A lot of players have made plays for Virginia in its undefeated start this season, but freshman Isaiah Wilkins has started to turn in some key moments during ACC play recently. I haven’t been surprised by that, though.
I’m seeing what I saw from playing pick-up games and working out in the summer. Humble kid. Athletic body. Fundamentally sound. Extremely coachable. He has a knack for the ball. High basketball IQ. Solid skill set. The keys are the intangibles of head and heart, which are a rarity amongst young players in today’s game. It will only be a matter of time until he explodes I think.
Wilkins has more in his bag of tricks than we see on game day. I’ve played one-on-one a few times with the kid. He’s a special talent and has a dynamic skill set and he is fundamentally sound. As a freshman, it is beautiful to see him understanding his role and continuing to make the right decisions to keep the offense cohesive and fluid.
Coach Tony Bennett talked about his defense and defensive stance recently too. He’s athletic and he always plays low. A wise man once told me (Larry Brown) that the low man always wins. Offensively and defensively. Wilkins has a huge wing span and plays in an athletic position the whole time he’s on the court. It’s very effective. He’s able to get from point A to point B a second faster than a lot of players because he plays so low.
One thing UVa fans have loved about him so far, though, is his energy. An energy guy is imperative to a team’s success. Jason Cain and Lars Mikalauskas made us go my sophomore and junior year. They rebounded, communicated well on defense, and always gave us that boost we needed in crucial moments of the games. That helped us tie for the ACC regular season title my junior year.
What makes this UVa team unique though is that 85% of the players are energy guys in their own right. Coach Bennett teaches these kids to have a blue collar mentality and that shines bright. So what does that say about Wilkins? His energy is clearly noticeable. He clearly understands his role no matter what line-up is out there. Very smart kid. In competitive sports, the game usually tends to favor the aggressors that impose their will against their opponent.
It’s tough as a freshman to come in and carve out a niche. I commend Marial Shayok and Wilkins for doing an excellent job at that. Personally when I came to UVa my first year, I felt like I belonged. I knew I put in a ton of work day in and day out. I won the respect of the upper classmen starting the first day of practice. On the other hand, that year presented a big challenge on the court. The ACC had a lot of NBA caliber guards – Chris Paul at Wake Forest, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants at UNC, Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum at Georgia Tech, John Gilchrist at Maryland, Zabian Dowdell at Virginia Tech, and J.J. Reddick at Duke for example.
I think Wilkins has a very bright future because he is contributing and figuring out his role as a freshman. If he can stay healthy, the sky is the limit. He has the character and the humility already. He has tons of tools in his skill set. He’s going to be special very soon.
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