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Page 8 • The Battalion
Texas aggie basketball^ Wednesday • January 18, 1995
Wilbert sets sights on SWC Championship
□ Local product
matures into A&M's
premiere player.
By Shelly Hall
The Battalion
It’s not every day that you meet
your future coach 20,000 feet in the
air, but for Texas A&M senior forward,
Joe Wilbert, that’s exactly what hap
pened.
As a Bryan High product and a top
recruit in the state, Joe Wilbert first
met A&M head coach Tony .Barone on
an airplane to Dallas after Barone had
interviewed for the A&M coaching po
sition.
Wilbert, who was on a recruiting
trip to Indiana, said Barone looked fa
miliar so he decided to approach him.
“I looked at him and instantly
thought that I knew him,” Wilbert
said. “I told him I was nervous about
flying because I had never flown be
fore and he talked to me the entire
flight.”
Upon arriving in Dallas, Barone
wished Wilbert the best in his career
and departed for home, while Wilbert
continued on his recruiting trip.
Now, after that first encounter with
his destiny, Wilbert has arrived back
in town just down the street from
where he grew up.
While attending Bryan High
School, Wilbert met a man who would
influence him greatly. That man was
Barry Davis.
Motivated by Davis, a former All-
Southwest Conference Aggie player
and Wilbert’s Bryan High School
coach, Wilbert found success on the
court and off.
“I wanted to quit school in the
tenth grade, but coach Davis turned
my life around,” Wilbert said. “He
talked to me and encouraged me to be
the best in all areas of my life, not just
basketball.”
After a stellar career with Tyler Ju
nior College as a freshman, Wilbert
opted to spend the remainder of his el
igibility at A&M with the hope of
starting.
“The coaching staff did not guaran
tee a start, but that I had a chance to
play, “ Wilbert said.
Wilbert’s parents, coaching staff
and the kids in Bryan are the three
main reasons he made the transfer
from Tyler Junior College.
“My parents are my biggest fans,”
Wilbert said. “They come to every
home game and sit in the same seats
every game.”
Wilbert’s other strong motivation
comes from the interaction that he has
with the kids in Bryan.
“I love kids, and if I can touch just
one kid’s life in the community, that
will make my scholarship worth it,”
Wilbert said.
On the court, Wilbert has developed
into the Aggies’ top gun, averaging
21.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per
game, leading the Aggies in both cate
gories.
So far, the pinnacle of Wilbert’s ca
reer came against Texas Tech on Janu
ary 11, when he scored a career-high
38 points. This performance, Tech
coach James Dickey said, was one of
the best performances he had ever
seen a player make since he had been
coaching in the collegiate ranks.
Citing the beginning of SWC play
as his main incentive for his scoring
outburst against Tech, Wilbert said
just seeing the Red Raiders step onto
the court caused him to take it to an
other level.
“Opening up SWC play, you want to
take it to another level and send the
message out to other teams in the con
ference that the Aggies will be tough
in College Station,” Wilbert said.
Wilbert attributes his success in his
new role as A&M’s primary scorer to
his acceptance as a leader in all phas
es of his game.
“It’s not just scoring that shows you
are a leader,” Wilbert said. “It’s step
ping up to the challenge and hustling
every day in practice.”
Before suffering
an eye injury last
season against
Texas Christian
University,
Wilbert was on
pace to having
one of the best
seasons ever
posted by an Ag
gie or any SWC
player. This
year, Wilbert
said, that’s all
behind him.
“I really don’t think about it too
much,” Wilbert said. “All we have to
do is just play our best and we will
prove to all SWC teams who is the
best.”
Wilbert said his first priority for
the season is to win the SWC cham
pionship.
“In the past, we’ve made it to the
tournament,” Wilbert said. “This year
we want to get there and make some
noise.”
Before he thinks about the post
season, though, Wilbert said he still
has some unfinished business to do in
his personal game.
“In order to advance to the next lev
el, personally, I’ve got to work on my
outside game and my defensive game,”
Wilbert said.
Wilbert’s ultimate goal for the sea
son is to make it to the NCAA tourna
ment.
“Some people might think I’m crazy
for having such high goals,” Wilbert
said. “But I’m not letting down until
we make it.”
If that happens, Wilbert will find
himself in a familiar place, on an air
plane with Barone. The only differ
ence will be that this time Wilbert will
know his destination.
"All we have to do is just
play our best and we will
prove to all SWC teams
who is the best."
- Joe Wilbert
Amy Browning/THE Battalion
Joe Wilbert (24) zeroes in on the basket for two points during the Aggies’ win
against Texas Tech at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Wilbert’s 1993-94 highlights
• Led A&M in scoring with 14.5 points a game and was
second in rebounding with 5.9 per game.
• Voted SWC Newcomer of the Year by The Houston Post.
• Named to SWC All-Newcomer Team.
• Had back-to-back 20-point games in the Dr. Pepper SWC
Classic.
• Pulled down a career high 15 rebounds in tournament
semifinals against Texas Tech.
• Scored 33 points with 14 rebounds against Baylor and 30
points against Texas.
• Two-time selection as SWC newcomer of the week.
• Ranked second in SWC in field goal percentage.