
WRIGHT: I would say the main thing I am focused on is pitch design. I have heard great things about the managers and analytics staff in the Iowa baseball program. I am very excited to get to work with them along with Coach Kenny soon and refine my arsenal.
