Tony Wright wanted better for his brother. He was hard on Antoine and determined that little brother not make the type of mistakes he eventually made. So while Antoine was shipped off from California to a New England prep school that eventually led him to Texas A&M and a first round NBA selection by the Nets, Tony was arrested on a burglary rap that led to a prison term.

“My brother is just a really tough guy, always been hard on me, always wanted me to be better than him. I know he’s excited for me right now, I can’t wait to talk to him. He’s had a tremendous impact on my life,” said Wright, the 6-7 shooter/defender swingman the Nets grabbed with the 15th pick in the draft and introduced yesterday.

So Antoine Wright, whom the Nets projected going several spots before them, took perhaps the biggest step in his odyssey that has contained success, adversity, frustration, elation. But it has also contained steady improvement, with the biggest jump for Wright coming in his junior and final season.

And ironically, it came after Wright considered transferring from Texas A&M. He already knew what it was to be unhappy in a program – his first year at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., he wanted to come home “every day, every single day.” But he admitted that “I got used to it.” Like he got used to new coach Billie Gillispie with the Aggies. Wright excelled as a freshman, struggled as a sophomore. Then Gillispie arrived.

“It was a tough situation,” said Wright, who displayed a jersey with No. 2 – Rodney Buford’s number, indicating Buford won’t be back. “We were going through a coaching change, not knowing who was going to come to coach, didn’t know what the attitude was going to be. But we got a great coach in Billy Gillispie. He’s a winner. He knows how to make guys winners, change the attitude. That’s what he did.”

Now Wright is in a situation where he will learn from two pretty fair players at his position, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, with leadership courtesy of Jason Kidd.

“The best players always find the way to play,” said coach Lawrence Frank. “More important when you’re a young guy coming into this league, when you have mentors like Jason, Vince, and Richard, that can get you on the fast track.”

And so Wright is in a situation where he can contribute at his own pace. He’ll have true quality looking out for him, just like his older brother once did. With his brother due to spend at least one more year in prison, Wright had only one regret about draft night.

“It was hard. I didn’t know what to expect. I was sitting there nervous. I know if he was there he would be telling me, ‘You’re going to be fine,’ ” Wright said. “I was trying to think of what he’d be saying, but it was definitely tough.”

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shaping up the Nets

The Nets – who are now shopping for some bench help in free agency- seem to be set in the starting five for next season:

STARTERS

Jason Kidd, point guard

Vince Carter, shooting guard

Richard Jefferson, small forward

Nenad Krstic, power forward

Jason Collins, center

RESERVES

Jacque Vaughn, point guard

Ron Mercer, shooting guard

Antoine Wright, swingman

FREE AGENTS

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, forward

Donyell Marshall, forward