NEWARK, NJ—Forward Gary Garris, who will be a senior, and guard Isaiah Wilkerson, who will be a sophomore, will be captains of the 2009-10 NJIT men's basketball team, coach Jim Engles announced.
“They both have natural leadership ability,” said Engles. “The kind of leadership that sets an example of being self-disciplined and self-motivated. Gary and Isaiah both fit those modes.”
Garris is an experienced leader on and off the court. A team captain last season in his NJIT debut, he paced the 2008-09 Highlanders in rebounding (5.7 per game) and steals (49), while also contributing a solid 10.7 points per game.
Despite experiencing pain in both knees that required offseason surgery, he answered the bell a school-record 31 times, starting every game for NJIT.
A transfer from American University, where he played two seasons, Garris exhibited skill and grit in '08-'09. Undersized for the interior by Division I standards at 6-foot-5, he was among the taller Highlanders, so he matched up frequently against bigger players in the post and never backed down. He scored a career-high 23 points at Towson on November 24 and produced his career rebounding high in the next game, pulling down 12 boards against Hartford.
He scored in double figures 16 times and had double-figure rebounds five times. Garris generated three double-doubles, getting 17 points and 11 rebounds at Vermont on January 3 and then 19 points and 10 rebounds in the next game against Yale in the Prudential Center. His third double-double was a 13-point, 10-rebound effort in NJIT's historic win over Bryant on January 21.
“Gary has been the natural fit for captain since I got the job (in April 2008),” said the head coach. “He's an extremely hard worker and he's completely committed to turning the program around through his maturity and through his example.”
Wilkerson, who enrolled at NJIT for the Spring 2009 semester, appeared in 22 games starting 20. He averaged 12.5 points per game (second on the team) and was the top free throw shooter for the Highlanders, connecting on 77 percent of his attempts (59-77). He also had primary ballhandling responsibilities in many games.
His transition to Division I basketball was remarkably smooth, despite a rare circumstance that added to the task of breaking into the college game.
A star at Curtis High School on Staten Island, NY, Wilkerson was not enrolled in college during the Fall 2008 semester and did not have preseason practice that his opponents and teammates had. Indeed, his first college practice actually came after his first game on December 20.
Despite spotting his peers two months in terms of formal preparation, he scored 12 points off the bench at Rutgers on December 23. Thus began a string of 15 consecutive double-figure scoring games, headed by 24 in a Prudential Center home game against Maryland Eastern Shore on January 28. In all, he reached double figures in 17 of his 22 games.
“Isaiah was and is a tremendous addition to our program,” Engles said. “Not only is he a very good player, but it speaks volumes that he was able to come in at mid-year and immediately earn the respect of his teammates and the coaching staff.
“There really was no adjustment visible when he stepped on the court. Even though he'll be a sophomore, he really understands what commitment to winning is.”
The two captains will be part of a 2009-10 NJIT roster that figures to number six returning letterwinners, six true freshmen National Letter of Intent signees, and a player who was injured all of his freshman year in 2008-09.
NJIT is on track to become an active championship-eligible member of NCAA Division I late this summer and the Highlanders will begin play in the inaugural Great West Conference basketball season in 2009-10, as well. The new season will open in mid-November.
