United star never forgets his Tigers roots

Tom Wilson has never forgotten where he came from and his childhood Melbourne Tigers memories are a big reason he still plays there in the NBL1 South season while right now, he's grabbing every NBL chance he's getting at Melbourne United.

Wilson's earliest basketball memories are of going to NBL games as a family to watch Melbourne Tigers games and that's why it still means so much to him to be playing in the NBL1 South with the Tigers – and to be topped off to be coached by the legendary player of those teams, Andrew Gaze.

Wilson has been named to the All-First Team the past two years with what he's done at the Tigers including being MVP in 2025 as they made a stirring run all the way to the Grand Final.

It's part of a remarkable career story for Wilson that saw him growing up dreaming of playing with the Tigers. While that dream at NBL level was taken away from him, he's proudly still playing for the next best thing with United currently.

Wilson did have a stint in the AFL spending five years at Collingwood which included him playing eight games at the top level along the way, but he's fully thrown himself into basketball since.

It's paid off too with what he's done at the Tigers in the NBL1 South and now the chance that has opened up with United as a result.

Wilson is currently averaging 15.1 minutes a game this season for Melbourne for 3.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game, and has been out there for at least 12 minutes in all seven matches so far in NBL27.

He was also proud to celebrate United's Grassroots Game last Sunday too even though the result didn’t quite go Melbourne's way at home to the Illawarra Hawks at John Cain Arena.

But any time he gets to reflect on his journey at the Melbourne Tigers is an occasion he'll grab with both hands.

"The Grassroots Game is awesome and I think back to my time as a kid growing up and coming to the NBL back then to watch the Melbourne Tigers play, and then I grew up playing for the Melbourne Tigers in the Friday night VJBL," Wilson said.

"I think in Victoria we're so lucky to have such a great competition like the VJBL and they're some of my best memories as a kid growing up going to those games with mum and dad, and having Maccas and stuff with your teammates after the game.

"Finishing school on a Friday and going to get to go and play on Friday night was the highlight of the week so I have very fond memories of doing that with a lot of special times spent with mum and dad and my brother, and those teammates.

"It's special that we have a good grassroots program in Victoria and broader Australia as well."

On the back of his MVP season with the Tigers back in 2025, Wilson banged down the door for an NBL opportunity with Melbourne and went on to play 6.2 minutes a game across the season.

But his role has increased so far in NBL27 partly because of the unavailability of Shea Ili and Chris Goulding, but Wilson has also earned his minutes under new coach Jacob Chance and is doing all he can to make the most of them.

"It's been awesome to come in this year and play some more minutes to start the season," Wilson said.

"Obviously we've had some guys out so that's more out of necessity than anything and I've always felt stepping on the floor that Chancey believes in me and has confidence in me.

"That's all you can ask for as a player from your coach and the rest of the coaching staff.

"Then going out there and playing with these guys, we're really starting to come together as a group which is a great feeling when you're going out there and you can see some of the emotions with some of the celebrations that we have.

"It looks like we're really starting to come together as a team and when you have that it gives you a great sense of confidence as a player, and helps you play better individually."

It's been a mixed start to the season for United with them currently sitting on a 3-4 record ahead of a Friday night match up away to the Perth Wildcats this week and then returning for their Multicultural Game at home on Sunday against the Sydney Kings.

Wilson has tried to make the best impact he can and that was especially on show in their Throwdown win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix back in Round 4 where they came roaring home for the memorable win.

"It's obviously been a little bit of a different roster this year and with Chancey coming in so I've been trying to find where I can impact the team, and it's pleasing to have some spurts there where we're playing some good basketball and I feel like I'm impacting that," Wilson said.

"It gives me a lot of confidence and there's obviously going to be opportunity all season and I'm just trying to step in and provide energy where we need it. I think we're a deep roster and we back in all the guys to come in and give us a spark when it's needed."

While Wilson has turned out to be under a professional contract for most of his time following a year at college at Southern Methodist University, he's also been living on the edge a lot of that time.

He spent the NBL19 season at the Kings shortly after returning home before that led into five years in the AFL at Collingwood, and then after that, it was just a year later when he signed an NBL deal for United.

But even after NBL26, there was never any guarantees of a return for NBL27, and while he's glad it has happened, the 29-year-old is now in a mental spot where he just keeps himself ready for whatever eventuates, and rides with the punches.

"It's different not knowing what your future looks like and oddly enough in my professional career I've been in that situation before when I was delisted obviously at Collingwood," Wilson said.

"I think that's helped prepare me for my time in sport and understanding how cut-throat it is and that opportunities might not come around.

"I was pretty at ease with that this off-season and felt like I had done the best I could with what I had, and if something came up I'd obviously jump at it but life goes on and I had to be prepared to walk down the other street if that was the case as well."