Collingwood rookie Tom Wilson details the ‘crazy’ Serbian experience which led him to pursue an AFL career
One night Tom Wilson got a knock at the door. Moments later he was kicked out of his Serbian home, with the basketball star no longer welcome. It was the start of his crazy journey to Collingwood.
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Tom Wilson was booted out of his apartment with five bags, no car and nowhere to live in Serbia.
Two men rocked up at the front door of the place where he was staying and told the gun point guard in plain terms to leave the apartment, immediately.
Wilson was there in 2017 because he had signed a dream deal to play for one of Serbia’s powerhouse clubs, Partizan, as a potential stepping stone to the NBA.
But almost three months into the overseas move, the man who has since swapped his Australian Boomers basketball singlet for a Collingwood jumper, was no longer welcome.
“It wasn’t forceful or anything, but these guys who rocked up at the front door of my apartment were like ‘Get out today and give the keys back’,” Wilson said.
“So I went out on to the main street, hailed a cab, went and got my suitcases and drove across town to find somewhere else where I could stay.”
It was a crazy time for one of Australian basketball’s brightest prospects, who will remember for the rest of his life the bright orange flares and the raucous chanting in the stands, which helped welcome Wilson for his first game for his European club.
And for about the first month or so of the season, Wilson shone off the bench, averaging about 25 minutes a game.
ICYMI: Tom Wilson signs in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade https://t.co/82jFoLsITt by @DamianArsenis pic.twitter.com/uH5r9FLhbS
— The Pick and Roll (@PickandRollAU) June 29, 2017
But things suddenly turned unexpectedly sour for then 19-year-old when Partizan’s head coach, Miroslav Nikolic, returned from national team duties.
For reasons which still remain a little unclear, Nikolic stopped playing Wilson in games, and then not long after, barred him from the practice court, and the club, altogether.
Setting off a bizarre chain of events which eventually ended with Wilson swapping his basketball dreams for football ones, the happy-go-lucky Aussie was excommunicated from his new club, most likely so the coach could play some local players instead of the Melbourne product.
Not that Wilson, who is now 22, was really told any of that when he got booted out.
“I had just had my best game, and the following week the head coach came back from the Euro Cup where they finished second, and he doesn’t even acknowledge me,” Wilson said.
“Three games in a row he doesn’t play me at all and, not only that, he wouldn’t talk to me and he wouldn’t even look at me. Nothing. It was crazy.
“The next week we come back to training for the first practice session and we start the scrimmage and he pauses it and he says ‘I want this kid out’. ‘Get this kid out’, in Serbian.
“So one of the assistant coaches comes over and says he ‘Yeah you won’t be in training, anymore’.
“For two weeks I was rocking up to games, my uniform wasn’t there and then when they went on the road (for away games), I wasn’t on the list for the flight.”
Making matters worse, Wilson had not been paid a cent of his three-year contract for the whole time he had been there, not that the opportunity was ever really about the money.
Looking back on things now, Wilson believes the experience helped him become a little stronger, and wiser, and even perhaps a little hungrier as he embarks on a second AFL season with the Magpies.
ðŸ€ðŸš«| Three clubs are circling basketball prodigy Tom Wilson after he quit the sport to pursue an AFL career - https://t.co/YOzkOjI0tE @tim_michell pic.twitter.com/Z24zK1Hzbh
— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) April 9, 2019
The midfielder took a big step forward in the practice match against Carlton a fortnight ago, slotting three goals including a clever snag slotted across his body from about 40m out.
And this season the 194cm ballwinner, who has partnered closely with captain Scott Pendlebury for early-morning work-outs over summer, has set his sights on breaking through for his first senior game.
He was a talented footballer as a teenager, and is working towards getting that elite touch back with the Sherrin.
His athleticism, and co-ordination, are an exciting mix and the signs over his first full pre-season are extremely encouraging.
“I think I have made pretty good inroads and it was nice to get some rewards against Carlton to continue to help build that confidence that I can play at the top level,” Wilson said.
“I played as a junior at a pretty high level and coming back (to footy) I knew I had it in me to compete with these guys.
“But it took me some time, and being a competitor and my own harshest critic, and knowing where I had been skill-wise, there was some frustration there for me.
“You want to come in and play well from the get-go. There were a few marks where I got my hands to it but haven’t had the touch to hold on to it.
“But I know if I keep working hard, it will only be a matter of time before I start taking more.”
The Sydney Kings have agreed to the immediate release of Tom Wilson from his NBL contract to pursue a career in the AFL.
— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) April 8, 2019
We’d like to thank Tommy for contributions over the past two seasons and we wish him luck in his next opportunity.
Full details: https://t.co/hNqTzZbZDq pic.twitter.com/rhfYRftcT5
Wilson remains eternally grateful for the chance to enjoy if only a taste of the European league, even though things did take a bit of a crazy turn.
When things looked doomed at Partizan, and the club kicked him out of the house he was staying in, his agent, Daniel Moldovan sought a trade to the arch rival, Red Star.
But then something else strange happened.
“They blocked the transfer,” Wilson said.
“So, they didn’t want me on their team, but they wouldn’t let me go, either.”
Feeling isolated and disenchanted half a world away from family and friends, Wilson made the call to return home to Australia where he signed to play for Sydney Kings in the NBL in 2018.
His time in Serbia had been interesting, he said, and hopefully character-building.
But he wanted to come home, and ultimately pursue a different sporting path.
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“By the end of it, I had not trained or played for one month. I was eating crap, I was out of shape, I wasn’t doing anything during the day and not many people spoke English,” he said.
“So what happened was pretty extreme, and I was pretty lonely.
“But I was lucky my brother was in Europe at the time and came and visited, but my family and my girlfriend were amazing throughout that time.
“I am not one to really cry ‘poor me’, and at the time I was just going along with things because that what was happening in my life at the time.
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“It’s only when I came home and starting talking more about it with friends that you sort of realise how gnarly it was, I guess.
“But it was an amazing experience and one I’m really grateful for. Now, I’m just really set on continuing my improvement and performing for Collingwood.”
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