Gary Wilkinson (basketball)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. | October 2, 1982
Listed height | 204 cm (6 ft 8 in) |
Listed weight | 113 kg (249 lb) |
Career information | |
High school | Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) |
College |
|
BC Kalev/Cramo | |
2013 | Indios de Mayagüez |
2013–2014 | New Zealand Breakers |
2014 | Indios de Mayagüez |
2014 | Vaqueros de Bayamón |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Gary Kristopher Wilkinson (born October 2, 1982) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Utah State and has played previously for professional teams in Greece, South Korea, New Zealand, Estonia and Puerto Rico.
Early life
Wilkinson was born in
College career
Salt Lake Community College
For two seasons (2005–2007), Wilkinson played for the Salt Lake Community College basketball team. He averaged 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and shot 60.2 percent from the field and 74.2 percent from the free throw line.[1] Coach Norm Parrish was skeptical at first after Wilkinson called him for a tryout but was impressed enough to invite Wilkinson to the team.[4] Wilkinson's awards during his time at SLCC include the Scenic West Athletic Conference First Team (2006, 2007) and NJCAA All-American Third Team in 2006.[1][4] With a 3.96 grade point average, he also was on the NJCAA Academic All-American Team after his first season.[4]
Utah State
Wilkinson played for the
Wilkinson graduated from Utah State in 2009 with a
Scott Powers, in a profile of Wilkinson for ESPN The Magazine, commented: "...the fact he's 26-years-old, dropped out of high school after never playing basketball there, found God, spent two years in Canada on a mission, is married and is the lone senior on the 25-2 nationally ranked Aggies is what really separates him from every other elite college basketball player."[2]
Professional career
In July 2009, Wilkinson signed with the
The
Wilkinson was named Player of the Month for January 2011, averaging 20.3 points per game, shooting the ball at 61% from the field and 42% from the perimeter. He also made 82% of his freethrows and averaged 8.0 rebounds per game,[14] and was later named to the All-NBL First Team (alongside teammate Kirk Penney).[15] With a 71–53 victory over the Cairns Taipans in the third game of the NBL Grand Final on April 29, 2011, the Breakers became the NBL champions of the 2010–11 season. Wilkinson scored 13 points and made six rebounds.[16]
On August 2, 2011, Wilkinson re-signed with the Breakers on a one-year deal.[17]
On May 6, 2012, Wilkinson played his first game in Puerto Rico for the Vaqueros de Bayamón. Later that year, he signed with
On October 28, 2013, Wilkinson re-signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the remainder of the 2013–14 season after the Breakers started the season 1–3.[18][19] Following the conclusion of the NBL season, he re-joined Indios de Mayagüez for the 2014 BSN season.
Personal life
In June 2006, Wilkinson married Utah State volleyball player Jessica Petersen.[4][20] They have two children, son Jordan (born 2011) and daughter Eva (born 2013).[21][22]
During his professional basketball career, Wilkinson lived in Logan, Utah for off-seasons.[12] In 2014, Wilkinson retired from basketball and enrolled at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. In 2016, he joined the Salt Lake City office of the law firm Snell & Wilmer as a summer associate and was also on the junior staff of the Utah Law Review.[23][24]
References
- ^ a b c d "Gary Wilkinson". UtahStateAggies.com. CBS Sports College Network. 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Powers, Scott (February 21, 2009). "Gary Wilkinson: Down and Out to Utah State Star". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ a b Burgess, Michael (February 20, 2011). "Basketball: Import thriving at Breakers". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Ashton, Steve (January 26, 2007). "From high school dropout to SLCC basketball star". Deseret News. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Carey, Jack (February 4, 2009). "Wilkinson, Utah State poised to forge their own path to NCAAs". USA Today. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "Utah State holds Nevada scoreless for 6 1/2 minutes, runs to NCAA bid". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 14, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "Golden Eagles' steady free-throw shooting saves them from upset". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 20, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "Gary Wilkinson Named 2008-09 Stan Bates Award Winner". Utah State Aggies. August 3, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "Gary Wilkinson Named WAC Player Of The Year, Stew Morrill Named WAC Coach Of The Year, While Jared Quayle Earns Second-Team All-WAC Honors". Utah State Aggies. March 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Frandsden, Eric; Newbold, John (July 27, 2009). "Wilkinson going pro in Korea". Cache Valley Daily. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Frandsen, Eric (November 25, 2009). "Gary Wilkinson cut from South Korean team". Cache Valley Daily. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ a b Gardner, Chet (February 10, 2010). "Catching Up With Former Aggie Gary Wilkinson". UtahStateAggies.com. CBS Sports College Network. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- National Basketball League. August 19, 2010. Archived from the originalon June 28, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "Rolling Breakers sweep NBL monthly awards". February 8, 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ "All-NBL Teams named for 2010/11 season". April 5, 2011. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ^ Hinton, Marc (April 29, 2011). "Breakers secure first ANBL championship". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
- ^ Hinton, Marc (August 2, 2011). "Gary Wilkinson to return for NZ Breakers". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- ^ "SKYCITY BREAKERS MOVE QUICKLY IN ROSTER CHANGE". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29.
- ^ "NZ Breakers re-sign Gary Wilkinson, release Darnell Lazare". newshub.co.nz. 27 October 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Player profile of Jessica Wilkinson".
- ^ Hinton, Marc (June 30, 2011). "Breakers import Wilkinson weighing options". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ "Take 40: Gary Wilkinson".
- ^ "UTAH LAW REVIEW". Archived from the original on 2016-11-18.
- ^ "Gary Wilkinson".[self-published source]