Wilson powers Michigan
Forward has been unsung hero in tourney
He goes by D.J., so you don’t often see it fully spelled out: DeVante Jaylen Wilson.
But, yes, one of Michigan basketball’s breakout stars of the postseason was named — in part — after one of Michigan basketball’s biggest stars ever: Jalen Rose.
“He was meant to go to Michigan, absolutely,” Capital Christian (Sacramento) School coach Devon Jones, who coached Wilson since elementary school, told USA TODAY Sports.
Though it took a little while, and a little luck, for that to become clear.
Wilson, the unsung hero for the Wolverines throughout their Big Ten tournament championship run and their run to the Sweet 16 matchup against Oregon on Thursday, wasn’t originally on Michigan’s recruiting radar.
He’s from Sacramento, not typically known as a hotbed for Big Ten basketball, and he was long, lanky and still figuring out just what his body could do.
But he happened to be playing in an AAU game in Milwaukee, against Kevon Looney, a five-star Michigan target who eventually would sign with UCLA. ThenWolverines assistant coach LaVall Jordan noticed the 6-9 kid in the Class of 2014 with a 7-3 wingspan who looked like he had a skill set perfect for a John Beilein offense.
“His recruitment, for Michigan, was more of an accident than it was on purpose,” Jones said.
Jordan was looking to fill a void as Glenn Robinson III would be headed to the NBA.
Jordan then went to see Wilson at a tournament in Las Vegas, and he nearly did a double-take, calling fellow assistant Bacari Alexander over to help him evaluate Wilson accurately.
“I was like, ‘Hey, BA, come watch this kid to make sure I’m not losing it here — I think he’s pretty good,’ ” Jordan recalled. “He said, ‘No-brainer for us.’ …
“He kind of fit the mold of all those other guys — Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. — he was under-recruited, underrated and had a chip on his shoulder.”
Part of what kept Wilson under the radar of other top programs was his size. He shot up so fast he sustained a stress fracture in his lower back during the spring of his junior year in 2012 that required a body brace and forced him to miss the spotlight of the summer recruiting period.
“He was always a taller kid, always really long; he was actually a little clumsy coming out of junior high,” Jones said. “His feet were so big and his arms were so long. He didn’t have a lot of strength, really, to control his body. He went through a 5- or 6-inch growth spurt in between his sophomore year and the time he was a senior that just really exploded his recruitment.”
Michigan began recruiting Wilson that following summer, in 2013. And even after he earned more interest nationally — he took visits to Gonzaga and Columbia — as he got healthy heading into his senior season, he stayed connected to Michigan. He committed that fall to the Wolverines.
“There was a lot of doubt out there,” Jones said. “I think people doubted whether he was strong enough or tough enough or mean enough. No one ever really doubted his skill set, because he’s got an amazing work ethic — this is a kid who’d work out three times a day, before school, after school and again at night.”
Much of the hard work Wilson has put in over the past three years has taken place in the weight room alongside Michigan strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson. A knee injury sustained against Villanova his freshman year ended up being a blessing in disguise; he was able to redshirt and get stronger.
“You could tell he’d be a good shooter for his position,” Jordan said. “He just had to get more physical and embrace contact. That was the big thing.”
Now a junior, Wilson is doing that and averaging nearly eight more points and five more rebounds a game than last season.
He scored 26 points on 11for-18 shooting to help knock out Purdue, the Big Ten’s top seed, in the conference tournament. And he scored 19 — 6for-6 from the free throw line — in the seventh-seeded Wolverines’ win against No. 10 seed Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday. He had 17 points, including going 4-for-4 on free throws when fouled twice in the final 20 seconds, as Michigan upset No. 2 Louisville 73-69 on Sunday.
“Everything with D.J. has always been about his confidence level,” Jones said. “As long as he’s not scared to make a mistake on the floor, then he’s going to be able to play at his full ability. John Beilein and his staff at Michigan have done such a great job of letting him embrace his role.”