WATCH: Aerial Wilson’s Career at Rockledge Produced Video Game-Like Numbers Including 2,200 Career Points

2019 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Aerial Wilson’s career at Rockledge High School produced video game-like numbers. She scored over 2,200 points in her four-year high school career, 1,413 of them in her junior and senior seasons.

THE 2019 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 10. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame) – Six-time NBA MVP and 19-time All-Star, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once said, “I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.”

This perfectly describes Aerial Wilson whose willingness to sacrifice her time, body, and parts of her teenage years to play the game of basketball made her one of the best to ever step on a round ball court in Brevard County.

She originally played softball and was good at the game but her mother’s love for basketball would inevitably lead Aerial to local courts.

It would be on those local courts and in PAL League’s that Wilson would get her first real taste of competitive basketball. On weekends, Wilson’s mom would take her to play pickup games against the men.

While she shied away at first, she realized that playing in those games made competing against girls her own age seem easy at times.

Her skills became such that she was the only freshman to make the varsity team at Rockledge High School.

She would fall in love with playing the game and improved every time she stepped on the floor.

She was recruited to play AAU basketball by nearly every team in the state that wanted to win but even players like Wilson tire and need a break.

“I remember I just finished practicing after a long day on the court and walked into the locker room and just broke down crying because my body was so tired,” Wilson said.

“My mother came in and recognized what was going on and told me it’s ok to take a day off.”

But she didn’t. The great ones rarely do, and Wilson wasn’t going to be the exception to that rule.

Wilson, along with fellow 2019 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee Aisha Patrick, who were teammates for the coach James Brown at Rockledge, dominated on the floor but each stood out in their own way.

Wilson’s career at Rockledge produced video game-like numbers. She scored over 2,200 points in her four-year high school career, 1,413 of them in her junior and senior seasons.

In her junior season, Wilson finished second in Florida in scoring, averaging 27.2 points per game. She scored 33 points with nine steals, six rebounds and five assists in the semifinals of the state tournament.

Wilson’s senior year was special as she was named the Florida 4A Player of the Year after leading the state in scoring for all divisions. She averaged 31.2 points per game and just missed out on winning Florida’s Miss Basketball in 2009.

She would attend Virginia Tech and play in the mighty ACC in college. Her impact was immediate as she played in 25 games as a freshman.

As a sophomore and junior, Wilson played in all 30 games each season, starting 34 of those games. She was second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game in her junior year and scored in double-digits in 18 games, including four games with 20 or more points.

She was impressive on the big stage as she had 20 points, three rebounds and four assists against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.

Wilson’s love for the game of basketball is stronger today than it was when she was knocking down jump shots as a player and a big part of her love still has to do with how her mother, Latice Wilson, still talks with her about the game and how she can improve as a coach.

“Basketball is a family affair,” Wilson said.

“Me, my mother, my sister KK and my brother Zay all sit around and talk basketball. Even now as a coach when I coach, we sit around at the table talking about what went right and what went wrong. Basketball is a part of our family bond and I look forward to it and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Wilson is close with her family and considers her stepfather, Xavier Stephens a big part of her success as well.

Speaking of coaching, Wilson credits a familiar name when it comes to basketball in Brevard County with helping her along the way as well, Emerson Murray.

Wilson is now a head coach and has rapidly ascended to the top of the ranks in that area of the game as well. Since taking over four years ago as the head coach for the girls’ varsity basketball team at Melbourne high school, Wilson has compiled a record of 85-17 and has lost just five times in district play.

She was named the Space Coast Daily – Friday Night Locker Room Girls Basketball Coach of the Year following the 2017-18 season and could undoubtedly become a dual inductee into the Space Coast Sports Hal of Fame one day in the future as a coach.

THE 2019 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 10. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT the 2019 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS

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