2013-2014 Virginia Tech Basketball Recap: The Emergence of Devin Wilson
By Tim Thomas
Feb 22, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Devin Wilson (11) drives around North Carolina State Wolfpack center Jordan Vandenberg (14) in the first half at Cassell Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports
There are many freshman who have made big impacts on this season of college basketball as shown by Kentucky’s current starting lineup that is all freshman. However, the freshman spotlight wasn’t just limited to big name players like Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Ennis, and Joel Embiid. The Virginia Tech Hokies have a few talented freshman including one who was arguably the Hokies’ best player this past season.
Devin Wilson did not have the strongest start to the season but by the end of it, Wilson had proven that he was the man that could help lead a turnaround in Blacksburg in the future. Wilson developed very nicely over the course of the season which is a big reason why the Hokies started to look more competitive in the ACC by the end of the season.
Mar 12, 2014; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Devin Wilson (11) moves the ball around past Miami Hurricanes center Tonye Jekiri (23) and guard Garrius Adams (25) during the first round of the ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Throughout the season, Devin Wilson was a quality ballhandler that did a great job setting up his teammates as reflected by Wilson’s 4.8 assists per game. Wilson did have average 2.5 turnovers per game but for a freshman point guard in the ACC that was consistently playing over 35 minutes per game, that is actually a quite impressive number.
Devin Wilson was mostly an old-school point guard that struggled to score in the early part of the season with the freshman having four games of 10+ points in 2013. However, Wilson took off in 2014 as he scored over 10+ points 9 times including a season-high of 26 points in a close loss to Wake Forest. Wilson showed some range but Wilson knows how attack the rim and get to the free throw line but he will need to improve his free throw shooting after only making 65.9% of his attempts from the charity stripe this past season.
However, Wilson’s strong freshman season led to him becoming the fourth Hokie to be named to the All-ACC freshman team along with Deron Washington in 2005, Jeff Allen in 2008, and Dorian Finney-Smith in 2012. Devin Wilson was quite impressive as a freshman and is going to be an important player in the future as Buzz Williams rebuilds a Virginia Tech program that has the talent to get at least the NIT or CBI next season. Virginia Tech basketball is on the rise and some of that is due to the emergence of Devin Wilson.
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