Aside from a 54-point first half against George Southern there has not been much for George Mason to be excited about to start year two of the ‘two-year’ season. Well, here is someone you should be excited about: A.J. Wilson.
Without question, the addition of Jarred Reuter has been underwhelming to the start of the 2018-19 season. His piecemeal start with the Patriots has left the door open on the Patriots roster for some vital minutes on the court. That is where Wilson not only has risen to the occasion, but thrived.
Through four games Wilson has been the lone spark for Mason (1-3).
On Saturday at EagleBank Arena, Wilson had arguably the best night of his young career. Finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks against Southern in a 69-65 victory, Wilson had the second double-double of his career. Sparking the bench was enough to give the team a presence on the second-unit. Then, he was elevated to the primary unit.
“My role is to just do I can to bring energy to the team, whether it’s blocking shots, getting rebounds, pumping up my teammates,” Wilson said after the loss to American.
And Wilson did that. An emphatic dunk, huge defensive rebounds to end Southern possessions all got his team in a position to win.
Logging 27 minutes was the most ever for the redshirt-sophomore. As the season has progressed Wilson is more confident with the ball in his hands and his role with the team. This has resulted in an increase in Wilson’s minutes and production. With Georgia Southern as an anomaly, Wilson has been perhaps the most impressive story on the roster.
Back on the season opener, head coach Dave Paulsen noted that “[Wilson’s] 100 percent going to play those type of minutes.” That was when he only played 17 minutes against Penn.
His rise continued with some of his most meaningful minutes of his career. Wilson was in the contest for the final 10 minutes and commanded the post. He helped push the lead to 11 and remained in when the lead got cut to five.
Only his teammate Goanar Mar kept him from playing the final 16 seconds.
Here's the play that A.J. Wilson took an elbow from his teammate Goanar Mar. pic.twitter.com/D4W2tJOasS
— Tyler Byrum (@theTylerByrum) November 18, 2018
In the closing moment of the game, Wilson overtook Reuter’s role on the court. Mostly with the starters during that stretch, the 6-7 forward scored eight of his 12 points. Four of them were at the charity stripe, two from a left-handed finish in the lane and the final two from a breakaway dunk.
This is a far improvement from his role last year. Primarily, Wilson was a filler piece to cycle into the eight-man rotation. Occasionally he would get a help-side block or a highlight reel dunk attempt, but he was limited due to some careless errors and unforced turnovers.
Turnovers are gone (four on the season) and Wilson is now the highest scoring Patriot not listed as a guard.
Of course after his scary injury to his head, his availability going forward may be limited. However, it was reassured that Wilson was okay after the hit.
I’m good Mr. President! Thank you for your concerns 💚💛 https://t.co/NyE8grNvN3
— STAT 👓 (@Aj12Wilson) November 18, 2018
“[Missing Wilson would] be a big loss, no question about it. He was phenomenal tonight, so we’re hopeful for his sake for our team’s sake that he doesn’t miss any games,” Paulsen said after the win.
Missing Wilson for an extended period of time is not an option George Mason can afford. The remaining three bigs (Mar, Reuter and Greg Calixte) have combined for only 9.8 ppg.
Wilson’s season average is 9.3 ppg.
Right now the focus of this team will be finding out the correct rotation and perfecting relationships on the court. Non-conference results are almost arbitrary at this point. Preparing for Atlantic 10 play to contend for a championship is what George Mason needs to strive to. Finessing the proper line-up and assignments is what will get them there. And getting to that point will definitely involve Wilson.
