Jalen Wilson is the Perfect College Basketball Success Story in 2023
The Kansas Jayhawks’ loss on January 17 is a bit of a sore day for Kansas basketball fans this year because it was the first time the Jayhawks had lost a Sunflower Showdown since 2019.
While the Jayhawks weren’t able to pull off the victory in the overtime classic, my house got a small victory that night. I think my son Trae found his first favorite basketball player, and it was a Jayhawk just like mine.
At some point during the course of the game, he shocks me when he asks me “Dad! Who’s that guy with number 10? He’s making a lot of shots.” or something of the sort. Usually when we “watch” basketball games together, he’ll occasionally comment on a play here and there or notice which team has more points between his other silly endeavors, but he seemed genuinely intrigued and was engaged until the end. Even down to having to explain why Jalen’s late three didn’t count because Bill Self called a timeout.
Since then, he’s been much more invested in KU basketball. Asking more about individual players, wanting to actually watch the full games, and always wanting to wear his gear on game days. I’ll even hear an occasional shout at the TV at Jalen or KJ Adams who also has become a favorite of Trae’s.
Honestly, I don’t mind him liking Jalen Wilson. If he was older, I’d use his career as an example of someone to look up to. He had ups and downs but he stayed the course and is going to leave Kansas as one of the most decorated players in the history of the program and his number 10 will hang in the rafters of the new and improved Allen Fieldhouse one day.
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even supposed to wear the crimson and blue.
Actually, he thought the maize and blue at Michigan was his path, but he was always meant to be a Jayhawk. The universe has a weird way of working things out that way. Jalen alluded to it in his senior night speech, but he had committed to John Beilein and the Wolverines before Beilien decided to try his hand at the NBA. Wilson decommitted from Michigan and ultimately ended up a Jayhawk and the rest is history.
As I mentioned before, every season of Wilson’s career has brought unique challenges, but also has presented different opportunities for Wilson to contribute in unique ways.
Let’s take a walk down memory lane.
Frosh Foot Failure
Under Bill Self, it’s always hard to know what to expect from freshmen, and Jalen Wilson was no different in that. One thing we did know was that he was getting on the floor. That usually at least means a young player has shown Coach Self something that he thinks he can build on. While Wilson’s first season was cut short due to a broken foot before it really got started, his response and approach to recovery should have signaled us for the type of career we were about to watch blossom.
“I’ve always had setbacks, and I’ve always found a way to get around them. I just took this one like this is the next one that’s going to happen in life. It ain’t always perfect, so I just tried to find positive out of it. I got hurt. So now I get to sit back and really watch basketball and break down film that I usually haven’t done.”
He would also talk about wanting to be a better teammate while he sat. The team that season was great, losing only three games total before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson’s teammates had played themselves into being the heavy favorites to cut down the nets and Wilson never had a chance to root his team on in that pursuit.
Who knows, he may have two National Championship rings if it weren’t for those unfortunate circumstances. Even crazier, that wouldn’t even be the last time COVID affected Wilson’s career.
Sophomore Step
The aforementioned COVID struggles actually came at the end of what was a solid de facto freshman season for Jalen Wilson. His true Sophomore season ended with a forced withdrawal from the Big 12 tournament due to positive COVID tests within the program and a couple NCAA tournament games in which the team was clearly affected by the virus. Wilson was forced to miss the first round game and a less than 100% Wilson along with other affected teammates ran into a bad matchup with eventual number three overall pick Evan Mobley and a USC team that ended the season long before they planned.
Not before Wilson could make his presence felt, however.
In his first season as a full time player, Wilson led the team and ranked second all-time amongst KU first-year players in rebounds per game at 8 and was third on the team in scoring that season. At certain points during the season, and especially during his Champions Classic breakout game vs. Kentucky, even serving as the team’s best player.
After testing the NBA draft waters, Wilson decided to return to Lawrence where high expectations would await after a promising start to his career. All eyes would be on Wilson and his returning teammates to improve on their bitter tournament ending in 2021.
