Men's Basketball | 10/23/2014 4:22:00 PM

NEWARK, NJ—Isaiah Wilkerson (Class of 2012) and Chris Flores (Class of 2013) were teammates on the NJIT men's basketball team for three years with each playing large roles in the Highlanders' growth as an NCAA Division I program. They're not teammates any more, but both are going strong as professional basketball players.
 
Flores, NJIT's career leading scorer since the Highlanders began Division I competition in 2006-07, is back for a second year with Uni-Riesen Leipzig of Germany's Bundesliga (national league) Pro-B. Wilkerson, who spent the previous two seasons with the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League, has moved south of the border for 2014-15, where he stars for Titanicos de Leon (Leon Titanics) of Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (National Professional Basketball League of Mexico).
 
Isaiah Wilkerson
Wilkerson, who scored 1,577 points (second in NJIT's Division I era) and grabbed 616 rebounds (first in the DI era), while making 135 steals (second) was 2011-12 Great West Conference Player of the Year and NJIT's first Division I All-America, making honorable mention on the authoritative All-America team chosen by the Associated Press.
 
Following graduation, the Staten Island native played for the 66ers, the D-League affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wilkerson was with the 66ers for two seasons. In his second year (2013-14), he was recognized as one of the most improved players in the D-League, boosting his season averages to 8.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists.
 
In May 2014, Isaiah was one of 37 prospects invited to play in the Fifth Annual Elite Mini Camp, which is a D-League-sponsored comprehensive showcase designed to feature the D-League's top prospects for evaluation by NBA teams.
 
The closed-door event is attended by NBA front office and scouting personnel. In addition, the Elite Mini Camp also displayed participants to evaluators from professional teams from outside the United States and Canada.
 
Through eight games in Leon, Wilkerson has taken his new league by storm, averaging 19.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. Playing for Leon, a city with over 1.6 million residents, Wilkerson is scheduled for 34 more league games in a schedule that began on September 25 and runs through to February 21, 2015.
 
Chris Flores
Flores, NJIT's career leading scorer since the Highlanders began Division I competition in 2006-07, is back for a second year with Uni-Riesen Leipzig of Germany's Bundesliga (national league) Pro-B.
 
Flores, who scored 1,724 points in his 4-year career at NJIT, averaged 16.9 points per game as a senior and was voted 2012-13 Great West Conference Player of the Year by the GWC coaches and sports information directors after leading the Highlanders to the conference regular season championship.
 
In turn, he received honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America team, following a year after Wilkerson, who had been the program's first Division I All-America following the 2011-12 season. Flores was also chosen for the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 13 team, becoming NJIT's first Division I-era player so honored by the NABC. He also made the All-Met (NY, NJ, CT) third team.
 
In June 2013, he took part in an invitation-only pre-NBA draft workout for the Brooklyn Nets, who brought in players from Kentucky, Pitt, and North Carolina to the same session.
 
Flores, who signed to play in Germany for the 2013-14 season, led Leipzig to the league playoff quarterfinals last season. When Uni-Riesen announced that he would return this season, he was quoted in the German media that the goal of going beyond the playoff quarterfinals was a strong motivation behind his decision to play a second season in Leipzig.
 
Having played on and off the ball on offense in college, Flores, according to his coach, is slated to get his work on the wing this season after being more of a point guard in his rookie pro season in Germany.