We’re continuing our meet and greets with the new faces in Columbia, so say hi to new Tiger point guard Nyah Wilson.
Step by step, senior guard Nyah Wilson has come closer to home.
Being raised in Dallas, Columbia, Missouri, isn’t exactly next door to where she grew up, but after two years at Syracuse and another at New Mexico, she’s gotten closer.
“I was really set in stone about what I wanted to do,” Wilson said. “I wanted to be closer to my family.”
Wilson said getting the opportunity to physically be closer to home was a big reason she chose Missouri for her senior season, but the spiritual and emotional closeness within the team was a big part of it, too.
“I really love what Mizzou stands for as far as the core values,” Wilson said. “I’m very spiritual outside of basketball, and that was really my big reason when coming here. I know basketball isn’t forever, so I wanted to just have that connection as far as networking and the family-oriented atmosphere. Mizzou just made it clear there was one place for me.”
On the court, that one place seems to be taking the main point position after the departure of Mama Dembele.
Coming into the season, there were questions about who would be the main point guard on a team filled with guards, but Wilson started the Tigers’ exhibition this week and was leading the offensive charge any time she was on the court.
“The SEC is a pretty fast conference,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’m a very downhill player. I like to push the ball in transition and I feel like this team, yes it’s guard heavy, but we have a lot of shooters. So just being able to find those shooters open in transition and get the ball to them to knock down those shots is something special.”
So far, Wilson said the transition to her third team has gone smoothly. She’s connected with her teammates and coaches and feels that family atmosphere she was told about, she said.
“Since I’ve been here, they’ve really stood by the core values,” Wilson said. “We talk about it every day during practice, like, ‘How can we be a better person outside of basketball?’ Like just being a student-athlete, you don’t want to always hear about basketball, basketball, basketball. You want to be able to talk about your personal life and just know that you have somebody to depend on from the coaches. That’s something special.”
Wilson said off the court she’s developing those special relationships with her teammates as well. Living near each other, hanging out outside of basketball and talking about their lives.
“We stay next door to each other, so just having those open conversations about anything, that’s just the most fun part. Just spending time with them whenever I can,” Wilson said.
Wilson and her Tiger teammates will kick off the season Monday when they hit the road to take on Vermont at 5 p.m.
Notes: Wilson started all 32 games for New Mexico last season, playing 31.6 minutes per game and averaging 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. She shot 41.3 percent overall and 34.9 percent from 3. She reached 20 points in 11 games, including a career-high 33 against Fresno State last season.
Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss this story and so much more.
