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Marcus Wilson

Marcus Ali Dwayne Wilson (August 8, 1977) is a retired professional basketball player, who played his career in a variety a of places across the world including Europe,South America, and the United States. Before starting his professional career, Wilson set and still holds several Mens Division 1 NCAA basketball records while playing for the University of Evansville Purple Aces from 1995-1999 ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]. In 2008 was inducted into the University of Evansville Hall Of Fame^[4]. In 2007, Wilson "secured an amazing honor"^[5] joined the likes of Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Hersey Hawkins, and Xavier McDaniel by being voted to the Missouri Valley Conference Top 50 Greatest Players^[6]in the history of the conference. In 2005, Wilson was named to theUniversity of Evansville's All Time Greastest Players^[7] list which honored the top 15 players in school history, a list that includes retired^[8] Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and ex-Chicago Bull, Don Buse.

Early Life

Marcus D. Wilson, is the youngest of 11 children, and was born in Bloomington, Indiana. At the age of 2, Wilson moved to South Bend, Indiana where he was raised. Graduating from James Whitmcomb Riley High School, he distinguished himself as a elite high school basketball player before graduating in 1995 and earned a scholarship to play at the University of Evansville in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wilson graduated from the University of Evansville in 1999, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Adminstration.

Collegiate Career

Wilson is the 2nd leading scorer in the history in the University of Evansville, with 2053 points scored, making him the top scorer in the history of the school since they joined Division I athletics(Evansville went to Division I athletics in 1977 while the top scorer in UE, Larry Humes, played when Evansville was still Division II)^[9]. Wilson's senior year, he lead the Missouri Valley Conference in free throw percentage* and 3 point percentage*. Wilson finished 3rd in the nation in ft%^[10] and 12th in 3pt%^[11]. He finished 9th in the country in total points scored with 682^[12]. He also set an NCAA mens baskteball division I record for most 3 point shots made without a miss in a game^[13] ^[14], going 9 for 9 from behind the arc against the University of Tennessee Martin. He led the team in scoring all four years and was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1999. He also led the Purple Aces to their first and only Missouri Valley Conference title in 1999^[15]. The Purple Aces faced the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round^[16] of the NCAA tournament, where Wilson made a name for himself in front of a national audience by scoring 34 points against the Jayhawks in the SuperDome in New Orleans, La. After "Marcus Wilson put on an absolute show in the first half",^[17] scoring 18 points in the first 8 minutes^[18], the Aces eventually fell to the Jayhawks^[19], however this game brought him to the attention of NBA and professional teams that would give him the catapult needed to play professionally. During the 1996-97 season, Wilson's sophomore season, he made 48 consecutive free throws^[20] which places him tied for 14th in the history of the NCAA Division I mens basketball. Wilson's percentage of 90.1% was 4th in the nation^[21]. Wilsons career free throw percentage while playing in college was 88.7%, placing him 9th in that category in the history of college basketball^[22].

