Sherron Wilkerson

Born in Jeffersonville, Indiana to mother Phyllis Wilkerson,^[2] Wilkerson attended Jeffersonville High School, where he started playing varsity basketball in his sophomore year.^[3] He was an athletic combo guard who primarily played the shooting guard position: he had a 41-inch vertical, and displayed more defensive ability and team play than scoring attitude.^[4] He wore number 20 and averaged 14.1 points in his junior year.^[3] That year, he helped his team reaching the state championship finals, in which they lost.^[3] He committed to Indiana in September 1992.^[4]

He had a very successful senior year, during which he won the 1993 IHSAA state championship while averaging 16.5 points and 7.0 assists.^[3] He was considered one of the top shooting guards in the nation,^[5] and earned a selection in the McDonald's All-American team: in the 1993 McDonald's All-American Boys Game he did not score.^[6] He recorded totals of 1,140 points and 404 assists in 83 games played at Jeffersonville High.^[3]

He was originally named 1993 Indiana Mr. Basketball, winning over Maurice Fuller of Anderson by two votes, but the award was then vacated and given to Fuller after Wilkerson left the Indiana All-Star team during a game versus the Kentucky All-Stars while protesting against the coach's decision to bench him.^[7] Wilkerson later agreed with the decision to give the Mr. Basketball title to Fuller, renouncing the award and declaring that he felt that his behavior at the All-Star game was a mistake.^[8] He was named Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year in 1993.^[9]

Wilkerson appeared consistently during his freshman season at Indiana, even though he was not a starter. Wilkerson was headbutted by coach Bob Knight in a March 1994 game against Michigan State while Knight was berating him during a timeout; Knight later claimed that it was an accident, and that the headbutt was unintentional.^[10] Wilkerson ended his first season of college basketball with 28 games played, with averages of 3.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

He sat out his sophomore season on a medical redshirt due to a broken leg.^[11] He returned in 1995, and he became a starter, playing almost 30 minutes per game.^[12] He averaged 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists in the first 17 games of the season. However, in late January 1996 he was dismissed from the team.^[2] He was arrested in Bloomington, Indiana after the police was called during an argument between him and his girlfriend in the early morning hours: he was jailed for 12 hours^[12] and charged with domestic battery.^[11]

After leaving Indiana, Wilkerson decided to play for University of Rio Grande, which participated in the Mid-Ohio Conference of the NAIA; he averaged 25 points per game and was selected in the First Team All-Mid-Ohio Conference.^[13]