Basketball or track and field | Talented Jamaican athlete faces dilemma

Wilson, a top class high jumper from St Jago, was rightly tipped as one for the future of Jamaica’s track and field programme.

The challenge, however, is that Wilson is also a very talented basketball player. It was through basketball he was offered a scholarship to pursue higher education at Chipola College in Florida, but after one year at junior college he’s seriously contemplating continuing his degree programme at GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport and recalibrating his focus back on track and field.

Not wanting to reveal the real reason behind his intentions, Wilson said is situation is summed up as this: stay in the US and continue focusing on basketball or return to Jamaica and do track and field.

“I like both of them. I like high jump and I like basketball. But it’s just the case of which one is better for me right now,” the six-foot seven-inch guard said in an interview with Old Harbour News recently.

“Well, I’m not going back (to Chipola College),” he continued. “It’s either GC (Foster College) to start up back track and field or going to a different college in the US to continue basketball.”

Wilson was among a group of top young basketball talent that participated in the July 8-12 Old Harbour Church of Christ Basketball Camp.

The annual camp, now in its fifth year, focuses on developing player’s skill sets and is led by certified US coaches, some of whom are members of the collegiate system.

“It’s a great group of coaches that they carry around from all over from different parts of America… so we’re getting good coaching and how we can play better team basketball instead of just individual play and find our roles and how to stick to those roles,” the former St Jago student told Old Harbour News.

During his time in Florida, Wilson said his game has improved markedly, but seems not too happy with the limited game time given at Chipola.

“A lot has been happening, I’ve gotten better, even developed different shots, improve my balance,” he said. “Throughout the years I was playing good but they were not using me because I guess they didn’t want to or they have someone similar that they had more faith in.”

Exposure in US has opened his eyes to a lot of things pertaining to basketball, he said, and believes the local governing body – the Jamaica Basketball Association – should get more foreign coaches to conduct clinics or even better establish some kind of bilateral agreement with a foreign entity, similarly to the ongoing China Jamaica Sport Exchange Programme.

As to his next immediate step, Wilson said: “I just need to talk to different people in my life and advise me to see which path they think is best.”

If he chooses basketball, Wilson definitely wants to be on a team that will guarantee him more game time. If its track and field, his target will be the 2020 Olympics with the high jump’s B and A qualifying standard of 2:29m and 2:32m firmly in his sight.