Wilson has dreams of calling the shots

By David Driver, Special Correspondent

BALTIMORE – Prairie High product Brent Wilson, after graduating from the University of Albany in 2008 with a degree in English and minor in education, worked as a sales manager and in customer service about 20 miles north of New York City in Westchester County, where his wife grew up.

"I sold (Green Mountain) coffee. I was miserable," said Wilson, a native of Cedar Rapids who had little business background before taking the job. "It was a good learning experience. It was an eye-opener coming out of college.”

After a few months he and his wife, Tina, a field hockey standout at Albany, moved back to their college roots. Again in Albany, Wilson worked for State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU). “I am not sure he knew what he wanted to do,” said Will Brown, his former basketball coach at Albany.

But after a few months there a position opened up on the men's basketball coach staff at Albany, where Wilson had played for Brown.

Brown said that about 100 people applied for the position of director of basketball operations for Albany, which plays in the Division I American East Conference.

Wilson was one of three finalists for the position, which he landed over two others who were current director of basketball operations at other schools. "I have not looked back," said Wilson, whose family now includes a 3-year-old girl, Camdyn. "It worked out well."

But the job was not given to Wilson just because he had played at the school. "We are going to put him through the meat grinder," Brown told his staff, whom each had individual meetings with Wilson.

After two years in the position Wilson was promoted to one of three full-time assistant slots prior to this season, in September. "It is such a tough business. Usually you have to start from the bottom and work your way up," Brown said.

And that is what Wilson plans to do. After playing in two NCAA tournaments while at Albany, Wilson is trying to get to the Big Dance as a coach.

"I always wanted to be a coach," Wilson said during a trip to Maryland as Albany played Jan. 5 at Maryland-Baltimore County in a league contest. “I feel fortunate to have a job in this economy. There are only so many jobs out there.”

Like most Division I assistants, Wilson aspires to call his own shots one day."Everyone gives you the goal: they want to be a Division I head coach," he said. "I aspire to one day be a head coach. It is always about who you know. I eventually want to be a head coach" at the Division I level.

Wilson admits a lot of that will be predicated on how Albany does as a program. "We are headed in the right direction,” he said.

Albany improved to 10-6 overall with a win on Jan. 5 at Maryland-Baltimore County. Down 10-0 early in the game, the Great Danes came back to take a lead at halftime and pulled away for an 89-72 win.

The Great Danes were able to bounce back from a slow start. "That is a sign of a good team," UMBC head coach Randy Monroe said. "Give them credit. We told our guys they would pound the glass."

Albany is now 2-0 in the America East for the first time since the 2005-06 season. "It means we are capable of having good year," said Nick Aronhalt, who had 18 points in the first half and 22 overall for the Great Danes in the win over UMBC. The Great Danes play Jan. 8 at Stony Brook.

The Danes have faced nationally-ranked Pittsburgh and Syracuse and also played in late December at Maryland, a member of the ACC. Albany lost all of those games, and also fell in late November at George Mason, one of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association. The average margin of defeat in those four games was 22 points.

Wilson now recruits the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia and also has duties with scouting, academic monitoring and on-court instruction. This year's team includes sophomore center John Puk, from Waterloo West High in Iowa. He had two points and six rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench against UMBC.

"I think the best thing is that I played and was recruited by coach Brown. I can relate to some of those things. That is what I brought to the staff,” Wilson said.

He was a four-year lettermen for Albany from 2004-08 and helped lead the Great Danes to a pair of America East titles and two NCAA appearances. He was an all-rookie player as a freshman and was twice named to the all-league third team. He played in 123 career games and had 1,178 points and 596 rebounds.

"My worst day in basketball is better than my best day" selling coffee, he said. The irony is his wife's family loves Green Mountain coffee. But Wilson gets his kicks not on selling caffeine but coaching hoops.

Editor's note: David Driver is a free-lancer write in Maryland and has covered college basketball for 20 years. He can be reached www.davidsdriver.com