Jalen Wilson, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Guyer High School in Denton, Texas emerged as one of the most heavily recruited prospects in the 2019 class.

Throughout his recruitment, Wilson, the No. 47 ranked player in the 2019 class, received scholarship offers from the likes of Kansas, Arizona State, Baylor, Illinois, LSU, Louisiana Tech, Marquette, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Saint Louis, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Florida, Memphis, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and others.

However, when the dust finally settled and it was time for a decision to be made, Wilson, the No. 9 ranked small forward in the class, gave the nod to Michigan, not Kansas, back on May 30, 2018.

“I talk to assistant coach [Luke] Yaklich and head coach John Beilein all the time,” Wilson said. “I was named after Jalen Rose … so I know all about Michigan basketball, and my mom loves Michigan. They produce great players in the NBA, and they’re a great program in the Big Ten."

Many believed that it would be Bill Self and Kansas, not John Beilein and Michigan, that would emerge as the last team standing for Wilson. Growing up, Wilson was a “Kansas kid” and had dreams of playing in Lawrence, but it was Beilein and his staff that made the biggest impression on the former four-star prospect.

"The coaches were all welcoming of me, showing me everything about how I can come in and make an impact on the team, also be a great student,” Wilson said. “They showed me the classrooms and stuff like that, where I’d be living when I was a freshman and sophomore.”

From May 30, 2018, until May 16, 2019, Wilson, who signed a National Letter-of-Intent with Michigan, was all in to play for Beilein and the Wolverines at the conclusion of his prep career at Guyer High School.

As Wilson was preparing to make the move to Ann Arbor, John Beilein, the head coach he signed on to play for, ultimately decided to leave to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers. Instead of making the move to Ann Arbor, Wilson made the decision to back out of his commitment and, in doing so, would find a new school to call home.

With an almost unlimited number of options to consider, Wilson took official visits to Kansas (5/30/2019) and North Carolina (6/3/2019). After not being sold on Wilson the first time around, Self wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.

Self, after Wilson received his release from Michigan, made the native of Denton, Texas a top priority and refused to take no for an answer. On June 12, 2019, Wilson verbally committed to Self and the Jayhawks and, as they say, the rest is history.

“Well, I screwed it up in high school,” said Self. “I screwed it up because he was a Kansas guy. He was ready to go. At least that's what we were told. And I didn't pull the trigger. It wasn't the assistant's call; it was my call. I didn't pull the trigger because I thought it was a little early in the process and still had a chance to evaluate some others, and he was ready to do it. So, we went from being maybe right in the league to now it's over, he's going to go somewhere else. And that's the interesting thing about recruiting.

“It doesn't always work on the school's timeframe,” he added. “Most of the time it works on the individual's timeframe, and his timeframe was to get it over with, and our timeframe was, "Well, let's watch him and evaluate everybody we're recruiting a little bit more." But obviously when Coach Beilein left and he became available, yeah, we got him in here and tried to get it done as quick as possible.”

What a catch Wilson turned out to be for Kansas. In 98 games, Wilson has averaged 13.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. Offensively, he’s connected on 42.9 percent of his field goals, 31.2 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 71.6 percent of his free throws.

This season, Wilson, after 30 games, is averaging 19.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Additionally, he’s shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from behind the arc, and 77.2 percent from the free-throw line.

This season, his final at Kansas, Wilson has simply taken his game to another level. He went for 25 points against Duke, 33 points against Southern Utah, 29 points against Wisconsin, 22 points against Texas Southern, 24 points against Missouri, 21 points against Harvard, 20 points against Oklahoma State, 38 points against Kansas State, 30 points against TCU, 23 points against Baylor, 22 points against Kentucky, 20 points against Kansas State, and 26 points against Iowa State.

Wilson, in the final home game of his career, scored 21 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished out two assists, and was credited with one steal in 38 minutes of action.

In leading Kansas past Texas Tech, 67-63, Wilson hit 6-of-16 field goals and was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Not long after scoring a game-high 21 points, JayhawkSlant.com asked Wilson about his journey to Kansas.

“I think that I was just like kind of ready to commit,” said Wilson. “I committed when I was like 16 or 17 (years old), so that’s pretty early. You know, with a program like this, there were so many players that weren’t committed yet, so it just wasn’t the right time.

“I understood that,” he added. “There were still a lot of high-level players that were still deciding, so that’s just the way it goes. Coach Beilein going to the NBA was not for no reason. I was supposed to be here and no matter what it took in high school, I ended up here. It ended up being the best decision of my life.”

Wilson, with his career at Kansas nearing its end, will long be remembered for the role he played during his time in Lawrence.

Looking back at last year's National Championship run, Wilson scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds against Texas Southern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He went for 14 points and 14 rebounds against Creighton, 16 and 11 against Providence, five and 11 against Miami (FL), 11 and 12 against Villanova, and, in the National Championship game against North Carolina, Wilson tallied 15 points and four rebounds.

Wilson has accomplished all there is to accomplish during his career at Kansas. Now, he’s hoping to put the icing on the cake with a second National Championship.