What you need to know about Mwani Wilkinson before his visit
For the fifth weekend in a row, Vanderbilt is hosting an official visit. Mwani Wilkinson will be on campus after taking other officials to UNLV, USC, and LSU. This will be his fourth stop before Texas Tech hosts his fifth and final visit on the weekend of November 1.
Wilkinson is ranked No.133 in the 2020 Class according to Rivals. Jerry Stackhouse is looking to build his program on toughness, defense, and energy. Wilkinson is a player that fits that bill. He is known as a playmaker, and Corey Evans describes "extreme motor and athleticism as his biggest strengths."
Mwani's father, Tim, has been a friend of VandySports.com, and he was gracious enough to speak with us again this week before the official visit to Vanderbilt begins.
Q: Mwani has taken official visits to UNLV, USC, and LSU already. How did they go?
Wilkinson: "They're the standard. They are phenomenal institutions. All of them are. My son is a very private kid. He has more of what you would call a poker face. It's kind of hard to gather where he is leaning or the way he feels because he's just that kind of kid. Some kids you just can't read, and he's continuing to surprise us with accolades and you would never have them in your mind to be on that level. He just continues to do things surprisingly. The institutions themselves have been nothing less than remarkable."
Q: It's probably been a couple of weeks since we've spoken. Tell us things have progressed with the Vanderbilt staff.
Wilkinson: "It's been phenomenal. Coach Stackhouse and Coach (David) Grace have both done a visit to our home. We've been having pretty cordial conversations with the staff."
Q: How are they they approaching recruiting Mwani right now? What is their sales pitch and how are they going about it?
Wilkinson: "First and foremost, Coach Stackhouse really admires Mwani. He always says in comparison they have a lot of similarities as far as when he played on both sides of the ball. He's a defensive player and he's very athletic as was Coach Stackhouse. He saw it as an attraction when he first saw him in the EYBL Peach Jam. At first he was mistaking Mwani for Jaden Hardy. We had a lot of five star players on the team, and he said he liked that Jaden Hardy kid. Their coach was telling him that's not Jaden Hardy, that's Mwani Wilkinson. He said we need to offer him.
When they offered him the first sting he had to do was check his academics out and a few other boxes. Nonetheless, Vanderbilt is a pretty firm institution academically. They had to check his GPA and SAT scores and things of that nature. Everything checked out and came back pretty good. We've just built the relationship and got acquainted with each other. Basically, he says that he feels Mwani would be a good fit to his program in regards to his athleticism and the contributions he can make. It is a very tight knit SEC Conference as far as defending and rebounding and making contributions in a win at the end of the day."
Q: What are the big things you will be looking for when you take that visit to Vanderbilt this weekend?
Wilkinson: "It will be category to category. First and foremost it will be academics, and the resources that are provided. Then there is the natural feel for a connection to a kid that has to be there for four years or more. The least he could do is get acquainted with the atmosphere. It's just about being a place he could picture himself being for the duration of his academic and playing career. The resources and requirements, and the ratio of students per professor. The academic advisors and assistants in regards to his game criteria or practice criteria. Room and board and housing, the stipends and allowances and everything else; it's just a process."
Q: What is his major going to be?
Wilkinson: "As of now it's going to be communications. But he is going to take the necessary courses. If he changes his major he will be able to do something else if he finds an interest in any other major."