Sydney Kings Sign Young Gun Tom Wilson

The Sydney Kings have today announced that young guard Tom Wilson has signed with the Club on a one-year deal, with a second year being a club option.

Standing 194cm (6’4”), Wilson has long been regarded as one of Australia’s brightest guard prospects.

Still only 20 years of age, his stellar junior career included his captaining of the Australian U-17 national team to the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Championships. With averages of 12 points and 6.5 rebounds per game – including a 23 point performance in the championship game against the United States – the tournament saw scouts from around the world beginning to jot down Wilson’s name as a future star for the first time.

Wilson spent two years at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Canberra before spending a season in Europe in 2017 playing for KK Partizan in Belgrade, Serbia.

Wilson also attended several NBA junior camps including Basketball Without Borders, Taipei, 2014 and New York, 2015, earning All Star honours on each occasion.

Sydney Kings Head Coach Andrew Gaze today expressed his excitement with the club’s acquisition of Wilson.

“I've had the opportunity to coach Tommy as a junior and observe his progress over a number of years,” Coach Gaze said.

“He was an elite junior, has represented and captained his country, and has the ability to play multiple positions. We believe he will be able to contribute to our team immediately. Tom has a high basketball IQ and will provide our team with versatility in our guard rotations.”

“We think this will be the start of a long professional career for Tom and we welcome him to the Sydney Kings.”

Kings’ Managing Director Jeff Van Groningen brought Wilson in as a training squad member for the latter stages of the 2017/18 NBL season and believes the skill level he demonstrated made a compelling case for the player to be offered a contract.

“We feel that Tommy has a tailor-made game for this league. He has size, athleticism and a great feel for scoring,” Mr Van Groningen commented.

“We love that he has wanted to be a King from the moment he had the opportunity to train with us. Now he gets that chance and I’m very confident he’ll bring some excitement to Qudos Bank Arena as part of the backcourt rotation.”

Wilson joins Jerome Randle, Dane Pineau, Todd Blanchfield, Brad Newley and Kevin Lisch on the Kings roster.

Tom Wilson has signed a two-year deal with the Sydney Kings, with a team option on the second year, per a source. He chose the Kings over offers from Germany and Croatia. This contract has NBA and Euro outs. https://t.co/Fap1ewNAua

— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) April 18, 2018