The harmonious snap of swished net and thud of uncollected rebounds were amplified by The Convo’s empty expanse Monday, when Ohio junior guard Travis Wilkins took the court before his teammates to touch up his three-point approach.
Four straight threes fell through from the corner, six from the top of the key and eight of ten from the opposite wing.
Come Saturday, rebounds will be collected by Portland big men, and the satisfying snap of a swish will be silenced by the crowd, only audible to those on the floor.
The feeling will be familiar to each of Ohio’s active players, except for Wilkins. A summer transfer from Snow College in Utah, he is in his first year as a Bobcat and Division I basketball player, filling what could be considered the final piece of an offense that returns each of its major cogs from last season.
Wilkins, who shot 46 percent from the floor last season for Snow, will come off the bench to aid junior guard Nick Kellogg, ensuring that Ohio has multiple long-range threats on the floor at all times.
His role, though, will be determined by how he performs when his number is called.
“You want guys that can impact the game by making a big three, and he’s definitely one of those guys,” coach Jim Christian said.
Wilkins is a pure shooter, made from the same mold as former Ohio forward. Tommy Freeman, who shot more than 45 percent from beyond the arc as an upperclassman, and Kellogg, who has knocked down 43 percent during the past two seasons.
He opened his 2011–12 season with 56 points in two games for Snow College, downing seven of 10 from three in the second matchup to kick off a campaign in which he hit almost half his shot attempts.
Wilkins had five points, three steals and a pair of assists in Ohio’s Saturday scrimmage, in which he played for 12 minutes.
“I didn’t play as well as I would have liked or knocked down as many shots as I would have liked to,” he said. “But it feels good to get that first game out of the way and move on from there.”
When Wilkins made the transition to Athens in time to enroll for Summer Semester, it was just another major move in a five-year span that has been full of them.
After graduating from Willard High School (Springfield, Mo.), Wilkins, a devout Mormon, spent two years in Argentina on a religious mission.
As his one passion drew him to practice abroad, it led him far from the basketball court, as he was able to hone his skills on a rare occasion — less than 10 times during the course of two years.
But his decision to periodically brush basketball aside in lieu of larger priorities was an unwavering one.
“It was always something I looked forward to as a kid — a goal I had,” he said. “After high school, I already had the decision set out. Getting back from Argentina and having the ability to play basketball again, I was very anxious just because I hadn’t played for so long.”
A glimmer of his underworked skill set shined through the rust in his first year with Snow College, when he received all-region honors, and more so in 2011–12, when he finished third in the Scenic West Athletic Conference scoring race with 17 points per game.
His play caught the eye of coaches from several teams in Utah and throughout the Missouri Valley Conference, but he decided on transferring to Southern Illinois.
However, before he set foot on campus as a student, he made the switch from the Salukis’ maroon and white to the Bobcats’ green.
He followed then-SIU assistant coach Anthony Stewart to Athens, where he was set to join Christian’s staff.
Stewart said there’s room on any team in the nation for a “smart shooter,” and that Wilkins fits that model to a T, being that he is a near-4.0 student with a hot hand from the perimeter.
“When you have a team that accomplished what we accomplished last year and you bring in a newcomer, you have to bring in the right piece,” Stewart said. “This staff feels he is the perfect compliment to a mature team because he is mature himself, and you can never have enough shooters.”
As the Bobcats’ only newcomer eligible to play right away, Wilkins has a shot to make good of Stewart’s statement.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
