KU basketball’s Gradey Dick, Jalen Wilson may train together ahead of 2023 NBA draft
PITTSBURG — During the recent college basketball season, Gradey Dick said he didn’t pick Jalen Wilson’s brain about the NBA draft process.
Dick and Wilson, teammates at Kansas, were playing pivotal roles for the Jayhawks as they went on to win the Big 12 Conference’s regular season title. The two of them were key parts of the team’s efforts in the Big 12 tournament and NCAA tournament, too. So, Dick heeded the words of his father and remained focused on the present.
On Sunday, though, Dick and Wilson were almost a month removed from their season-ending defeat against Arkansas in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. They were wrapping up the three-day, three-city 2023 Barnstorming Tour in Pittsburg. And the two of them, both having already declared for the NBA draft, looked ahead to a future that could see them train at the same location in the weeks ahead.
RELATED: How Kansas men's basketball's roster looks next season after transfer portal, recruiting
RELATED: Bill Self previews KU basketball’s 2023-24 schedule, which doesn’t lack high-profile games
“It would be special,” said Dick, a freshman this past season. “It is special, because … a whole season with him and just learning a ton of different things from him, and hopefully he learned some things from me. But just going back and forth, and being kind of that little duo that we had a little, kind of continuing that is going to be special for sure.”
Dick noted he’s still figuring things out on his end. So, time will tell to a certain extent with this. But the two are represented by WME Sports, and Wilson said they have spent time in California together since the season ended.
Dick said he hasn’t asked Wilson too much about the process yet, pointing to how early on in it they still are. But Dick anticipates there’ll be questions he’ll have in time. For Wilson, who earned All-America honors as a redshirt junior this past season, it’s just great to have the opportunity to see each other chase their dreams of reaching the professional ranks.
Both Dick and Wilson could hear their names called during the first round of the NBA draft, Dick likely earlier on than Wilson, and if it happens it’ll be the second-straight year that’s happened for Kansas. Dick is a projected lottery pick, while Wilson is set to be selected later on if his name does come off the board in the first round. And there are multiple areas where Dick sees the familiarity he has with Wilson proving helpful throughout the process.
“On and off the court,” Dick said. “I mean, on the court, obviously, it’s a huge bonus and an advantage, because if we see different stuff with our trainers and stuff like that we can obviously help each other out with that. And we obviously know our strengths and weaknesses, that we can definitely just help each other grow. And off the court, obviously, it’s fun when you have a relationship like that, where you kind of go into a room and you might not know the other guys, and we obviously do.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 2023 NBA draft: Kansas' Gradey Dick, Jalen Wilson may train together
