LOOK: Kansas basketball appears to say goodbye to Jalen Wilson following potential final game
Jalen Wilson enjoyed a breakout season during his junior year for the Kansas Jayhawks, establishing himself as one of the premiere players in all of college basketball. He averaged 20.1 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game. The Jayhawks suffered an excruciating 72-71 defeat in the Round of 32 in this year’s NCAA Tournament to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday evening. It was one of the more entertaining games of the tournament thus far, but unfortunately the loss ends the season for Kansas. On Sunday afternoon, Wilson wrote an emotional farewell, as he’ll likely be entering his name in the 2023 NBA Draft sometime in the near future. Kansas basketball also appeared to say goodbye to their superstar small forward. He entered his name in the NBA Draft in 2021 and 2022, but opted to return to Lawrence for another season each time.
Check out the message below, posted by the Kansas basketball Twitter page.
He wrote: “Putting on this jersey everyday has changed my life. For the rest of my life I’ll remember putting on this jersey. I just want to be remembered as a guy who loved this place and did everything to make this place special,” Wilson wrote. “I never wanted it to be about me. Even now. There have been so many different guys that [have played] here. I just wanted to make this place as special as I could,” he wrote on Sunday.
Keep in mind, he could still potentially come back for another season, but it looks like this time, Wilson is finally gone for good. His days as a Kansas Jayhawk appear to be officially done. The 6-foot-8 small forward led the team in rebounding during the 2021-2022 season. Wilson also started 27 games on the 2022 National Championship team, averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 rebounds.
He’s yet another example of players developing under the coaching staff at Kansas. This season, he doubled his scoring average, saw a slight jump in his rebounding average, and a slight jump in his assists per game, too.
Coming out of Denton Guyer High School (Denton, Texas), the small forward was one of the top-rated high school basketball prospects in the 2019 cycle. During his final two seasons there, he guided the Wildcats to a combined 70-7 overall record during his junior and senior seasons. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Wilson was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 54 overall prospect in America. He chose the Jayhawks over offers from North Carolina, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and many others.