When Jade Wilson came to Long Beach State before the start of the 2012-13 season, the team had an introductory assignment: write down a couple of words that describe yourself on paper. Wilson wrote “outgoing and energetic.”
Head coach Jody Wynn disagreed.
“I would have described her as reserved and shy,” Wynn said, chuckling. “We had a little joke about it when we met, like, ‘OK, now explain this.’”
In the words of Wynn, Wilson is “a nice kid.” She’s also “a tireless worker,” and after an offseason dedicated to conditioning, “stronger and a better basketball player.”
But even after a year of Wilson being with the LBSU women’s basketball team, Wynn wouldn’t call her outgoing and energetic.
“She’s shy,” Wynn said. “She won’t tell you she’s shy, but she’s shy.”
Sure enough, Wilson had something to say about that.
“I’m not shy, but I’m quiet,” Wilson said. “When I need to be loud, I’ll be loud, but I don’t think I’m shy.”
Wilson is the only senior on the 49ers. As a transfer from Mesa Community College in Arizona, this is only her second year at The Beach, but Wynn said Wilson has rededicated herself during the offseason and come back stronger than ever.
“Last year she spent the year thinking, learning; every step of the way, she learned,” Wynn said. “The best basketball players are the ones who don’t think; they just react and play on instincts. She’s doing a much better job of playing on instincts than she was last year.”
A native of Tempe, Ariz., Wilson said she grew up following Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and the rest of Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns. She’s also loyal to the city’s WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.
“I’m a big Mercury fan,” Wilson said. “I try to make it out when I can, and the tickets are pretty cheap.”
Wilson said that after college, she wants to return to her alma mater, Tempe High School, to join the program as an assistant coach. She eventually wants to take over her old head coach’s position and lead the program.
“Anything with kids, I want to give them the same opportunity that I had,” she said. “I feel like I had a great outlet with athletics, [and I want to do] anything I can to help anybody else.”
Before Wilson graduates, though, she has one more season to play at LBSU. Wynn said the senior forward is “night-and-day” better than she was at this time last year, when she was first stepping foot onto The Beach.
“I would have to say her strength inside, her interior strength, her ability to defend and use her athleticism laterally as well as her mass and size [are what set her apart],” Wynn said. “This year, she runs the floor. You combine her strength with the ability to be more agile, and she’s going to be a much more effective basketball player.”
Wilson said that even though this is only her second year as a 49er, she definitely feels like a senior.
“Coming from the junior college circuit,” she said, “you have to grow up fast and get used to everything, so I feel like a senior.”
Wynn said Wilson will be missed once she exhausts her eligibility following the season.
“We wish we had her for another year again,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s two quick years.”