Earlier today, I posted the first half of my conversation with Terry Sanford High School basketball coach Bill Boyette about his senior guard, Chris Wilson. During our conversation, Coach Boyette spoke at length about some of the intangibles that he feels Chris will bring to Saint Joseph's next year.
This year's SJU team, partially due to their youth, lacks a take-charge, vocal leader. In his written evaluation on ESPN, the site states that Chris "is a vocal leader of one of the best summer squads on the circuit," referring to his play with the CP3 All-Stars. In their evaluation, ESPN also writes that Chris has "a special quality that you don't find in kids his age very often." According to Coach Boyette, this leadership ability is one of the aspects of Chris' game that really attracted college coaches. Boyette described Chris as a "coach on the floor" who "likes to take charge." Of course, it's one thing to do that at the local high school level, and another to do it at the college level, surrounded by other highly-regarded players who already have college experience. That being said, Boyette does believe that Chris will bring that leadership, enthusiasm, and take-charge mentality to Hawk Hill. He has a sense of confidence that he matches with intensity and a strong work ethic.
Due to his size and strength, Chris has the tools in place to be a physical defender at the college level. Referring back to that ESPN evaluation (which is linked here ), he is described as a "relentless" defender who "challenges every shot and every pass." This sense of urgency on the defensive end is something that Coach Boyette also felt strongly about. Each game, Chris' mindset, according to his coach, is to lock down the opponent's best offensive player. Chris even goes so far as saying to his coach, "Coach, I want to guard him." When asked what style of defense he runs, Coach Boyette told me that he is stubborn and relies exclusively on man-to-man. This will obviously benefit Chris, as Saint Joseph's also, almost exclusively, goes man-to-man. Terry Sanford is only giving up 46 points per game, and that is due to a "commitment to defense" that Coach Boyette has his players buy into.
During his 4 years at Terry Sanford High School, Chris has tallied up a record of 98-11. So far this year the team is 13-2, and last year they went 31-1. As the high school season marches on to district and state playoffs, check back here for updates from North Carolina. Every player that is recruited at the college level garners accolades during high school. What most stood out to me during my conversation with Chris' high school coach was the intangibles. Due to these intangibles, his passing ability, and his commitment to defense, Chris will have his shot at earning significant minutes as a freshman at Saint Joseph's next fall. He will join Hofstra transfer Halil Kanacevic and current redshirt Papa Samba Ndao as newcomers on next season's team.
Photo of Chris above is from Scout.com
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