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==Death== |
==Death== |
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On November 20, 1984, outside of a small store near Simeon High School, Ben Wilson was walking his girlfriend(Jetun Rush) to the bus stop. Two men, Billy Moore and Omar Dixon were loitering outside the store while Moore's girlfriend Erica was inside. As they stood, Ben Wilson and Rush neared the men. It is then reported he pushed or bumped into Billy Moore. Moore claims to have asked Ben to say excuse me, when Ben Wilson became agitated. They got into a shouting match and began cursing at each other. Billy decided to scare Ben away by displaying the pistol he had tucked into his pants after opening his jacket. Moore then claims that this action did not deter Ben, who lunged toward Moore. At that point, Moore pulled the gun from his pants, and fired two shots into Ben Wilson's stomach and groin area. Ben Wilson staggered as Moore and Dixon fled the scene, leaving Erica confused as she exited the store to find Ben now slumped on the ground against the wall. The ambulance took a few minutes to get there, and then rushed him to the nearest hospital, at which there was no trauma unit on site at the time. It took doctors time to get there and begin operating hours after the shooting. Leading to internal hemorrhaging and his passing.<ref>ESPN 30 for 30 film "Benji"</ref> |
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On November 20, 1984, eyewitness Shaun Baylis reported seeing a confrontation between Wilson (accompanied by his girlfriend Jetun Rush) and the two young men: Omar Dixon and William Moore. Following the confrontation, Moore produced a .22 revolver and fatally shot Wilson.<ref name="chicagotribune October 1985">{{Cite news |title=2d Eyewitness Tells Of Wilson Slaying |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-10-10/news/8503090020_1_ben-wilson-simeon-vocational-high-william-moore |publisher=[[Tribune Company]] |newspaper=[[Chicagotribune.com]] |last=Myers |first=Linnet |date=October 10, 1985 |accessdate=October 17, 2012}}</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
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[[Category:Murdered sportspeople]] |
[[Category:Murdered sportspeople]] |
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[[Category:Sportspeople from Chicago, Illinois]] |
[[Category:Sportspeople from Chicago, Illinois]] |
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{{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub}} |
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[[tr:Ben Wilson]] |
[[tr:Ben Wilson]] |
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Revision as of 18:27, 24 October 2012
| File:Ben Wilson Basketball.jpg Wilson in 1984 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1967 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 21, 1984 (aged 17) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) |
| Listed weight | 239 lb (108 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Simeon (Chicago) |
| Position | Point guard Shooting guard |
| Number | 25 |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Benjamin "Benji" Wilson Jr. (March 18, 1967 – November 21, 1984) was an American Chicago area high school basketball player who was shot to death on the eve of the start of his senior season in high school. He was first in Chicago's history to be named the No. 1 high school basketball player in the country.[1]
Early life
Born and raised on the Chicago's South Side, Wilson's parents were Mary and Benjamin Wilson Sr. He was his mother's third child and his father's first. Wilson began playing basketball at an early age and played in elementary school. He attended St. Dorothy School for the beginning of his grade school education before transferring to Ruggles Elementary School where he graduated from in 1981. Wilson practiced at Cole Park, named for American musician Nat King Cole in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood.
High School Career
In the fall of 1981, he began his freshman year at Simeon Vocational High School in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the south side. As a freshman, Wilson played on the school's junior varsity team for the 1981-82 season. For the 1983-84 season, Wilson was the only junior on the varsity basketball team full of seniors. Simeon defeated Aurora West High School by nine points.[2] He led Simeon to its first Illinois State Championship that year, defeating the number one ranked Evanston Township High School in the final round. ESPN HS regarded him as the best junior in the country for the 1983–84 season.[3]
Athletes For Better Education (ABCD)
In July 1984, Wilson attended the invitation-only Athletes For Better Education camp in Princeton, New Jersey. A pioneer in high-school scouting, the AFBE camp (later ABCD) allowed scouts and coaches to watch top nationwide talent in a single location. After the week-long event, talent scout Bob Gibbons ranked Wilson the number-one high school player in America. As his senior season approached, Wilson was weighing scholarship offers from Illinois, DePaul, and Indiana.
Death
On November 20, 1984, outside of a small store near Simeon High School, Ben Wilson was walking his girlfriend(Jetun Rush) to the bus stop. Two men, Billy Moore and Omar Dixon were loitering outside the store while Moore's girlfriend Erica was inside. As they stood, Ben Wilson and Rush neared the men. It is then reported he pushed or bumped into Billy Moore. Moore claims to have asked Ben to say excuse me, when Ben Wilson became agitated. They got into a shouting match and began cursing at each other. Billy decided to scare Ben away by displaying the pistol he had tucked into his pants after opening his jacket. Moore then claims that this action did not deter Ben, who lunged toward Moore. At that point, Moore pulled the gun from his pants, and fired two shots into Ben Wilson's stomach and groin area. Ben Wilson staggered as Moore and Dixon fled the scene, leaving Erica confused as she exited the store to find Ben now slumped on the ground against the wall. The ambulance took a few minutes to get there, and then rushed him to the nearest hospital, at which there was no trauma unit on site at the time. It took doctors time to get there and begin operating hours after the shooting. Leading to internal hemorrhaging and his passing.[4]
Personal life
Wilson was nicknamed "Magic Johnson with a jump shot". He has one son named Brandon Wilson with his high school girlfriend Jetun Rush (now Jetun Rivers). His son Brandon, who was 10 weeks old when his father died, became a top high school basketball player in New York and wore Wilson's number 25.[5]
Legacy
Wilson's friend and Simeon teammate, former NBA and University of Illinois player Nick Anderson, wore jersey number 25 during his career in his honor. Juwan Howard also wore 25 at the University of Michigan as a tribute to Wilson. His story was the focus of a 1997 Nike advertisement that aired during the NBA Playoffs, which featured an aged man stating:
- "One out of every five black men die before they reach the age of twenty-five.
- That was Benji's number. Benji was the first in Chicago history to ever be named top high school player in the nation, right before he was gunned down.
- But you know what? Benji's not dead: Benji's spirit lives on in every jump shot.
- Remember: Shoot over brothas, not at them."
Current Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose graduated from Simeon in 2007. Throughout Rose's high school career he wore number 25 and continued Wilson's winning legacy at the school by achieving two state championships in 2006 and 2007. Simeon basketball player, Jabari Parker had the number 25 stitched into the team sneakers during his time at Simeon.[6]
ESPN premiered a documentary on Wilson titled "Benji" on October 23, 2012.[7]
References
- ^ SLAM ONLINE :Original Old School: Nuthin’ But Love SLAM 4: Ben Wilson’s life may have ended at 17, but his legacy as Chicago’s last best hope lives on.
- ^ Ben Wilson: A Life Cut Short but the Memories Remain
- ^ Fields, Ronnie (May 18, 2011). "Previous underclass POYs". ESPN HS. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ ESPN 30 for 30 film "Benji"
- ^ An unknown legacy Chicago high school basketball legend Ben Wilson's son, Brandon--now a top player in New York--is following in the footsteps of a father whose future was tragically cut short (Chicago Tribune, April 12, 2002)
- ^ With an assist from Parker, 'Benji' debuts
- ^ ESPN documentary to remember Simeon's Ben Wilson(Chicago Tribune, August 16, 2012)
Further reading
- 20 Year Tragedy (Chicago Sports Review, December 2004)
- The Well-Guarded Guard (Sports Illustrated, November 20. 2006)
- Ben Wilson's death resonates 25 years later (Chicago Tribune, November 2009)
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