Basketball Ambassador

HOOPS STAR DEFINES CLASS OF 2017 LEGACY

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington 2017 graduate Matthew Wilson displayed his shooting range by hitting five 3-point shots from way outside during his 49-point effort in a 70-48 win over Siloam Springs at Cardinal Arena Jan. 3. Wilson’s total was two points better than the previous high-point single-game by a Cardinal of 47 by Jessica Carter-McCollough against Elkins in 2000. Wilson broke his own school single-game mark with 50 points against Clarksville Jan. 13. He has been selected to the June 22 All-Star basketball game in Conway.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington 2017 graduate Matthew Wilson displayed his shooting range by hitting five 3-point shots from way outside during his 49-point effort in a 70-48 win over Siloam Springs at Cardinal Arena Jan. 3. Wilson’s total was two points better than the previous high-point single-game by a Cardinal of 47 by Jessica Carter-McCollough against Elkins in 2000. Wilson broke his own school single-game mark with 50 points against Clarksville Jan. 13. He has been selected to the June 22 All-Star basketball game in Conway.

FARMINGTON -- Matt Wilson embodies poetry in motion on the court, now poetic justice positions Farmington's resident basketball ambassador to another stage as a 2017 Arkansas basketball All-Star.

The 6-feet-2 guard has been selected to the West All-Star roster and will play in the annual showcase of the state's best at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway June 22. The tip-off at 6 p.m. at the Farris Center will be his latest stop during a whirlwind tour that began with his senior season beginning in November. Wilson hasn't rested much since Farmington was eliminated one game short of the state tournament in February.

In April, Wilson returned to South Africa with Point Guard College, after making his first visit to Cape Town last year. Wilson submitted an application with Point Guard College and was selected to make a return trip, something not many participants opt for. A desire to return was sparked during his 2016 visit when Wilson worked as an instructor at a local "Hoops for Hope" facility, worked in a soup kitchen for the homeless and visited Sophiatown, a district that was leveled by bulldozers during apartheid in 1955.

"The first trip he took overseas kind of changed his outlook on life," said Farmington coach Beau Thompson. "He saw some people don't have it quite as good as we do here in northwest Arkansas. He's using his talent, which is playing basketball right now, to help a cause greater than himself, which is extremely noble."

Wilson anxiously awaited word and found out in December he had been selected to go again. The traveling group was a mix of people, including high school athletes such as Wilson. Wilson was excited about "just going over and working with the kids."

"We talked about politics, religion, it kind of opens your mind up to a lot of other stuff," Wilson said.

He said the experience broadens individual horizons.

"It opens you up to so many different things, there's a whole another world out there," Wilson said. "I figured out a lot about myself, part of it is how passionate I am with helping people. I want to do that through basketball."

PGC picked up on Wilson's servant-minded ambitions. Since his graduation from Farmington High School May 16, his affliliation with PGC has kept him busy.

"PGC has been sending him all over the country," Thompson said.

Last week Wilson attended team camps at Cleveland, Mississippi, home of Division II basketball power Delta State, where Wilson will attend on basketball scholarship in the fall. He has also accompanied Thompson and the Cardinals to summer camps.

"He likes to sit on the bench, he just likes to be at games," Thompson said. "He's a lot like I was at his age. The gym's his home. It's where he feels comfortable, it's where he feels the best."

Wilson wants to be remembered in the community for more than his basketball exploits, saying, "I want to leave a legacy at Farmington. That people will say, 'he was a good guy, who did good things in the community.'"

To that effect, Wilson took a Community Service class during the first semester of his senior year. He was happy to get involved in projects cleaning up the high school campus and doing some recycling stuff.

"Our class (2017 Farmington graduates), we've always been really smart, academically, we're in the top in the state," Wilson said. "We've had lots of firsts for Farmington. We were the first class in Jerry "Pops" Williams Elementary, we were the first class in the Freshmen Academy."

When asked how he wants his class to be remembered, Wilson mentioned the historical record of the class, then closed with, "I feel like we're going to leave Farmington a better place than it was when we were younger."

That is how he wants the Class of 2017 to be remembered.

For the best of his intents and purposes, Wilson could walk across the graduation stage, knowing his class succeeded in doing just that.

Sports on 06/14/2017