Senior guard Michael Wilkison is one of the main reasons the DePauw University men's basketball team is ranked 23rd in the nation.
The five feet 10 inches Cincinnati native averages 12.6 points and close to four rebounds per game in his last year with the Tigers. Coming out of high school, Wilkison had the opportunity to compete at the Division I level. Instead, he decided to play for DePauw University, where he made an immediate impact.
Now in his final year, with the number of regular season games counting down, Wilkison has been putting on a show for anyone that cares to watch. Last week, Wilkison received national attention for his efforts this season, netting the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week award.
"The NCAC award was a nice accomplishment, but I'm more focused on winning the actual NCAC in order to get to the NCAA tournament," said Wilkinson. "I couldn't have won the award without the help of my teammates and the coaches putting me in a great position to succeed."
Wilkinson had dominant performances in two of the season's most crucial games, against both Wabash College and the College of Wooster. In the 10-point win over Wabash, Wilkison netted 26 points, missing only three of 11 shot attempts. The majority of Wilkison's points came from behind the arc, where he went five of six from three-point territory.
With that victory, not only did DePauw improve to 7-2 in the NCAC conference, but the Tigers handed the loss to their biggest rivals, leaving them at 3-6 in the NCAC. Wilkison's 72.7 field goal percentage for the game almost doubled his season field goal percentage, which stands at 42 percent.
Nate Jahn, a freshman from Terre Haute, Ind., has been paying close attention to Wilkison's progress throughout the year. As the back up to Wilkison, and one of the future key pieces to the Tiger's basketball program, Jahn has taken the role as Wilkison's mentee.
"As a young point guard it is a dream to be able to come in and learn right away from a great player like Wilk," said Jahn. "Every opportunity I get I watch and try to learn a move or a technique from him. Some of the plays he makes are amazing considering he is so small. I can only hope to be as good as him in 3 years."
Jahn also noted the poise and calm mentality that Wilkison has brought to the Tigers. Regardless of if the team is winning or losing, says Jahn, the senior standout has never been flustered on the basketball court.
After the Wabash College game, Wilkison kept his hot streak alive. The former Anderson (Cincinnati) standout picked up where he left off four days later, when the Tigers hosted number two-ranked College of Wooster, a school three hours away from Wilkison's hometown.
The Fighting Scots had not lost to a Division III team all season before taking on the Tigers. Wilkison again led all scorers in the game, scoring 23 points on 6 of 12 field goals. All except one of Wilkison's field goals came from three-point territory, hitting five of seven three-point attempts. For the second straight game, Wilkison nailed an impressive five three-pointers. He also went perfect from the charity stripe, going six for six on all free throw attempts. The Tigers pulled off the upset and beat the Fighting Scots 78-74.
"I never think about how many points I have at the given moment," said Wilkison. "I focus on what contribution I need to give in order to win the game. It just happened to work out the way it did with me doing the scoring,"
Two days after that game, Wilkison was notified of his NCAC award. Over the two game span, the guard scored 49 points on 61.4 percent shooting. More impressively, Wilkison shot 77.4 percent from three point, missing only three of 13 three pointers in the two-game tear.
"Mike is the funniest player to watch," said sophomore Jake Alleman. "Every time he shoots, you think it's going in."
With the national spotlight that has come and gone after last week, Wilkison's teammates gave standout performances to keep the Tigers on track. In last Thursday's away game against Denison University, junior Tommy Fernitz went seven of nine from the field, scoring 18 points total. Fernitz also grabbed 15 rebounds in the game. The Tigers went on to win 68-63. On Saturday, against Oberlin College, the Tigers five-game winning streak came to an end. Oberlin defeated the Tigers 62-60, coming on an 11-second layup by Yeoman senior Emmanuel Lewis. Wilkison led all DePauw scorers with 14 points. The Tigers only have six regular season games left before the start of the NCAC tournament. However, Wilkison says it is important for the team not to look so far ahead.
"We need to focus on the task at hand in order to make sure we don't take anyone lightly or for granted," Wilkison said. "We have the opportunity to make some noise in the tournament with the talent we have, but in order to do so we must make it to the tournament first."
The Tigers face off against Allegheny College this Friday at 7 p.m. at DePauw's Neal Fieldhouse. They suit up again less than 24 hours after, facing off against Hiram College at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.