Bradley recruit John Wilkins, the Belgium native who couldn’t get cleared by the NCAA to join the Braves this season, has assimilated well in his short stay at Southeastern Community College.
On a Friday visit to the school, I found that the 6-foot-9 Wilkins seems to have adapted quickly to his schoolwork and practice schedule with the NJCAA’s 12th-ranked Blackhawks. And he loves hamburgers, pizza and Italian food.
“John is one of the nicest kids I’ve met,” Southeastern coach Terry Carroll said. “He’s very receptive to coaching, he’s very polite and cordial. People around here really like him and he’s fit in very well. He’s a people person.”
Said new teammate Brian McMikle, a freshman guard from Brooklyn: “He’s got a great sense of humor and he’s teaching us some new languages. He’s doing great. We get along with him fine. He’s more a finesse player at 6-9 and that’s pretty tremendous. We definitely can use him next year.”
Wilkins, whose primary language is French, enrolled at the Iowa junior college a month ago after incomplete transcripts from his high school in Belgium caused the NCAA Eligibility Center to render him ineligible for Division I play.
Wilkins’ original plan was to enroll at Bradley for the current semester beginning in mid-December. When that didn’t work, his dad decided the best solution was to get him into a junior college and start practicing with a team.
“I feel good,” Wilkins said prior to Friday’s workout. “I practice hard and get my grades good. I work hard every day and work in the weight room. That’s new for me. I weigh 215 now and have gained about 10 pounds since I’ve been here.”
The 53-year-old Carroll, a former Iowa all-state guard at Ames High School, has been a head and assistant coach at every level from high school to Division I for the past 30 years. Carroll said Wilkins has a high basketball IQ and readily understands new concepts thrown at him.
“John has a high skill level,” Carroll said. “You can tell he’s very talented and has a lot of natural God-given ability. He’s real bouncy and has good ballhandling skills and has a really nice shot with 3-point range.
“We’re working with him on (setting up offensively with) his back to the basket. He’s more of a face-the-basket, European player. He’ll stay this summer and work with our weight guy to get bigger and stronger. We’d like to get him a little more versatile.”
The goal is for Wilkins to earn his associate’s degree by the spring or summer of 2010, which would make him eligible to enroll at Bradley that fall with three years left. He’ll play just one season for the Blackhawks, if all goes well academically.
“He’ll have a core curriculum degree when he gets 62 hours,” Carroll said. “We would never rush somebody into academic failure. But he’s taking 15 credit hours and he’s doing good so far. Plus, he has the whole second summer semester (of 2010) to finish up if he needs to.”
Wilkins smiled broadly throughout this interview and put on a joyful dunking display for the camera once the hour-long practice was done.
It’s a great change in demeanor for him since spending several months in limbo living with his truck-driving father, former Illinois State great Jeff Wilkins, in Gary, Ind.
During that time, Wilkins studied for and took his ACT and SAT and then waited for the NCAA to go back and forth with his high school, in a vain search of more detailed grade transcripts.
“I was kind of frustrated, waiting and waiting and waiting,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. When I came here, I took my frustration to the game.”
While living in Gary, Wilkins played about once a week in Chicago playground pickup games and said he learned much there.
“It was very tough, but it helped me,” he said. “Basketball is (more physical) here. I met (former BU player Tony Bennett). He talked to me about Coach Jim (Les) and told me he gets a lot of respect because he treats people like men and not like students or teenagers.”
Wilkins’ commitment to BU has remained strong.
“Bradley is like a family,” he said. “They are very close with each other so I like it. The coaches call me all the time and some of the players have text-messaged me.”
Wilkins saw the BU loss to Michigan State on TV, but hasn’t been back to campus since his official visit and oral commitment last August.
“Without any question, he’s coming to Bradley,” Carroll said. “If anybody else calls, we’ll tell ’em he’s committed to Bradley.”
Wilkins’ college situation proves another lesson he has passed along to his 14-year-old brother, Jonathan, who’s already 7 feet tall and playing in Belgium.
“I think he will come over here and play in high school,” John Wilkins said. “I don’t want him to go through what I went through.”
Both Wilkins brothers dream of playing in the NBA, where their dad played for six seasons before continuing his career in Europe.
“I needed to come to the United States to play college ball and then hopefully the NBA,” John Wilkins said. “The NBA is show time and focused on offense; European ball has a lot of trick defenses.
“Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady are my favorite players. When I was young, people compared me to Kevin Garnett, and now they think I can be like Tracy McGrady.”
Terry Carroll and Jim Les are salivating at that thought.
Dave Reynolds is a Journal Star sports reporter. He can be reached at dreynolds@pjstar.com or 686-3210.
