‘Stronger, more powerful’ Wilson eyes NBL26 return

After five years away from high-level hoops, Melbourne United recruit, Tom Wilson, believes he is in the best physical condition of his life to make an impact on the court.

The former Boomer and junior Australian representative told the Unwrapped podcast that his time in the AFL system has helped him become a better, more robust athlete ahead of NBL26.

“To be honest I haven’t really struggled too much coming back to basketball, I’ve become a really robust athlete and knock on wood nothing happens to me coming up,” he told Adam Webster.

“(Playing footy) you just build a lot of resilience through your body and can handle an amazing amount of load.

“I’m stronger, more powerful and definitely a better athlete than the last time I was playing basketball.”

Having spent last offseason playing with the Melbourne Tigers in the NBL1, Wilson came into United’s home of Hoop City as a training player for portions of NBL25.

The 27-year-old had to use every bit of his athleticism battling Shea Ili, who he believes played a big part in getting him back to playing his best basketball.

“Honestly I think that’s been a big part of fast-tracking my development, going up against the level of player that he (Ili) is,” he explained.

“Everyone knows what he can do defensively but I think what he can do on the offensive end is undersold. Someone who’s that fast and that quick, trying to deal with that day in and day out presents its challenges and I think that was a big part of my overall improvement, just being able to go up against him and embrace that challenge every day.

“There’s the cliche of a guy that you hate to play against but love to play with, I think that epitomises him.”

Through nine NBL1 South games this season, Wilson is proving he is right at home back on the court, tallying over 20 points in seven games and connecting on over 40% of his three-point looks.

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