Wilkins getting plenty of recruiting attention

One of the top in-state basketball prospects was on the court this weekend in Rock Island playing with his high school team in the Justin Sharp Shootout.

That player is Caden Wilkins, a 6-foot-6 and 200 pound guard from Bettendorf and he’s already gaining plenty of attention on the recruiting trail.

He has an offer from Bryant and when coaches were able to start contacting recruits earlier this month, his phone was ringing off the hook.

“I heard from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Loyola, Iowa State, Marquette, UNI, South Dakota State, and Belmont,” Wilkins said Saturday afternoon.

In the case of Iowa, he had visited last year and now he’s hearing from a familiar person recruiting him for the Hawkeyes.

“When they could start calling I first heard from Matt Gatens. He had been recruiting me from Drake, so I already had a relationship with him. Later in the day I heard from Coach McCaffery.”

Last season, Wilkins averaged 16.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs. While he is receiving plenty of recruiting attention and is on the radar of quite a few schools, this July will be a significant one for Wilkins and his recruitment. It’s his chance to earn offers, but it’s also an opportunity to find out which schools are becoming more serious about his recruitment.

“I’m glad now that we can more directly communicate with the coaches and now I feel more in the loop,” he said. “Now I have to put together strong performance in July to get coaches to offer me or get closer to offer me.”

Between now and the start of the July evaluation period, Wilkins will continue to work on several aspects of his game. He is currently working out several times a week with basketball trainer Jordan Delp trying to improve his on the court abilities.

“I’m really focused on improving shooting mechanics and my ball handling heading into July.”