The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Ex-Huskies finding success elsewhere
Sid Wilson has found greener pastures out in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Wilson, the former UConn forward, was named the Ohio Valley Conference’s newcomer of the week recently after averaging 18 points and 4.3 rebounds in a pair of road wins for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The 6-foot-7 junior forward is averaging 13.8 points in 13 games for the Cougars, who were beset by COVID-related postponements in January and are now in the midst of a stretch of 14 games in 27 days in February.
Wilson arrived at UConn in 2017 after taking a few summer classes at St. John’s, but had to sit out his first season. He averaged 4.6 points as a freshman and 3.1 as a sophomore but never really jibed with coach Dan Hurley and was suspended late last season for undisclosed reasons.
But the Bronx native has apparently found a home in southern Illinois.
Wilson is one of several Huskies continuing their collegiate careers elsewhere. Alterique Gilbert is averaging 10 points and 4 assists per game as the starting point guard for Wichita State, which is a somewhat
surprising 10-4, even after the dismissal of longtime head coach Gregg Marshall just before the start of the season. Gilbert is shooting well (32 percent, 27 percent from 3), but isn’t turning over the ball over as much (2 per game).
Juwan Durham is averaging 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds for struggling Notre Dame. Vance Jackson is averaging 4.5 points and shooting 37 percent from 3 for Arkansas, which is 14-5 overall and 6-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
Gilbert, Durham and Jackson are all grad students who were part of the vaunted “Top Five” recruiting class that arrived at UConn in 2016 with so much promise. The other two members of that class were Christian Vital, who is now with the Memphis Hustle of the G-League, and Mamadou Diarra, who ended his playing career amid chronic knee injuries a couple of years ago and is now a graduate assistant coach at UConn.
FORMER RECRUITS OUT WEST
A trio of former Huskies recruits, all of whom decommitted from the program after Kevin Ollie was fired, are having varying levels of success. James Akinjo is averaging 14.6 points and 5.5 assists as the starting point guard at Arizona. Emmitt Matthews is averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds for 17th-ranked West Virginia, and Lukas Kisunas is averaging 2 points and 2.9 rebounds at Stanford, where the 6-9 forward has recently moved into the starting lineup. All three players are juniors.
WHO MAKES THESE DECISIONS?
In case there’s still any question whose decision it is to postpone or cancel games in the Big East, the league’s associate commissioner of men’s basketball explains it simply.
“We gather the information, we assess the information, we communicate it to all the schools that are involved in any one situation,” Stu Jackson said. “But ultimately, those decisions to play or not to play, or to pause, are made by the respective schools and local medical health authorities. We don’t make those decisions. We abide by, listen to and adhere to their best medically based decisions, with respect to playing and competing.”
THIS WEEK’S AP TOP 25 BALLOT
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. Villanova
6. Illinois
7. Texas Tech
8. Oklahoma
9. Missouri
10. Alabama
11. Texas
12. Tennessee
13. Houston
14. Florida State
15. West Virginia
16. Virginia
17. Virginia Tech
18. USC
19. Iowa
20. Creighton
21. Wisconsin
22. Loyola-Chicago
23. Xavier
24. Oklahoma State
25. Rutgers