Wilkerson heading to Sam Houston State

Three Rivers' Lamar Wilkerson surveys the court while he's guarded by Mineral Area's Terry Ford during the first half on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the Libla Family Sports Complex in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

DAR File

For the second time this week a Three Rivers men’s basketball player is making the leap to an NCAA Division I team as Lamar Wilkerson put pen to paper to play for Sam Houston State.

"It's definitely a dream come true to play Division I and to play on a big stage," Wilkerson said. "I'm very excited to join their program at Sam Houston and I'm hungry to win for them."

The Bearkats will be picking up a huge asset as Wilkerson was the leading scorer for Three Rivers this past season averaging 16.7 points per contest in 27 games. He was named to the All-Region XVI team and was an Honorable Mention NJCAA All-American.

Wilkerson was a Raider for two seasons and amassed 640 points. He only played eight games in 2020-21 due to a hamstring injury.

"I wouldn't trade my time at Three Rivers for the world," the 6-foot-4 guard from Ashdown, Arkansas said. "I'm really going to miss my teammates, they're my brothers. I'm also going to miss the coaches here."

Wilkerson had other Division I offers from Florida International, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Louisiana Monroe.

"What made Sam Houston stand out was the family atmosphere," Wilkerson said. "Coach (Jason) Hooten reached out to me and it was nice seeing a new team and how they worked. I just clicked immediately with them. Now the goal is to compete and bring a National Championship to Huntsville (Texas)."

Sam Houston State plays in the Western Athletic Conference and the Bearkats are coming off of a 19-14 season, losing to Grand Canyon in the second round of the WAC Tournament.

Wilkerson is the fourth Raider from the 2021-22 roster to sign with a Division I program, joining Yves Nkomba (University of Texas-Rio Grande), Kieth Kiner (Niagara) and Kinyon Hodges (Eastern Illinois).