Jamil Wilson puts team ahead of himselfhttp://journaltimes.com/sports/college/wilson-puts-team-ahead-of-himself/article_235f5b5c-6cf1-11e3-a697-0019bb2963f4.htmlThe script calls for Jamil Wilson to be “The Man.”
After two seasons of being a supporting actor, when he consciously deferred to his teammates on the Marquette University men’s basketball team, Wilson is being thrust into the lead role for the Golden Eagles.
The script has Wilson, a gifted athlete, as the team’s focal point not only offensively but defensively as well. With his sculpted 6-foot-7 inch frame and 7-0 wingspan, Wilson is being counted upon to be a defensive stopper. With his rich repertoire of offensive skills that include an effortless shot from the perimeter and feline-like moves in the paint, Wilson is being counted on to be a potent scoring threat.
While that may indeed be the script, it wasn’t crafted by Wilson, the former Horlick High School star who was taught at an early age not to look at individual numbers in the box scores for gratification.
The script Wilson has followed revolves around a “we” and not “me” approach. It revolves around team success and the bottom line: winning.
Wilson, a forward, gleaned this wisdom from his father James, who adhered to a similar philosophy to achieve success. James earned third-team all-state honors while playing for Horlick before enjoying a stellar career at UW-Whitewater and leading the Warhawks to an NCAA Division III national championship in 1984.
James and Jamil view the game and how it should be played through the same lens.
“My team is too valuable and our season means way more to me than any individual accomplishments I can achieve right now,” Wilson said. “It’s always been a team game. That’s the way my dad taught me. It’ll always be a team game to me, not about personal achievements.
“If I wanted to do that, I would have chosen track or tennis or some other, more individual sport.”
Wilson’s approach helps explains in part why he hasn’t put up those headline-grabbing numbers this season, although those who have seen him play know he is fully capable of doing so.
Not that Wilson’s numbers are bland. Through Marquette’s first 12 games, in which the Golden Eagles are 7-5, Wilson is averaging 12.5 points a game, which is the second best on the team.
In the last three games, Wilson has ramped up his offensive production and averaged 17.6 points. That included a game-high 22-point showing in Marquette’s 70-64 loss to arch-rival and then eighth-ranked Wisconsin Dec. 7 at Madison.
Wilson’s importance to the Marquette program is clearly understood by Golden Eagles head coach Bull Williams. He knows Wilson is a special talent and doesn’t hesitate when asked how Wilson stacks up with recent former Marquette standouts Jimmy Butler, now of the Chicago Bulls, and Jae Crowder, now of the Dallas Mavericks.
“Talent-wise, by far, the best,” Williams said of Wilson. “Athleticism. Intellect. Skill set. Defensively, what he’s able to do. Offensively, what he’s able to do.
“The difference in those guys, thus far, is that Jamil is not a hard-core dude, even though he understands that and he’s trending in the right direction.”
And what is a “hard-core dude”?
“The first guy to the floor,” Williams said. “Take a charge. Average more than one rebound per 10.5 minutes played. In the mix on everything.
“Jimmy Butler went from guarding the five at UConn to guarding (All-American point guard) Kemba Walker. Jamil Wilson can guard anybody just as effectively as Jimmy and way more effectively than Jae.”
Williams isn’t the only one well aware of Wilson’s abilities. So are the NBA talent evaluators. They have monitored Wilson’s development since he left Horlick five years ago to attend Oregon before transferring to Marquette.
The pro scouts paid particular attention to Wilson this summer when he attended a trio of highly-regarded camps: the Amare Stoudemire Skills Academy in New Jersey, the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas and the adidas Nations Basketball Experience in Long Beach, Calif.
“I feel I played pretty well,” said Wilson, who led Horlick to the 2009 WIAA Division 1 state championship game, where the Rebels lost 56-41 to Madison Memorial March 21 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
“I felt I handled my own. I showcased my skills and my versatility on offense and defense.”
Wilson even played against the gold standard of today’s basketball players — LeBron James of the Miami Heat. At “King James” camp, Wilson competed against James in several drills and played well.
Playing against a megastar like James provided Wilson a rare opportunity to assess his own game.
“He (James) scored twice out of five times on me, so 40 percent. Not too bad,” Wilson said. “It was fun. It was a learning experience. I thought it was pretty cool going against the greatest who plays now in his prime.
“He’s a physical specimen. I would say he’s 275 pounds. He’s pretty much a rock. He gave players comments after we got done and we talked a little bit about different aspects of the game and about certain situations on the floor.”
One of James’ comments hit home with Wilson.
“He said he plays for the love of the game and for his team,” Wilson said. “He plays that way day in and day out.”
There is a reasonably good chance Wilson will encounter James on a basketball court again. Wilson is projected by several NBA teams as a legitimate second-round pick in next June’s draft.
Of course, Wilson’s draft stock could fluctuate between now and then, depending on how he performs the rest of the season and how his auditions go at the NBA pre-draft camp and subsequent individual team workouts.
For now, though, Wilson is focused on helping Marquette improve and making a run at the Big East Conference championship and then a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Said Wilson: “We got the capabilities of being really good.”
The same can be said for Wilson.
