Tom Wilson (basketball)

Thomas Glen Joseph Wilson (born 24 June 1997) is an Australian basketball player and former football player. After playing basketball competitively between 2014 and 2019, he switched codes and joined the Collingwood Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL). He returned to basketball in 2024 after playing eight games in five seasons for Collingwood.

Early life
Wilson was born in Melbourne, Victoria. As a junior, Wilson played basketball for the Sandringham Sabres and Melbourne Tigers. He attended Caulfield Grammar School, and in 2012, he was a member of their Australian Schools Championship winning side. He also played cricket and Australian rules football as a junior. Wilson represented Victoria in the 2013 NAB AFL U16 Championship. Shortly after, Wilson was awarded a NAB AFL Level 1 scholarship.

Early years
In 2014, Wilson joined Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence (COE) at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Wilson chose to forgo the NAB AFL Level 1 scholarship and accepted Basketball Australia's COE scholarship. He played for the COE in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 2014 and 2015.

There were a number of U.S. colleges looking at Wilson after he played well for Australia's under-17 side at the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship. In November 2015, he signed with SMU and coach Larry Brown.

During the 2015–16 NBL season, Wilson spent time with Melbourne United as a development player. In 2016, he played for the Frankston Blues in the SEABL alongside his brother Jack. In nine games for Frankston, he averaged 11.1 points per game.

College
Wilson joined the SMU Mustangs for the 2016–17 season, but after just 10 games he decided to transfer in December 2016. He averaged 1.6 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, in 6.1 minutes per game.

In January 2017, Wilson committed to Boise State University. However, in February, he made the decision to turn professional, due to NCAA rules indicating that Wilson would have to sit out a year before taking the court for the Broncos.

Professional
In 2017, Wilson played for the Melbourne Tigers in the SEABL. In 17 games, he averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

On 10 August 2017, Wilson signed a three-year deal with Serbian club Partizan. After a contract dispute forced him out of Partizan, Wilson spent the second half of the 2017–18 NBL season on the Sydney Kings' training roster.

Wilson re-joined the Melbourne Tigers for the 2018 SEABL season. He was named SEABL Player of the Week for round six and seven. He was also named Player of the Month for May. At the season's end, he was named the SEABL MVP alongside All-SEABL First Team and a second consecutive Australian Youth Player of the Year.

On 19 April 2018, Wilson signed a 'one plus one' deal with the Sydney Kings, with the club holding the option on a second year. He scored 10 points in 12 games during the 2018–19 NBL season. The Kings took up the second-year option on 29 March 2019, but on 8 April, he made the decision to cut switch codes to Australian rules football.

On 23 February 2024, Wilson signed with the Melbourne Tigers of the NBL1 South for the 2024 season.

National team
Wilson debuted for Australia at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship, averaging 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In 2014, he competed at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship and the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship. At the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Dubai, Wilson helped Australia reach the gold medal game, where they lost to the USA 99–92 despite a 23-point effort from Wilson. For the tournament, Wilson averaged 12.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. In 2015, at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship, he averaged 6.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. In March 2019, he made his debut for the Australian Boomers.

Collingwood (2019–2023)
On 3 May 2019, it was announced that Wilson had signed with Collingwood of the Australian Football League (AFL) on a three-year category B rookie contract. He impressed in Collingwood's VFL side on the wing and as a rebounding half-back and subsequently made his AFL debut on 15 May 2021 against. After the 2023 AFL season, Wilson was delisted by the club after playing eight games in five seasons.

Statistics
Updated to the end of the 2023 season.

! colspan=3 | Career ! 8 !! 2 !! 0 !! 42 !! 34 !! 76 !! 14 !! 10 !! 0.3 !! 0.0 !! 5.3 !! 4.3 !! 9.5 !! 1.8 !! 1.3
 * 2019 || || 48
 * 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
 * 2020 || || 48
 * 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
 * 2021 || || 12
 * 4 || 0 || 0 || 25 || 23 || 48 || 7 || 7 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 6.3 || 5.8 || 12.0 || 1.8 || 1.8
 * 2022 || || 12
 * 3 || 2 || 0 || 15 || 8 || 23 || 5 || 2 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 5.0 || 2.7 || 7.7 || 1.7 || 0.7
 * 2023 || || 12
 * 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 1 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 3.0 || 5.0 || 2.0 || 1.0
 * - class=sortbottom
 * 3 || 2 || 0 || 15 || 8 || 23 || 5 || 2 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 5.0 || 2.7 || 7.7 || 1.7 || 0.7
 * 2023 || || 12
 * 1 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5 || 2 || 1 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 3.0 || 5.0 || 2.0 || 1.0
 * - class=sortbottom
 * - class=sortbottom
 * }