Water Polo, Basketball, Baseball
Favorite athlete: Kevin Durant
Favorite team: Philadelphia 76ers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring a full length of the pool goal in a water polo game as a goalie.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My shorts were so big on me during a middle school basketball game that I had to hold them up with one hand while dribbling with the other hand to make sure my shorts didn’t fall down.
Music on my playlist: Tons of Lil Durk, Lil Baby and lots of R&B.
Future plans: Attend the University of Delaware with the intention of double majoring in marketing and sports management and then continuing on to get an MBA.
Words to live by: “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”
One goal before turning 30: To have a successful career.
One thing people don’t know about me: Sushi is my favorite food.
By Ed Morrone
Kyle Wilson has lived in the Ambler area most of his life, so he was surprised years ago when someone approached him to inquire about a kid who had the same surname that he did.
Did he know this boy with the first name Morgan? Were the two related?
“My dad is one of eight, so there are a lot of Wilsons in this area,” said Kyle, the head boys basketball coach at Wissahickon High School. “Morgan first moved to this area when he was 5 or 6 years old, and he went to sign up for youth football, someone said to him, ‘You must be related to Coach Wilson.’ He’s new, so he’s like, ‘Who?’ Then when he’s 6 or 7 he comes to sign up for my (basketball) camp, and I tell him ‘You must be the Wilson I’m not related to.’ It was funny meeting him that way, and Morgan and I go way back.”
Morgan attended the same middle school where Kyle teaches, and later would play basketball for him once Morgan got to high school, so it’s safe to say that Kyle has been somewhat of a father figure in Morgan’s school life, even if the two are not blood relatives.
And while Kyle Wilson is certainly a fan of Morgan Wilson the athlete, he’s an even bigger advocate for Morgan Wilson the person. Kyle told a story about when he and his wife stopped at a local sandwich shop for a bite to eat, Morgan and some friends were there. When they were done eating, most of the kids got up without clearing their plates, leaving it for the restaurant to deal with; everyone but Morgan, who stayed behind and cleaned up everyone else’s trash, so that an employee didn’t need to waste time doing it.
“He has always been such a tremendous young man,” Kyle said. “Morgan is just one of those kids where he will always be a better human, citizen, neighbor and community member than an athlete. He’s just that good a kid.”
***
Make no mistake about it, Morgan Wilson loves playing sports. He started with basketball, baseball and football all around the age of 5 or 6, and by his own account, “I was always holding a ball or swinging a bat.” Always one of the bigger kids for his age, the athleticism just came naturally to him. Whether it was a home run he hit in Little League or the style and flair that came with stepping on the basketball court, being an athlete was the first time Wilson felt like he had an identity.
After spending some time talking to Wilson, it’s clear that sports aren’t the only part of his identity. In fact, they may have served as an inevitable outlet to something he enjoys even more: being a leader in the Wissahickon community.
“Growing up, my parents instilled in me to be a leader, not a follower,” he said. “Be the guy others want to follow, so I’ve carried that throughout my life. I’ve always envisioned myself as a leader, even if it’s over the smallest thing. I enjoy being the leader that gets a group or team to a successful outcome. I’m a vocal, enthusiastic person, and so I think people gravitate toward me.”
Wilson is not the basketball team’s leading scorer or most dominant player, but he is a captain and by far one of the program’s most respected players.
“When I think of a captain, I envision someone who unites a group and brings them into battle,” he says. “So, I want to be that guy. Someone who is always vocal, because communication is a huge part of leading, and I excelled in that playing basketball.”
It’s not just on the basketball court, either. Wilson also is a first baseman for the Trojans baseball team, and he decided to give water polo a try his senior year because - why not? It’s another group of people to lead into battle, with Wilson serving as the always-optimistic general and commander.
“Baseball is the same approach for me as basketball,” Wilson says. “Communication, communication, communication. I’m the loudest one on the field. If our pitcher gets rattled, I always call timeout to go talk to him, make sure he’s OK, tell him I’m there for him. If we need a big inning with the bats, I grab the group and just rally them, like ‘Let’s get some hits and put a crooked number on the scoreboard.’
“Being the vocal guy and the guy who leads by example are intertwined mentalities to me. I would never tell someone to do something that I wouldn’t. And if the team needs me to sacrifice an at bat to lay down a bunt, then I’m always willing. Whether I hit a home run or lay down a sacrifice bunt, I’m always just happy and proud to do the job.”
Kyle Wilson isn’t the only coach who has been left amazed and awestruck by Morgan’s natural leadership abilities. Andy Noga is the head baseball coach at Wissahickon, and his immediate impression of Morgan as a freshman was how energetic and enthusiastic the kid was to play baseball. Then, Noga realized that Wilson was energetic and enthusiastic to do pretty much anything.
“My second impression of Morgan was how unselfish and unconcerned he was with his individual success,” Noga said. “These are the type of players I like a lot, and Morgan just grew on me with his infectious personality. His teammates love being around him and playing with him. He’s a captain for us this year, and easily could have been last year given how he carries himself and holds himself and the team accountable on and off the field.
