Luke Wilson nearly committed to UCLA. After entering the transfer portal on March 31, the 6-foot-10 big man from Appalachian State was all but ready to commit to Mick Cronin and the Bruins. That is until his agent K.J. Smith told him to hold off.
Smith, the former North Carolina Tar Heel and son of Kenny "The Jet" Smith, came back to Wilson with a list of additional schools to consider. Smith set up meetings with four Power Five programs, all within the span a week. Those suitors? Syracuse, Tennessee, Georgia and Louisville. He first talked with Ben Lee and then met with Syracuse coaches Gerry McNamara and Arinze Onuaku, as well as those three other aforementioned programs. Just three weeks after entering the portal Wilson decided a new college basketball home.
"I chose G-Mac and his crew because (of) him and A.O. Those guys stuck out to me the most," Wilson said of the Syracuse coaches. "They want to win and they want to compete. That's something I want to do too."
Wilson decided on the Orange program thanks to McNamara's messaging and the opportunity to work with a big man coach in Onuaku who starred in college and had an opportunity in the NBA. Part of the decision was to earn the chance to work with Onuaku as his position coach.
It's hard not to draw parallels between Onuaku and Wilson, both strong bigs with similar builds. Onuaku was 6-foot-9 and 261 pounds in his playing days at Syracuse. Wilson goes 6-foot-10 and 255 pounds. He'll vie for the starting center position this year.
"That starting position is always cool but learning from him [Onuaku] and knowing he played at the highest level and him being here, knowing what it takes to get there and stay there too. That was big for me," Wilson said.
Wilson comes to Syracuse after spending two seasons at Appalachian State. He earned Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt conference last season after leading the league in blocks per game (1.8). He averaged 10.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and finished the season with a dozen double-doubles.
ACC competition will be a new kind of test. Wilson wants to expand his offense at Syracuse. He describes his offensive game as being more of a "back to the basket guy" who can step out from time to time.
"I've been working on shooting a little bit more this year," Wilson said.
The practices at Syracuse's have been competitive amongst the frontcourt thus far. Syracuse has a log-jam at the four spot with Sadiq White, Francis Folefac and Tasman Goodrick, who teammates say is the best rebounder on the team. The Orange have two different types of centers with strength and size in Wilson and height and length in his backup. Abdramane Siby, a 7-foot center with 7-foot-6 wingspan from Bamako, Mali, has given Wilson a different type of challenge.
"Me and Siby go at it every practice. It's been good. Me and him making each other better," Wilson said. "Just two defensive guys going at it."
Wilson figures to have an impact on both ends. He averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds through Syracuse's three exhibition games. He was the 11th man in the UConn exhibition but started the last two contests against Siena and Niagara.
"I thought Luke was terrific," McNamara said after the UConn exhibition. "I thought Luke impacted the game, to be quite honest, the most with how he rebounded. He altered a few shots."
That's the one end he wants to hang his hat on. Syracuse will need to button up on the defensive end once the season starts for real and Wilson plans to influence that end. So far the Syracuse staff has designated the center position to play in drop coverage when guarding ball screens, something Wilson is comfortable with. His goal for the season?
"A big impact on the defensive end," Wilson said, "for sure."
