How Gaze has impacted Wilson’s basketball growth

As Tom Wilson heads into his first season back in the NBL since March of 2019, he has perhaps the league’s greatest ever player in his corner.

Wilson’s journey back to the top level of basketball has been in-part guided by seven-time league MVP, Andrew Gaze, who has coached the guard across the past two seasons in the NBL1.

Speaking on The Extra Pass podcast, Wilson touched on how his connection to Gaze has helped his transition back to high-level basketball.

“He’s always so welcoming,” Wilson said of Gaze.

“When I decided to come back to basketball he was really excited for me and believed in me and said that if that’s something I wanted to do, he thought I could make it happen.”

“I was with him in Sydney as a guy on the end of the bench, I didn’t really play, and now I’ve got the ball in my hands a lot, I get to make a lot of decisions.”

Under Gaze’s tutelage, Wilson has thrived in the NBL1 South, averaging 23.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.

Wilson, Gaze and the rest of the Melbourne Tigers will hit the court this Saturday from 7:30pm against the Knox Raiders for a spot in the Grand Final.