Worth the wait

Friday, February 10, 2012

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There are certain unwritten rules that go with being a high school athlete.

If you’re an underclassman, you get to carry the equipment or the Gatorade bucket. If you’re a junior, and you have a shot at being more than a role player, you make the varsity team.

That wasn’t the case for James Wilson.

As a junior last season, Wilson didn’t make the Hollis Brookline High School varsity basketball team.

“When it came to junior year, I think a lot of players think, I played freshmen, I played JV, I’m obviously going to be on varsity,’ ” HB coach Mike Soucy said. “We didn’t select him. We put him down on JV and I think he was hurt by that.”

Wilson wasn’t just hurt.

“I was so disappointed,” he said. “It was embarrassing, playing with JV players as a junior.”

After tryouts, Soucy sat down with every player to discuss why they made the varsity or why they didn’t. When he met with Wilson, he could see the emotion, but the coach could also tell there was some understanding as to why it had to happen.

“He knew what he needed to do to get better,” Soucy said. “We had high hopes for him from the beginning, we just didn’t know how well he was going to develop. He seemed to lack a bit of confidence and he didn’t work as much outside of here, as with most players.”

That soon changed for Wilson. Instead of sulking, or giving up, he worked harder, although it was tough for him at first.

While the varsity was playing in the Chick-fil-A Holiday Tournament, Wilson was watching on the sidelines. A friend asked him if he was even going to bother trying out as a senior and Wilson remembers shaking his head.

But that feeling didn’t last long.

“All my friends thought of me as a basketball player, and then I couldn’t make varsity,” he said. “I thought we were going to have a really good team. All those bottled up emotions went off during the season. I was working out three times a week and in open gyms two times a week.”

Even when the gym wasn’t open, Wilson was in it, and he soon became a familiar face to the school’s custodians.

“He was constantly in this gym when it was open, and even when it wasn’t, he touched base with the custodians to see if he could get in there,” Soucy said. “He was religious in the weight room, three days a week all spring, all summer, all fall. It paid off. His game completely changed.”

During his junior year, Wilson practiced with the varsity and played in the JV games, a combination which Soucy believes helped Wilson gain the confidence to compete and be successful.

And the work he put in certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the Cavaliers.

“For a lot of people, maybe it would have sunk them or maybe they wouldn’t have tried as hard,” senior Mike Chase said. “The way sports works now in high school, upperclassmen get gifted onto teams if they’re almost good enough, so I can see how that might be embarrassing. I respect him for not giving up.”

This season, Wilson has turned into one of HB’s most consistent players. The small guard who could shoot from the outside has turned into a lanky slasher who is now a reliable option in the post.

“He grew into his body,” Soucy said. “He works on the boards and putbacks. He’s tremendous at it because he’s got an engine that doesn’t quit. I felt like we can’t be who we want to be without him on the floor. He does so many things. Part of it is because he has a motor that doesn’t quit. He has a competitive drive that most of the guys can’t match.”

Wilson provides the Cavs with a much-needed emotional spark, as was evident after he scored a game-high 15 points in HB’s win over Milford on Jan. 24. When the final buzzer sounded, Wilson gave out a victory cry as he high-fived his teammates.

“It felt awesome,” he said. “That was my first win against Milford. It was huge. Guys in the locker room were pumped.”

After a tough start to the season against a challenging schedule, the Cavs have won two of their last three games.

“In the beginning we just didn’t know how to win,” Wilson said. “I had high expectations for this season. I think we’re close to getting to that level.”