Hotchkiss Guard Big East Bound
At 11pm on Monday night, Hotchkiss guard Derrick Wilson called Marquette head coach Buzz Williams and made a verbal commitment. The commitment came less than 24 hours after returning from his official visit to the Big East school.
For Wilson, the decision brings an end to a recruiting process that has played out like a roller coaster ride.
At this time last year he was just coming off a big summer which solidified his status as one of the top guards in the national class of 2011. His junior season at the Hotchkiss School would only further prove that point as he put up huge numbers scoring the ball and saw recruitment from a wide range of high major schools in the process.
Then came the summer of 2010 where Wilson found himself on a guard heavy New York Gauchos team and voluntarily played out of position to help his team win games. While Wilson sacrificed his shots and touches to battle under the boards he wasn’t rewarded for his unselfishness but only punished as he saw both his national ranking and list of college suitors both dwindle.
When Wilson returned to the Hotchkiss School this fall he quickly returned to old form, showing the physicality that makes him such a match-up problem in the backcourt as well as his high volume scoring ability. Suddenly, Wilson’s recruitment took off again as a barrage of early commitments made him one of the highest ranked guards left available in the country and another slew of high-major schools, including programs like UCLA, came calling.
But Wilson’s experience had taught him a valuable lesson about the instability of love from college coaches and so he decided to commit to a program that had made him a priority throughout the process.
“I’m very happy with Derrick and the patience and maturity he showed in this whole process,” said Hotchkiss head coach Fred Benjamin. “I really do believe, and he and his family believe in their heart of hearts, that this is the perfect fit for him.”
While Marquette’s interest in Wilson never wavered, that was only part of the reason why Wilson felt like this was an ideal fit.
“It is a tailor fit to his style and how he plays the game,” Benjamin said. “They are a tough and hard-nosed team, they let their guards play, and they have success, they win. Those are all things that are consistent with Derrick.”
While Benjamin acknowledged that the amount of interest Wilson was receiving in recent weeks was overwhelming at times, especially since it was just the opposite a few months earlier, he said Wilson was in no hurry to make a decision and decided to end his recruitment simply because he believed he found the right school.
“A lot of those other programs were great programs, they just weren’t the right fit,” he said. “If he had to wait until the late signing period he would have waited, but he found the right school. [Marquette head coach] Buzz [Williams] is a very demanding coach but his players love him and [assistant] Aki [Collins] did a great job. Derrick just loved the visit and was real happy there.”
For Benjamin the commitment is especially sweet because it gives a final reward to a player who has been the face of his program at the Hotchkiss School and just as important someone who remained patient and confident throughout all of the trials and tribulations the recruiting process can bring.
“I’m really impressed with how he handled the whole process,” Benjamin reiterated. “He is a remarkable kid.”
Derrick Wilson