EXCLUSIVE: Jamal Wilson No Longer With URI Basketball Team
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The University of Rhode Island men's basketball team is in Orlando, Florida preparing to play two games in the UCF Holiday Classic starting on Thursday. Not with the team on the trip or for the remainder of the season is leading scorer Jamal Wilson.
GoLocalProv.com has learned that Wilson is no longer part of the program, a fact confirmed by head coach Jim Baron when reached by phone in Florida. Baron would not say whether Wilson quit the team or was kicked off, only confirming that he is no longer with the program. Calls to the URI sports information department had yet to be returned by the time this story was posted.
Wilson leads the team this season with 16.4 points per game. He also averages 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest this season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe senior has played in 11 of the team's 12 games this season. He did not play against Yale on December 18th because he was suspended for that game for having shown up late to a team meeting. He has started 9 of the 11 games he played in with the two exceptions being at Brown and home against Providence College.
The reason for Wilson not starting those two games had to do with the fact that his head coach was trying to send a message to the enitre team. At Brown on November 30th, Baron benched his entire starting five for the first few minutes of the contest on the heels of getting blown out by Cleveland State. He also started 3 freshman, junior transfer Andre Malone and senior Orion Outerbridge Friday night against the Friars.
Wilson did play 24 minutes against PC scoring just 5 points on 1 of 12 shooting from the floor.
Sources indicate that he would like to transfer to another school but his only option would appear to be transferring to a division 2 or division 3 school where he could play immediately and finish out the final semester of his career. However, that scenario may not be an easy one to pull off. GoLocalProv.com has also learned that Wilson may be looking to head over seas to play basketball professionally immediately.
Last season Wilson missed the first 14 games of the season due to an injury suffered on the first day of practice. Some believe that he wanted to sit out the entire season instead of returning mid-season as he did. Had he done that, he would have had another year of eligibility remaining to possibly transfer to another division 1 school.
It's no secret that this year's team has struggled on the floor to a 1-11 record through its first 12 games. There also appears to be some serious chemistry issues in the locker room which may date back prior to this season.
If Wilson quit the team, one could connect the dots and speculate that he is unhappy with the fact that the team is losing, that he was suspended for one game and benched at the start of two others. It is possible that this may have created some friction between him and his head coach.
If Wilson was kicked off the team, this may be another indication that Baron is trying to find ways to get through to this year's club by ridding the squad of a player that may have been creating problems.
Whatever the case may be, URI will miss Wilson's scoring ability. It will also create more playing time for the many freshman on the team as well as the recently added Malone and Billy Baron.
URI will take on James Madison Thursday night at 9:30pm in Orlando.