Recruiting Report: VJ Wilmington (2018)
Davenport North 6-foot-3 guard VJ Wilmington may not have gotten the offers he was hoping to receive this past spring and summer, but he’s optimistic they’ll come this high school season.
He was bouncing back and forth from Kingdom Hoops Elite I and Kingdom Hoops Elite II during his 17U campaign, and even though no offers came in, he still got the ball rolling with some college interest.
“This offseason, I think I played well, but it didn’t quite go as well as I wanted it to because I didn’t get any offers. I’m just still working hard and trying to elevate my game to get a scholarship anywhere,” said Wilmington.
“I’ve gotten some looks though, and some invitations to elite camps from D1 and D2 schools; they’ve been interested, but haven’t really taken it a step further. I’m just focused on taking my game to the next level and having a breakout senior season.”
Wilmington mentioned which schools in particular have been showing interest, whether that’s texts, letters or actually coming to watch him play.
“I’ve had Wayne State and Sioux Falls, they’ve invited me to elite camps and came to watch me during the season,” he said. “I’ve had some D3s that have been texting me, like University of Chicago and University of Dubuque, and some colleges like that.”
Just months removed from his senior season with the Wildcats, Wilmington mentioned what it is he’s been working most to improve before his final high school season.
“The progress I’ve made is being more of a team player, and also being way more efficient. From my sophomore to my junior season I went from 35 to 48 percent (field goal percentage), and that’s what I’ve been trying to improve on most,” he said.
“I still need to work on getting my teammates a little more involved. This year we have Lacey Watson from Rock Island coming in, and he’s a Division I prospect (Kent State, Toledo offers) and a big scorer, so I’ll be able to get him the ball and not do as much scoring as I’ve been used to.”
Another big goal of Wilmington’s, aside from efficient scoring and high-volume assisting, is being a leader, and keeping the team tight-knit.
“I’m also looking to keep the chemistry right, and doing things to keep the team tight outside of practice, more team chemistry. Like going out to dinner and things like that to get that bonding,” said Wilmington.
“Individually, I’m looking forward to doing anything I can to get my team to state. And just being the best point guard I can be to take my team to the next level.”