Cam Jones looks to lead Wilson boys basketball to championship season in 2022-23

Dec. 1—Cam Jones is no stranger to the spotlight, but heading into his senior year as the focal point of the Wilson boys basketball team, the 5-11 is leading with selflessness.

When asked about his goals for the season, Jones was direct with his response.

"Team goals are more important than individual goals," said Jones, an all-division selection last season and also a football standout for the Bulldogs. "We got a lot of guys coming back, so as a team we're really excited."

His team, as Jones alluded, returns several key players from last year, which could put the Bulldogs in a position to challenge for the title in Division I of the Berks Conference.

Though Wilson graduated Foday Sillah, who averaged of 10.3 per game last season, the Bulldogs have six others who saw significant playing time back to form a well-balanced team.

Jones averaged a team-high 12.1 points per game last season. According to head coach Matt Coldren, Jones may be called upon to be the leader who brings the team together this year, but it's a role that the senior has been ready for since he began his high school basketball career.

"This is not a knock on Cam," Coldren said, "I certainly have coached better basketball players, but I don't think I've ever coached a born leader like he is. In eighth grade, I had a conversation with he and his parents about Cam skipping freshmen basketball and coming right to the high school, and that summer in the gym, he would lead everybody and it didn't matter that he was only going into ninth grade.

"You could see he was special. Whatever it is, he has it as a leader. And I think he's going to be a fantastic human being when he's older. He knows how to pull people in and make them feel wanted and be a part of something."

Jones is complemented by several other offensive weapons who add depth and height to the Wilson roster.

Cleveland Harding, 5-11 senior guard, averaged 9.1 per game last season, while 6-3 senior forward Melograna averaged 4.9 points per game.

Sophomore Madyx Gruber averaged 5.6 points per game and 6-5 center senior Ofure Odiale averaged 5.5. Senior Seamus Breslin, a 6-0 guard, also saw time in 24 games for the Bulldogs, who finished 15-11.

With a plethora of returning seniors as well as underclass talent, Melograna said he believes in the potential his squad has in lifting each other to a higher level.

"It's good to have a lot of seniors together," Melograna said. "And it's good to have a lot of senior leaders to help with the young guys as well, because we do have young guys, too. But it's good to have guys that all have knowledge and have experience of playing the game together and can just bounce ideas off of each other."

Though the Bulldogs averaged a Berks I-low 53.3 points per game last season, Harding said he believes that Wilson has the pieces to put together an elite offense.

"We have a lot of guys that can drive and can get to the basket," Harding said. "We have guys who can shoot on the perimeter too, so we kind of have almost everything. We got a big pretty good big (Odiale), so it's a pretty dynamic offense."

The Bulldogs last made the District 3 Class 6A championship game during the 2020-21 season, when second-seeded Wilson fell to top-seeded Reading High 66-58. Last season, the Bulldogs won a first-round district game against Waynesboro before falling to Reading High once again in the quarterfinals.

Coldren said having a player like Jones, who was a member of the Wilson team that won its first district championship with a win over Reading High in 2020 — and also beat the Red Knights the Berks title in in 2020 and 2021 — is key in showing the underclassmen what it takes to have a championship-caliber team.

"He (Cam Jones) brings us toughness," Coldren said. "He brings us an athlete who has been successful not just in basketball, but more importantly he was with us along that ride when we had Stevie Mitchell three years ago.

"I thought we had a really good shot at winning the state playoffs until COVID stopped our season. He was along for that ride, and he saw what it took, and I think that is special. So he brings that experience to our group. And when the going gets tough, the ball is going to be in his hands, just because he's experienced it."

Looking to win their first county title since that victory in 2021, Coldren said he hopes to give Reading High a run at the division title that can springboard the Bulldogs to a deep postseason run.

"Our goal every year is to win our division," Coldren said. "If you win your division, that sets you up to be able to win counties and districts, and that's our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to cut down nets, cut down the nets at Santander and hopefully cut down the nets again at the Giant Center. But first, we got to take care of game by game and that means winning our division and setting ourselves up for success."