Wilson Shows His Stuff for No.14 Eagles
MetroSportsReport.com
Doug Wilson had five crowd-pleasing dunks for the Kirkwood Eagles Tuesday night during their 84-55 victory over the William Penn junior varsity, but it was nothing new for the lanky 6-foot-7 forward from Des Moines Hoover.
He did it quite frequently in high school.
Wilson can run all night, snare rebounds, play defense and score around the rim with authority.
"That's pretty much been a trademark for me since I started playing basketball," he said. "I just try to find different ways to score and help my team with energy and stuff like that."
Wilson finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals as Kirkwood raised its record to 3-0.
Wilson has the tools to play at an NCAA Division I school, but he did not meet NCAA academic requirements to play as a freshman and must get his junior college degree before moving to a four-year school.
He has incentive to work harder in the classroom so he can play at a major college some day. "I need to focus more and stay on task and just get it done," he said.
A lot of junior colleges were chasing Wilson in high school and Kirkwood won the race.
"We hard to work pretty hard to get him," said KCC Coach Bryan Petersen. "A lot of our conference opponents really wanted Doug too, so it was a great get for us."
Wilson is averaging 15.7 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Eagles after three games. As a senior at Hoover last season, he averaged 17.9 points, 14 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots and was named first team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association.
"That's the best thing about Doug, he can affect the game in a lot of ways," said Petersen. "He can rebound, defend and he brings energy. He finds way to affect the game and a lot of young kids don't do that."
Petersen called Wilson an elite rebounder and an elite defender, but said he needs to work on his outside shot and free throws.
"I think he can play at a pretty high level," said Petersen. "I think he's for-sure a Division I player."
Wilson and Kirkwood point guard Chris King were teammates at Hoover in 2015 when the Huskies finished fourth in the Class 4A state tournament. Now they are united again in college and give the Eagles a pair of premier ballplayers.
Kirkwood has 12 new players on the team this year, but the Eagles appear to be meshing quite nicely.
"It was actually pretty easy," said Wilson. "All the guys are great. From the start, I could tell we were going to have a good chemistry and we can build from it."
Wilson has made a smooth transition from high school to college.
"I really like it a lot," he said. "I like it a lot because this team and system are pretty much how my high school team was, so it was
pretty easy to adjust to."
Tajen Ross scored 15 points and Carlo Marble had 13 for Kirkwood.
WILLIAM PENN JV (55): Beatty 5 2-3 12, Walker 0 0-0 0, Jackson 2 5-6 9, DeYoung 3 0-0 6, Pullen 2 0-0 4, Chavarria 0 2-2 2, Morgan 1 0-1 2, Johnson 3 0-0 8, Lindsay 0 2-2 2, Amoyaw 2 1-2 6, Weaver 0 0-0 0, Votroubek 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 12-16 55.
KIRKWOOD (84): Stansbury 4 0-0 8, Kale 1 0-1 2, Marble 4 3-4 13, Ross 6 1-2 15, Wilson 9 2-5 20, Washington 2 1-4 6, Small 2 0-1 5, Ray 0 0-0 0, King 1 0-0 3, Taylor 2 2-3 6, Johnson 0 2-2 2, Storey 1 0-2 2, Arrington 1 0-0 2. Totals 33 11-24 84.
Halftime - Kirkwood 34, William Penn 22. 3-point goals - William Penn 3 (Johnson 2, Amoyaw 1), Kirkwood 7 (Marble 2, Ross 2, Washington 1, Small 1, King 1).
