Tom Wilson (basketball)

On 3 May 2019, it was announced that Wilson had signed with Collingwood in the AFL on a three-year Category B rookie contract.[6] He made his AFL debut on 15 May 2021 in Sydney against Sydney.[7] Wilson kicked his first AFL career goal in Round 4, 2022 in their 13 point loss to West Coast in Melbourne.

Around the same time, Wilson was offered a scholarship to attend Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence (COE) at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.[8] Wilson chose to forgo the NAB AFL Level 1 scholarship[9] and accepted Basketball Australia's COE scholarship.[10] Wilson played for Basketball Australia's COE in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2014 and 2015.[11][12][13]

There were a number of US colleges looking at Wilson after he played well for Australia's under-17 side when they almost beat USA in the gold medal game at the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.[14] In October 2015, he committed to SMU and coach Larry Brown.[14]

During the 2015–16 NBL season, Wilson spent time with Melbourne United as a development player.[14] In 2016, he played for the Frankston Blues in the SEABL alongside his brother Jack.[14] In nine games for Frankston, he averaged 11.1 points per game.[15]

In November 2015, Wilson signed with SMU.[16][17] In June 2016, Wilson joined the Mustangs ahead of the 2016–17 season.[14] However, a month later, Larry Brown resigned from his position, with Tim Jankovich taking over the head spot. In December 2016, Wilson decided to transfer from SMU.[18] In 10 games for the 10–3 Mustangs, Wilson averaged 1.6 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, in just 6.1 minutes per game.[18]

In January 2017, Wilson committed to Boise State University.[19] However, in February, he made the decision to turn professional, due to NCAA rules indicating that Wilson would have to sit out a year before taking the court for the Broncos.[20][21]

In 2017, Wilson played for the Melbourne Tigers in the SEABL. In 17 games, he averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.[15]

On 10 August 2017, Wilson signed a three-year deal with Serbian club Partizan.[22] After a contract dispute forced him out of Partizan, Wilson spent the second half of the 2017–18 NBL season on the Sydney Kings' training roster.[23]

On 5 February 2018, Wilson re-committed to the Melbourne Tigers for the 2018 season.[24] On 15 May 2018, he was named SEABL Player of the Week for Round 6.[25] A week later, he was named SEABL Player of the Week for Round 7.[26] On 10 June 2018, he was named Player of the Month for May.[27] At the season's end, he was named the SEABL MVP alongside All-SEABL First Team and Australian Youth Player of the Year.[28]

On 19 April 2018, Wilson signed a 'one plus one' deal with the Sydney Kings, with the club holding the option on a second year.[1] He scored 10 points in 12 games during the 2018–19 NBL season.[29] The Kings took up the second-year option on 29 March 2019,[30] but on 8 April, he made the decision to cut ties with basketball and join the ranks of Australian rules football.[31][32][33]

Wilson debuted for Australia at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship, averaging 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In 2014, he competed at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship and the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship. At the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Dubai, Wilson helped Australia reach the gold medal game, where they lost to the USA 99–92 despite a 23-point effort from Wilson.[1] For the tournament, Wilson averaged 12.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. In 2015, at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship, he averaged 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.[34] In March 2019, he made his debut for the Australian Boomers.[35]