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Former NBA player takes over Alabama high school basketball team

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby: Lawrence Fernandez21 hours agolawandfern
Wesley Person - Alabama high school basketball
© John Reed-Imagn Images

A former National Basketball Association player with ties to Alabama high school basketball returns to his home state. In a report by AL.com’s Thomas Ashworth, Wesley Person will take over Wilcox Central’s basketball program.

Before making a mark at Auburn and in the NBA, Person played for Brantley High School. He also coached at Enterprise-Ozark Community College, Greenville, and Florida’s DME Academy. He was also named coach of Jacksonville’s Samuel Wolfson School for Advanced Studies last May.

Person will take over an Alabama high school basketball team that went 19-10 last season. The Jaguars were on a three-game winning streak before losing to Houston Academy in the Class 3A regional finals.

While with Auburn, Person earned First and Second-Team All-SEC honors. After playing for the Tigers, the Phoenix Suns selected Wesley Person in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft. He made it to the 1995 NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 10.4 points and 43.6 percent shooting from the three-point line in 78 games.

Person joined the Cleveland Cavaliers after three seasons with the Suns. He played five seasons with the Cavs, his longest tenure with an NBA team. After which, the former Alabama high school basketball standout played two seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The 6-foot-6 guard/forward completed his NBA career with one-year stints with the Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, and Denver Nuggets. In his 14-year pro basketball career, Wesley Person averaged 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 41.8 percent from beyond the arc.

In international basketball, Person won gold for Team USA in the 1991 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Edmonton, Canada. Two years later, he was once again a member of USA Basketball’s gold-winning team in the FIBA Under-21 World Championship in Valladolid, Spain.

Meanwhile, Wilcox Central will open the 2025-26 Alabama high school basketball season against Hayneville’s Central Lions on November 11.