Recruiting Report: Luke Wilson (2017)
There are three words that Luke Wilson has tried to live by this spring. Three words that have helped catapult the 6-foot-3 class of 2017 guard into the upper stratosphere of Colorado’s elite shooters. Let it fly. “The first few games…
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Continue ReadingThere are three words that Luke Wilson has tried to live by this spring. Three words that have helped catapult the 6-foot-3 class of 2017 guard into the upper stratosphere of Colorado’s elite shooters.
Let it fly.
“The first few games of the high school season and the first couple tournaments of the spring, I was thinking too much,” Wilson said. “I would just kind of hesitate before I shot it and I wasn’t shooting well. Rick (Jimenez, Wilson’s coach with Colorado Titans 17U Gold) was telling me, ‘You play so much better when you don’t think.’ I really took that heart. I go out there now with the mentality that the next shot is going in. If someone’s hand is down, I’m shooting it.”
Letting it fly has paid dividends for the sharpshooting lefty out of Boulder High. As a junior for the Panthers last season he shot 43 percent (47-of-110) from 3-point range, and in each of the six or so games we have caught Wilson play live this spring, he has continued to knock it down at a consistent, high-volume clip.
In fact, Wilson might be the smoothest shooter north of Denver not named Braxton Bertolette (6-2, 2017), and much of his success has be tied to his improved confidence.
“On the offensive end, I just have to stop thinking,” he said. “That’s when I play my best, when I just let it fly.”
Wilson, though, isn’t letting himself be defined simply by being a knockdown outside shooter. He’s made it a point this spring to really focus on the defensive end, and his effort on that end the ball is coming along. He has good length and the requisite quickness to guard multiple perimeter positions.
Wilson has credited Jimenez with helping him grow as a defender.
“It all starts in practice,” Wilson said. “He brings so much energy. In the games he’s always on the sideline telling everybody where to go. He’s like a sixth man out there. I think it really helps to have a coach who is engaged in the game and isn’t just sitting back and watching. It’s a huge help.”
As for his recruiting, Wilson said he has begun to pick up interest from a few Division III programs. With a grade-point average of 4.2, with an unweighted mark of 3.7, Wilson is a high-academic, high-character guard who will be very easy to recruit. He believes he can thrive at the high-DIII level.
But Wilson, who averaged 12 points per game last year, is also not limiting his own possibilities heading into his senior season at Boulder, which will begin with the Metro State team camp next month.
“I’m hoping to get more looks this summer,” he said. “I have to get a lot better at certain things, like ball-handling and all that. You never know.”
One thing Wilson does know: Good things will happen if he continues to let it fly.