“They told me they didn’t have a point guard,” he said. “They said they didn’t have the money for me at the moment, but they’d love to have me here. It was all up to me and my work ethic to get on the court.”
The redshirt sophomore from Indiana is doing what it takes to work his way into the rotation and start getting meaningful action. He played a combined 10 minutes against Penn State and Loyola (Ill.) and notched four points (on 2-for-2 shooting), three rebounds and one steal without committing a turnover.
Other than a few seconds of mop-up time against North Dakota, that was Wilburn’s first taste of D-I competition.
“I was nervous. That was a big stage,” he said. “But then again, it was a basketball. I just had to go out there, have fun and help my team compete and try to get a win.”
Coach Scott Nagy gave him an even longer look against Urbana on Tuesday. The 6-foot, 185-pound Wilburn had three points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists with two turnovers in 18 minutes.
“I thought he’d give us some life when we were lacking some. He’s quick. He’s got quick hands. He gets his hands on a lot of balls,” Nagy said.
“He’s probably the one true ball-handler we have, a primary ‘one’ guard. We thought he’d play well, and we’re pretty pleased with him.”
Wilburn has been on a basketball odyssey the last few years. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 assists as a senior for Lake Central High School near Gary, Ind., and also played on the AAU circuit for the Chicago-based MeanStreets, which included college prospects Tyler Ulis (Kentucky), Paul White (Oregon), Tyler Wideman (Butler), Charles Matthews (Michigan) and Tai Odiase (UIC).
He joined Ball State as a freshman walk-on and was redshirted before transferring to Kilgore Community College in Texas. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.1 assists as a starter for the juco power last season.
The well-traveled Wilburn believes he’s finally found a place where he can plant some roots.
“I’m just going to keep working hard. If it happens to become a (financial) deal for next season, then I’ll more than appreciate it,” he said. “But for right now, I’ll just keep working on the court, off the court and help my team win basketball games.”
He could see his role increase because of the Raiders’ lack of numbers. They have 11 scholarship players (instead of the maximum 13), and two of them are freshmen being redshirted.
Nagy has been looking for players he can trust with the ball who can also shore up the team’s subpar defense, which was an issue while losing their last three road games. They’ll play their next four games away from home beginning Sunday at Kent State.
“We really haven’t been competitive on the road, which has been frustrating. We’ve played good teams, but I thought we’d be more competitive. We still have a lot of work to do,” Nagy said.
“It’s just going to come down to our defense — I’m going to keep saying that, and you’re going to get tired of hearing me say that. But particularly on the road, it has to be there. Defense, rebounding and not turning the ball over gives you a chance even if you shoot the ball poorly.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Wright State (7-4) at Kent State (7-3)
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
TV/Radio: TWC Sports Channel, ESPN3/106.5-FM
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