Professional Career

After being name Missouri Valley Conference Player Of the Year, Wilson's first stop in his 11 year professional career began with the Utah Jazz* in the Rocky Mountain Review Summer League^[23]. Wilson then played 1999-2000 season in the top league in Poland for Komfart Stargard^[24] where he average 17.9 points per game in his rookie season in Europe. He then played in the Venezuelan summer league before starting the 2000-2001 season in Israel with Hapaol Holon^[25] in a suburb outside of Tel-Aviv. After violence erupted, Wilson returned to America for a short time before signing a 1 month contract in Italy with the team Banco Ragusa^[26], in Ragusa, Sicily. After the 1 month contract he then moved to France and signed for the remained of the 2001 season with the club in the suburbs of Paris, France called AS Bondy where his career took off as he led Pro B France^[27] league in scoring the last 2 months of the 2001 season and the entire 2001-2002 season^[28]. In 2002-2003 Wilson played in northern Germany in the city of Bremerhaven, in the Bundesliga with the club Bremerhaven* and led his team to a second place finish in the league while averaging 23.7 points per game^[29]. He also earned the name "Mr. Perfect" by going 15-15 from the field(11-11 from 3's, 4-4 from 2's, and 2-2 ft's) tallying 43 points in only 20 minutes^[30]. In 2003-2004 season, Wilson returned to France, this time in the top division Pro A France,LNB(Ligue Nationale de Basket) in the city of Reims, about an 1 from Paris with Reims Club Basket^[31] where he finished 3rd in the league in scoring at 19.6 points per game^[32]. Next season, 2004-2005, he played in northern France with Gravelines, also in the top Pro A league, where he averaged 16.4 points per game^[33]. That season, Gravelines played in the FIBA ULEB CUP, where Wilson averaged 15.7 points per game, while shooting 44% from behind the arc^[34], highlighted by a 30 point performance ^[35] in Podgorica, Montenegro against KK Buducnost^[36]. Also at the end of the 2004-2005 season, Wilson signed a contract with another ULEB team, Spirou Charlero^[37] in Belgium to finish the remaining 8 games where he helped them secure the league title while averaging 18.9 points per game<ref?[63]</ref>. In 2005-2006, Wilson then moved to another top league in FIBA where he played in first division Turkey in the city of Izmir, Turkey for Tuborg Pilsener Spor Kulubu^[38] where he averaged 13.9 points a game while shooting 50.5% from the field^[39]. In 2006-2007, Wilson returned to Pro A France again with JL Bourg, in the city of Bourg En Bresse, about 1 hour from Lyon, France. In injury plagued season, Wilson averaged 15.1 points and shooting 40-40 from the free throw line^[40]. In the 2007-2008 season, Wilson returned to the country where he started his European career, this time in the city of Ostrow Wiekelpolski, Poland, signing with Atlas Stal^[41]. After a dispute in terms of the contract, Wilson left the team and signed in the Ukrainian Superleague, in the city of {http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Odessa/ Odessa, Ukraine] with BC Odessa where he helped save the team from falling out of the first division by averaging 20.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds during his stint with the team to finish the season^[42]. The following season, 2008-2009, Wilson signed in Tarragona, Spain, with CB Tarragona where he led his team in scoring averaging 15.1 points a game. Wilson then led his team to the league finals and moving up to LEB Oro Spain^[43]. After a brief retirement, Wilson returned the following season in February of 2010 to Santiago de Compostela, Spain with Beirasar Rosalia averaging 15.8 points a game and shooting 50% from 3^[44]. In his final season of 2010-2011, Wilson returing to northern Spain, this time to the coastal city of Coruna, Spain, signing with Basquet Coruna^[45]. In December of 2010, Wilson announced his retirement from professional basketball and returned to the United States where he now resides in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

Outside Of Basketball

Wilson embarked on a music career working with several artists in the Midwest and Atlanta. He combined with music producer Kwame James^[46] ^[47], and American Idol contestant^[48] Stevie Flockhart^[49] to record the single "Dreamin" (available on itunes, amazon, and other internet music providers). Wilson, wrote and performed^[50] his verse on "Dreamin" and has recorded other underground mixtapes however now is a full time songwriter/ghostwriter.^[51] Wilson also is in the process of starting a talent agency, recruiting athletes, models artists and comedians to help manage and promote their talent across the United States and his connections in Europe. Wilson also performed many hours of volunteer and charitable work. In 2005 and 2006 while playing in Izmir, Turkey, Wilson joined Leukemia specialist Hale Ören, MD^[52] to sponsor children suffering from Leukemia in the local hospital of Dokuz Eylül University.

Accomplishments

Named to the Missouri Valley Conference All Newcomer Team while leading his team in scoring as a freshman^[53] Ranked 4th nationally in free throw percentage(90.1%)^[54] Made 48 consecutive free throws, 14th longest in NCAA history ^[55] 3-time all-Missouri Valley Conference; 2-time First Team; All-American (1999)^[56] 1999 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year 1999 Led MVC Conference in free throw and 3 point percentage, ranking 3rd and 12th respectively nationally^[57] Tied the NCAA record for most 3 pointers made in a game without a miss, going 9 for 9^[58] from behind the arc^[59] Led Evansville to their first Missouri Valley Conference Championship and first NCAA tournament birth since 1993^[60] University of Evansville team captain in 1999 Ninth best career free throw percentage in the history of Division 1 NCAA Mens Basketball^[61] Named to the University of Evansville All Time Team in 2005^[62] Named to the Missouri Valley All Time Greatest 50 Greatest Team^[63] ^[64] Inducted into the University of Evansville Hall of Fame^[65]

References

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