Junior Juxtaposition
All it takes is a 21st birthday weekend. A college student makes a dumb decision that many other college students would make on that same night after a Saturday evening of drinking. It doesn’t make the decision by any of them any better. Getting behind the wheel of a car under the influence of alcohol, especially under the legal drinking age but even if you’re over 21, is irresponsible and reckless behavior. I’ve been that college kid as well and I’m blessed to be alive to reflect on how stupid of a decision that was without having to deal with life changing consequences that could come of those actions. Don’t do it. Please.
Okay.
Jalen Wilson was also lucky enough that he could learn his lesson on not drinking and driving without a major catastrophe. He was arrested and charged with a DUI, leading to a four game suspension to start his second full season. If there’s anything we’ve learned over the course of Jalen Wilson’s career it’s that his response would look something like it did:
“My main focus is to take responsibility and own up to what I’ve done, gain the trust back of the community, my coaches, my teammates, my family, everybody in Lawrence. I know I have let them down. Now I will work my way back to build trust back and understand I’m fully accountable for what has happened.”
I’d say he redeemed himself quickly…
Helping the storied Jayhawks program secure their sixth National title and their first since 2008, Wilson led the Jayhawks in scoring in the championship game with 15 points. Ending the season at a literal opposite end of the spectrum than where he began it.
After the momentum he built during his freshman year, many people might have thought that Wilson stepped into a larger scoring role overall, but Coach Self knew what his team needed after their loss to USC the previous season.
Enter this guy.
Adding Remy Martin to the roster basically gave Kansas a sixth starter. While the natural progression for Wilson would’ve been to take on a larger scoring role this season, this team needed a scoring punch like Remy to hit its ceiling and players like Jalen Wilson had to accept their roles around that. That takes maturity for a basketball player to go from a go-to guy in a sense to taking a backseat for the betterment of the team, but Wilson obliged. Leading the team in rebounding yet again, while contributing in many ways.
The NBA draft process awaited Wilson again, but he would enter with a new perspective. After seeing his former teammate Ochai Agbaji return to Kansas for his senior season and elevate himself into a conference player of the year, consensus All-American, and eventual lottery pick in the NBA draft, Wilson had a blueprint to follow with a leading role awaiting him if he returned to Kansas…
Senior Stardom
Did I already say the rest is history? Jalen Wilson followed up the Ochai Agbaji senior act with an arguably even more impressive sequel. Racking up conference player of the year and consensus first time all-america honors of his own. An exclamation point ending to a truly special and underrated career. The numbers even tell the story.
In 102 career games, Jalen Wilson sits at:
- 1,435 points. Good for 26th all time at Kansas, right above Wilt Chamberlain at 1,435 and below Brandon Rush at 1,477.
- 791 rebounds. This places Wilson at 14th all time at Kansas, just above Greg Ostertag who racked up 770. Dave Robisch sits directly above Wilson with 815.
- His twelve double doubles this season ties Raef LaFrentz and Nick Collison for 17th all time in a season in Kansas history.
One thing worth noting about Jalen Wilson is the small amount of time it has taken him to make an impact on the Kansas record books. The only players that have comparable total numbers to Wilson all time in fewer games are Clyde Lovellette, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth, Wilt Chamberlain, and Drew Gooden. A truly historic list to be a part of and Wilson’s name stands alone as the only Bill Self-era Jayhawk on that list.
In 2023, it is hard to find players that have stuck around one program as long as Jalen Wilson, especially after multiple NBA Draft declarations, but Wilson is one of the few.
At a program like Kansas, the history, the culture, the coaches, and the brand can overpower the individual player’s faces and stories, but every once in a while a player makes a lasting impact and becomes more than just another cog in the machine that is the all time winningest college basketball program.
The end of Wilson’s story is yet to be written, but one thing we know already is that it is one of the best in the history of Kansas Basketball.
Thanks for reading. My name is Leon Edwards Jr. and I release content under Somethin’ About Sports. Check out my podcast and follow me on twitter to talk sports.
