Jalen Wilson's Summer League MVP honor well deserved & well earned

The Kansas men’s basketball program has long been known for developing players into NBA talents, taking highly recruited prospects and turning them into pros.

The Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiids, Kelly Oubres and past lottery picks like Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, the Morris twins, Ben McLemore, Cole Aldrich and others certainly show that.

But it’s the others, the guys who maybe weren’t always destined for the NBA who have always caught my eye. Don’t get me wrong; I covered the NBA draft for five consecutive years and absolutely loved chronicling the life-changing moments for guys like Aldrich, McLemore, Wiggins, the twins, Thomas Robinson and more.

But I also covered Jalen Wilson for four years at Kansas and watching him push his game to elite level has been nothing short of a joy.

Wilson, you might have heard, was recently named the MVP of the NBA’s Summer League.

Playing for the Brooklyn Nets, with whom he suited up for 43 times last season, including 3 starts, Wilson averaged 21.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1 assist and 0.6 steals per game this summer in Vegas — while shooting 47.3% from the floor and a whopping 55% from 3-point range — to inspire the Nets to take a serious look at as a long-term option.

None of it came by luck. All of it came from hard work and passion for the game. And a lot of that came from Kansas, too.

See, when Wilson arrived at KU as a 4-star prospect and young man who had not yet come close to figuring it all out, no one really thought of him as an NBA guy.

He believed he could get there. You have to believe that to succeed at this level. And the potential was there, with the size, raw skills and athleticism.

But Wilson had to grind his way through his college career, powering through everything from injury and limited playing time to sacrificing for a role and then eventually becoming the man.

He passed every step with flying colors and learned a tremendous amount along the way. About the game. About himself. About success. About failure. About defense and desire and willing one’s self to reach an outcome. About what it really takes to achieve your dreams.

And that was just half of it.

From there, he added countless hours and thousands of jumpers and reps in the gym — behind the scenes and away from the spotlight — to craft himself into the kind of player we see today.

Complete. Confident. Accomplished.

It's that jump shot that gets me. I remember watching him struggle mightily as an outside shooter during his junior season — KU's national championship year. You might recall it. He shot 26.3% from 3-point range that season, but still found plenty of ways to play a crucial role in KU winning a title.

Toughness. Tenacity. Heart. Effort. Those things, and more, were all at the core of how he helped push past his poor shooting. And then, when the season was over and he decided to come back for one more ride, he went into the lab and retooled that shot, finishing as a respectable 33% shooter during his All-American season in 2022-23.

Now, he looks like a bona fide dead-eye shooter.

That progression has merely continued into the NBA, where Wilson always dreamed of playing and where he's making the most of his first shot.

The Nets are surely seeing this, and I can’t help but think they might feel as if they’ve found a gem in Jalen.

He may never be the league’s leading scorer or a 10-time All-Star. But every team needs a guy like him. And those teams that succeed at the highest level tend to have three or four guys like him.

It should be fun to watch where Wilson takes things from here.

As long as he’s given the chance, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll keep succeeding, and, more importantly, keep making a positive impact on his team and teammates.

He’s been through too much to stop now.

And, really, he’s just wired that way — to push and persevere, to fight and finish and to win.

Wilson's a hell of a player, but it's the person that he has become that has really allowed him to flourish. It's funny how those two things sometimes go hand in hand.