Dwyer basketball star Blake Wilson off to play at College of Staten Island after state-title run injury
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Finally putting pen to paper on his commitment to College of Staten Island at long last, Dwyer basketball star Blake Wilson is officially back to school.
The 6-foot-5, 195 pound shooting guard and wing forward made it official with the Division II Dolphins on Friday at his now-alma mater Dwyer High, where he graduated from the school's Finance Academy with a 3.7 GPA in the spring.
"He's probably one of my favorite all-time players," Dwyer coach Fred Ross said at Friday's signing ceremony.
Wilson's senior campaign saw him finish as the team's No. 2 scorer on a 29-1 run to a Class 6A state championship. He also split a roster-high of about seven rebounds per game with returning senior Amari Nealy and was third in steals and assists, posting 1.7 and 2.2, respectively. In charges on defense, Wilson recorded 25 for another team-best.
Just two weeks after that near-perfect rout to Dwyer's fourth basketball state championship, Wilson and his family discovered that he had a broken piece of bone and two torn ligaments in his right ankle.
"I didn't know how bad it was. I was just like, wow, I thought it was swollen because I was running on it so much," Wilson said.
"He played 29 games on a bum ankle and still was a major contributor," Blake's father, Tony, said, giving "props" to Staten Island for staying committed to his son throughout his April surgery and beyond.
Before CSI made the move to Division II in 2019, its basketball program saw historic success as a Division III "powerhouse" competing in the City University of New York Athletic Conference, winning 15 CUNYAC Postseason Championships and appearing in the NCAA Tournament 13 times since 1981. The basketball team made history as the school's first program to reach a postseason championship since switching divisions during the 2022-23 season. Head coach T.J. Tibbs and the Dolphins finished 9-19 in the first-round of the ECC Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
"Coach Tibbs is a very supportive coach. He's got some players now who came into the program with torn ACLs and UCLs and he's not one of those coaches that's going to take away a scholarship because of an injury," Wilson said, finding the experience "tough" nonetheless.
After years of intense competition at Dwyer, including another state championship appearance as a sophomore in 2020, for the first time, Wilson didn't find himself ahead of the curve.
"At the college level, I'm just starting behind. I don't get a chance to do those two, three-day workouts because I'm at home recovering from surgery. It took a toll on me, but at the same time you've got to look forward and face the adversity," Wilson said.
"Now, I'm happy to say I'm in a speedy recovery, faster than I thought. Back to jumping up, a lot of plyometric work, jumping rope, box jumps, some ladder work − getting back close to 100 percent."
Wilson's father teased that if Blake is able to pass Tibbs' conditioning test, Palm Beach County basketball fans can expect to see him on the floor this winter.
Emilee Smarr is the high school sports reporter for the Palm Beach Post. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dwyer basketball star Blake Wilson off to play at College of Staten Island
