Wilkinson’s path anything but ordinary
When senior big man Gary Wilkinson takes the Spectrum floor Saturday for what could be the final time, it would be easy to assume that his story is like many other Utah-born athletes who have graced the Spectrum court. But, you know what they say about assumptions.
The story of Wilkinson is that of a script perfectly written for Cache Valley.
Wilkinson grew up in South Jordan, Utah but at first glances he looks better suited to be carrying some medieval war weapon going into battle, red hair blazing, screaming at the top of his lungs. But, Wilkinson fits right in.
He’s one of seven players on the USU basketball team who have served LDS missions, he’s married and he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll run into around campus.
Since arriving at USU last season, Wilkinson has had an immediate impact and with an attitude to match his hair color, an immediate connection with USU fans. The energy and emotion he plays with is exactly what has had endeared him to so many Aggie faithful.
“The crowd is huge as far as getting me personally hyped up for the games,” Wilkinson said. “I feed off them and hopefully they feed off me, and it just helps us to stay energized as a team and me as a player.”
Therefore, it may be hard to believe that the 6-foot-9 240-pounder never played high school ball. Not because he wasn’t gifted, but because by his own accounts he had a bad attitude and no work ethic.
His lack of desire eventually led to Wilkinson dropping out his senior year of high school – a void he filled with drugs and alcohol.
Soon, however, a series of events led Wilkinson to question the direction his life was heading – a question that was answered days later when LDS missionaries knocked on his door.
From there the rest is history. Wilkinson joined the church, embarked on a mission and more or less walked on to the basketball team at Salt Lake Community College.
“I never would have imagined what my life would hold coming from where I came from,” he said. “But I don’t think I could have imagined something as great as what’s happened to me so far.”
With renewed desire, Wilkinson was an instant success at SLCC as he averaged 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds during his sophomore campaign. He was also selected to the NJCCA All-America team … twice.
That kind of attention brought the Division I programs calling, and when it came down to it, Wilkinson and his wife, Jessica, picked the Aggies.
During his first year at USU, Wilkinson stepped in immediately to become USU’s second leading scorer behind all-time points leader Jaycee Carroll. He averaged 13.3 points while pulling down 7.0 boards during his junior year.
This season, Wilkinson was voted the preseason conference player of the year, and has been living up to the hype averaging 17.1 points and 7.2 rebounds through 30 games.
Now, as his senior year winds down, Wilkinson is hoping for a Hollywood ending to an already amazing story.
“To win a WAC tournament championship and go to the NCAA’s and make a run in that tournament,” he said, would be a great capper to his senior year. “I think that’s the goal of every Division I college basketball player at this point is to be able to make it to the tourney and go dancing.”
Not to be one-dimensional, the former high school dropout has been working just as hard in the classroom. He recently took the LSAT, and is looking to pursue a degree in law.
When asked to describe himself, and what has led to the changes in his life, “Big Red” summed it up in one word – happy.
“I’m a happy guy. I like to look at life from a positive perspective and take the best out of every circumstance that I encounter,” he said.
Aggie fans should be happy that they have one more chance to see the big redhead lead his team into battle one more time … because he is sure excited to see them.
“When they come running down the stairs an hour before the game and bring a lot of energy with them, I think it plays a huge part in helping me to try to stay energized throughout the game,” Wilkinson said. “It’s just a great atmosphere to play in, and as a college basketball player you can’t ask for a better environment and better fans.”
–t.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu