Midway through his final season in black and white, former Collingwood forward Tom Wilson revealed ambitions to maybe secure a return to basketball in his opening statement about his departure from the Magpies.
Wilson, who was previously considered Victoria’s top junior basketball talent, is back on the court with his former team, the Melbourne Tigers, in NBL1 South.
After almost five years with Collingwood, where Wilson was signed as a category B rookie midway through the 2019 season by the Sydney Kings, an NBL team, Wilson decided to return to basketball.
Wilson’s AFL career ended last year after ten games. The tall-framed attacker made his debut against Sydney in 2021 and played in three more games that season.
The 26-year-old played the majority of the previous season in the VFL and only made one appearance in Collingwood’s title campaign, coming on as the tactical substitute against St Kilda in Round 12.
“I played one game last year. I’ve always been someone that thinks being realistic is the best way to go about things, I probably knew my time was coming to an end with Collingwood.
“Probably halfway through the year I thought to myself that I wouldn’t mind playing a bit of basketball, I had some other things going on. I had just invested into a business with two mates from high school.
“I started to think I needed to look beyond this year of footy, because it was probably going to wrap up for me.”
Wilson has since reunited with Australian basketball legend and his former mentor in Andrew Gaze, who coached Wilson at the Tigers in the SEABL and with the Kings.
The MVP and an All-SEABL First Team player in 2018, Wilson is enjoying a strong start to his Melbourne return. He is leading the Tigers’ scoring across their opening two games, averaging 23.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 43.24% shooting from the field.
After getting in contact with Melbourne Tigers assistant coach Jay Lomer about a one-off training session, Wilson was immediately offered a roster spot at the end of the scrimmage.
“I sent Jay Lomer a message asking ‘When are you guys training? I’d love to come have a run’,” Wilson revealed.
“Pretty much after the first session ‘Gazey’ and Jay said ‘If you’re keen to play we’d love to have you’. That was sometime in November, so since then I’ve made the decision that I was going to be back playing for the Melbourne Tigers.
“I’m super pumped to be back with them.”
The Tigers’ next match is Saturday, April 13, against the Ringwood Hawks at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre.