Australian basketballer Tom Wilson says he has made no overtures towards an AFL career and cant wait for the new NBL season to begin.
The rumour mill was spinning hot this week connecting the emerging Sydney Kings guard with a move to Geelong in the AFL as Wilson was both a Vic Metro junior football star and an Australian junior international in basketball.
Wilson has a relationship with the Cats, who let him use their gym and rehabilitation facilities when he is in the Geelong area because his girlfriends family have a holiday house in the region.
“So thats where this has come from, someone found out about my relationship with Geelong, but Im still completely committed to basketball and cant wait for next season,” Wilson said.
“And I havent had any talks [about switching codes] with Geelong or any other footy club.”
Wilson made it clear he still sees his future in basketball despite having several AFL clubs who keep semi-regular but respectful contact with him.
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Its understood that Wilson was valued so highly by AFL Victoria coaches that when he chose basketball that he was told he could come back to the sport at any time, even if it were later in his sporting career.
The 20-year-old is spending the winter with Melbourne Tigers in the SEABL competition, where he is leading the league in scoring with 26 points a game and adding eight rebounds.
Wilson is working to make himself stronger and quicker while his scoring and rebounding numbers have jumped noticeably this SEABL season from 19 points and five rebounds in similar minutes last year.
Wilson has had his challenges since starring for Australia at junior level where his Emus side pushed Team USA into the final minutes of their gold-medal game of the under-17 world championships in 2014 where Australia claimed silver. The United States had the likes of Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum on their roster, claiming the gold medal with a 99-92 win.
Wilson played a season of US basketball at Southern Methodist University after being recruited by NBA coaching great Larry Brown but Brown left the team and Wilson chose to turn professional, spending some time with Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade then returning home to join the Kings.
But he said the grind of professional basketball was making him a better player and he looked forward to his first NBL season after training with the Kings for the later part of last season. He signed a two-year deal with the club in April.
“What I learned from my time overseas was that this is a job and you have to do your best with everything that is in your control like your diet and your workouts and training, no matter what is happening around you,” he said.
Roy Ward is a Sports writer for The Age.
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