Tom Wilson on radar of three AFL clubs as category B rookie after quitting basketball to pursue football career

Three AFL clubs are circling basketball prodigy Tom Wilson, who was likened to Scott Pendlebury as a junior. The recent Boomers debutant has quit basketball to pursue an AFL career. Could he be destined for your club?

Tom Wilson has quit the Sydney Kings to chase an AFL career.

Sought-after rookie prospect Tom Wilson will make a call on his club of choice as soon as this week after quitting basketball to pursue an AFL career.

Wilson, a guard who recently debuted for the Boomers and had been playing in the NBL with Sydney Kings, has been linked with AFL clubs Collingwood, Gold Coast and Geelong.

PART ONE: THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BUDDY DEAL

MANAGER: DUSTY WAS PUSHED OVER THE EDGE

EXPLAIN: DUSTY TO LEARN HIS FATE OVER SLEDGE

As a category B rookie, he can sign with a club before the end of the season and officially join later in the year.

Wilson, who stands 194cm, was a ‘creative’ and ‘mercurial’ junior footballer who was chosen in the national academy at under-16 level.

AFL talent manager Kevin Sheahan said Wilson was rated in the top-10 prospects in his age group.

“It’s no surprise that many clubs are circling because he’s outside of that five years you need to be outside of playing the sport to be a free agent and classified as a category B (rookie),” Sheahan said.

“That makes it pretty appealing to clubs.”

Tom Wilson has quit basketball and is poised to sign with an AFL club as a category B rookie. Picture: Getty Images

Sheahan likened Wilson to Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury, who the 21-year-old lists as one of his sporting idols.

“He’s had a lot of personal and sporting development in those six years and learned a lot about how tough sport can be,” Sheahan told SEN.

“That’s a bonus … but you’re going back to his 16-year-old form to get that line of sight.”

Wilson said he was still weighing up which club to sign for, a decision which will determine when and where he makes his football return through the state leagues.

“I always had that love for it as a kid,” he said.

“I grew up like any other kid playing Aussie rules football and I just wanted to play on the MCG one day. That was my big dream.

“Being so close to it and having the luxury of clubs coming after me, they see that as a genuine future for me.

“Obviously I think the same and that is why I am making the decision. I think I can really become a pretty good AFL player one day.”

Wilson told SEN quitting basketball had been ‘a really hard choice’ but he was determined to capitalise on the opportunity to carve out an AFL career.