Ben Wilson
Ben Wilson was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States on March 18th, 1967 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 17, Ben Wilson biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 17 years old, Ben Wilson has this physical status:
Benjamin "Ben" Wilson Jr., also referred to as "Benji", (March 18, 1967 – November 21, 1984) was an American high school basketball player from Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School in Chicago, Illinois.
With Wilson, the Simeon team won the City and State Championships for the first time.
Entering his senior season, Wilson was regarded as the top high school player in the U.S. by scouts and coaches attending the 1984 Athletes For Better Education basketball camp.
He was the first player from Chicago to receive this honor.
On November 20, 1984, while talking to his girlfriend, Wilson was confronted by two other students from a nearby school and shot twice.
He died the next morning due to the injuries he sustained in the shooting.
Ben had 3 siblings, all brothers.
Early life
Born in 1967 to Ben Wilson Sr. and Mary Wilson (née Gunter), Wilson was raised in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. Mary Wilson had two sons from a previous marriage, including Curtis Glenn, and would have sons Anthony and Jeffrey with the elder Wilson before the couple divorced. Wilson began playing basketball in elementary school. He started at St. Dorothy School and transferred to Ruggles Elementary School, graduating in 1981. Wilson practiced at Cole Park in Chatham and participated in summer league games in Chicago. As his game developed, friends and family surrounding Wilson began to notice that his talent could make him one of the best players in the sport. They made it a point to protect Wilson from trouble as he got older; as he was entering high school, the nationwide crack epidemic was in full swing and some of the people closest to Wilson, including his older brother Curtis, became addicted. Chicago's violent crime rate was very high during this time as well, especially on the South Side.
Personal life
He had one son, Brandon Wilson (b. September 1984), with his high school girlfriend Jetun Rush. Brandon, who was 10 weeks old when his father died, went on to play basketball at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, wearing Wilson's number 25. Brandon Sherrod Wilson became a star player at Riverside Church and St. Francis Prep, and Long Island Lutheran High School and would be recruited by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He played one season for UMES. He played professionally with the Long Island Wizards. Brandon went on to coach basketball. He attended and graduated from the Nassau Police Academy. He served in the Port Washington Police Department for 5 years. On January 13, 2022, Brandon Sherrod Wilson died in a car accident. Brandon died after he swerved into a shoulder on the Northern State Parkway, and hit a pole and two trees.
High school career
Wilson's freshman year at Simeon began in 1981. He was the only sophomore on the varsity basketball team in 1982-83. Simeon qualified to the Illinois AA State Championship, which was held at Assembly Hall on the University of Illinois' campus in Urbana–Champaign, 1984-1984. Simeon won their first state championship by beating top-ranked Evanston Township High School by nine points, behind Wilson. Wilson was rated as the best junior in the country for the 1983-84 season, according to ESPN. He'll be playing basketball with R. Kelly and Nick Anderson. Wilson's Simeon coach, Bob Hambric, described him as "Magic Johnson with a jump shot."
Wilson attended the invitation-only Athletes For Better Education camp in Princeton, New Jersey, in July 1984. Scouts and teachers could attend top high school students in a joint location at the camp. Wilson was named America's top high school player after the week-long competition. Wilson was seen considering scholarship offers from the University of Illinois, DePaul University, and Indiana University as his senior season approached.