The first baseman from Akins High School (Austin) looked at his production as a Temple College Leopard and begrudgingly agreed. He also told himself he would be better somewhere else.
Turns out he was right.
Wilson, now 21, has made the most of his second chance, flourishing with the Blinn College baseball team as one of the best hitters in the NJCAA and proving that a bit of consistency goes a long way.
“I was at Temple College for a year and a half and things didn’t really go my way,” Wilson said. “I think I showed some potential, but I was trying to figure some things out and nothing was working for me. It came down to one conversation with a coach, and he told me ‘We’ve got better guys and we don’t think you’re going to get much playing time, so, it would be better for you to go somewhere else.'”
(Pictured: Blinn College’s Dave Wilson)
Wilson, who hit just .220 and .279, respectively, across two seasons at Temple, immediately began calling and emailing junior college programs in need of an infielder/outfielder who also brought a low-90s fastball to the mound.
More times than not, his calls were to Blinn head coach Harvey McIntyre.
“Blinn was a great option for me because it was so close to home, the program has a great tradition, and I thought it would just be the best fit for me,” Wilson explained, “so I stayed on them.”
That’s an understatement.
“He reached out to us, and then reached out to us again, and again,” McIntyre recalled. “I couldn’t tell you how many times he reached out through texts, emails … ‘Hey coach, this is what I want to do, and I want to play there.’ “The best way to put it is that Dave was very adamant about wanting to be here.”
McIntyre’s 2021-22 team was still taking shape, and initially he was unable to offer Wilson a roster spot. Yet, at some point, the longtime skipper came to a realization.
“How do you not take a kid that is so committed to wanting to be here?” McIntyre remembers asking himself. “How do you say no to that? I praise Dave for being so consistent and not letting me tell him no because I don’t know where we’d be without him.”
Though McIntyre offered Wilson a spot on the roster, he initially had no room for the transfer on the field.
“It was torture,” said Wilson, who struck out in his only at-bat during Blinn’s first 11 games. “I was just waiting patiently for my opportunity, but I can’t lie – I wanted to play. I wanted to be out there contributing.”
Wilson’s second at-bat of the season came Feb. 22 against Alvin Community College, and the 6-foot, 215-pound first baseman did much better, smacking a single and scoring a run.
(Pictured: Blinn College’s Dave Wilson)
Before the Buccaneers returned to the field, McIntyre and his staff opted to shake things up with a competition-based week of practice. Wilson single-handedly willed himself into Blinn’s starting lineup.
“We all just kind of looked at each other and said, ‘We’ve got to get Dave out there – he’s earned it,'” McIntyre said.
Wilson, who played first base throughout high school before transitioning to the outfield in college, was asked to fill a need at first base. With the chance to see regular at-bats and return to his natural position, Wilson answered the call in his first start for the Bucs on Feb. 26.
In a doubleheader at Alvin, Wilson opened with a 3-for-3 showing in which he doubled, walked, and scored twice. He saved the best for last, ending the day with a two-hit performance in game two in which he doubled, homered, scored once, and drove in three runs.
“I just wanted to show what I could do if given the chance,” Wilson said. “I just need that opportunity to get comfortable and get in a groove.”
Having seen enough in the doubleheader to keep Wilson in the lineup, McIntyre made Wilson his everyday first baseman. The decision paid dividends immediately.
“I can’t thank him enough for being that unselfish to want to help our team,” McIntyre said. “He was willing to move around for us and it says a lot about the kid.”
Wilson is currently ranked 31st in the NJCAA Division I standings with a .432 batting average (38 for 88). Upon entering the lineup on a consistent basis, Wilson has seen his average climb as high as .507 (March 27), which at the time led the nation. He also flashed his undeniable consistency earlier this spring with an 11-game hitting streak between March 14 and April 2 (21 of 43 for a .488 average).
(Pictured: Blinn College’s Dave Wilson)
Among his 38 hits, Wilson has eight doubles and three home runs with 23 runs driven in.
His approach isn’t complex. Wilson doesn’t go to the plate looking to put the ball over the fence or playing outside of his frame. He trusts his fundamentals and resorts to the basic formula of hitting.
“When I’m at my best and I’m doing what I need to do, I’m just staying up the middle and it’s literally just see ball, hit ball,” Wilson said. “I’m all about contact because if you put the ball into play, good things will happen.”
Wilson isn’t currently committed to any four-year universities, but at this point, it appears that’s only an inevitability. The University of Houston, Rice, Nebraska, Oral Roberts, and Tulane have shown interest, and Wilson and McIntyre believe a landing spot is on the horizon.
“Things will open for him, and he’ll land in a good place, I know he will,” McIntyre said. “You just can’t ignore a kid like Dave Wilson.”
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