“What I really love about him is if he sees the energy dipping in the dugout, he gets them together and right back into the game. If something is wrong on the field, he calls time and calms everybody down. A typical high school senior might look down on freshmen because of the grade barrier separating them, but whenever I’m around Morgan, he’s quick to include everyone. He doesn’t leave anyone out, and it’s never anything I tell him to do. It’s all on his own.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Faikish is the head boys water polo coach at Wissahickon, and initially he wasn’t sure what to make of this senior who showed up to tryouts expressing a desire to play the sport for the first time. Even if Wilson’s reason for being there was that he was egged on by some baseball teammates to try out, Faikish knew he needed a goalie, mostly for jayvee but perhaps for some varsity games too, and he was impressed with the 6-foot-2 Wilson’s length and athleticism.
Faikish quickly discovered that this was not just a novelty act that Wilson was pursuing as a goof. He enjoyed being in the water in general, and the best of him always shows up when it comes to being a leader in the Wissahickon community.
“He was a fantastic addition to the team from day one,” Faikish said. “The thing that truly became so great for myself and the team was that Morgan was a very positive and motivated player and helped build up the team around him with continuous positive comments and encouragement. He quickly became a leader of the team, for jayvee as well as varsity. While his main focus was helping out as the jayvee goalie, he also ended up taking minutes in varsity spots whenever needed. The best was that without hesitation, he was ready to jump in and help. He was truly a coach's player and someone everyone would want on their team.”
And to the surprise of probably nobody, in Wilson’s one season of water polo, he still managed to score a full length-of-the-pool goal. As a goalie. The kid is just wired differently, and when he puts his mind to something, odds are he’s going to achieve successful results.
***
All of this is not to say Wilson hasn’t experienced any adversity in his life. He spent most of his first two high school basketball seasons with the jayvee squad, working his way up the ladder as most underclassmen have to do. As a junior, Wilson finally secured a starting role as Wissahickon’s shooting guard.
At some point in the season, Wilson suffered an injury that caused him to miss some games. The player who stepped into the starting lineup played so well that once Wilson was healthy, his coach had to break the news to him that he was not getting his old job back.
For most high school athletes, this would be a devastating blow to the ego, probably followed by a downward mental spiral. But Wilson?
“I felt bad, because no kid wants to lose his spot while injured,” Kyle Wilson said. “But Morgan never fussed or complained. He came back and said, ‘Coach, I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win.’ That’s always been his mentality.”
Instead of pouting, Wilson embraced the challenge, the same way he did with figuring out how to be a water polo goalie, or an ace defensive first baseman after Noga pulled Wilson from the outfield during his junior year, wanting to take advantage of the kid’s length and athleticism.
“I’ve always considered myself a team-first guy,” Morgan said. “No matter what, these guys are my brothers. I was frustrated that I got injured, but not frustrated that I lost my spot. I want to be a leader and role model, so when things don’t go my way, I'll put my head in the dirt and grind it out anyway. I wasn’t expecting the spot back, and I just wanted the team to know I was there to support them and roll with the punches.”
By being so willing to embrace this new role, Wilson became an even more valuable contributor to Wissahickon as a senior. Kyle Wilson likened the role to the one that former Sixers player Andre Iguodala played when he was winning championships with the Golden State Warriors. Iguodala was the star in Philly, but with the Warriors, his offensive role took a step back to guys like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. In turn, Iguodala started relishing being the guy who did the dirty work, such as taking charges, diving for loose balls, making the extra pass and guarding the opposition’s best player.
Iguodala is still playing in the NBA at 38 years old, so the greater lesson here that Wilson himself embraced was that in the end, it’s never about you. Always team, team, team.
“I needed to figure out a new way to be useful, so I wasn’t a deer in headlights out there,” Wilson said. “When you accumulate all of those little, dirty jobs, it can be just as rewarding as the bigger things. Kyle understood me and how I could impact the team without the ball in my hands. As a result, I ended up getting more involved, and I understood my role 100 percent. I was able to do the things Coach and my team needed from me in order for us to be successful.”
“Morgan understands that life is a journey, and you can either make certain choices to shorten your path to something, or you can make it more difficult,” Kyle Wilson said. “He’s always been willing to listen and be open to suggestions.”
Added Noga: “The unselfishness he displays time in and time out, he just constantly thinks of the team perspective instead of himself. He’s one of our better hitters, but in a recent game he came up in a situation that called for a bunt. So he lays down a beautiful bunt, and it leads to a big inning for us. He is willing to do whatever it takes to put himself in a position to better get his team a win.”
***
With all of this being said, it should serve as no surprise that sports aren’t the only thing that Wilson is involved in. He is a member of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter; he’s a part of Link Crew, a program that welcomes incoming freshman to school and continues to support them throughout their first year; Wilson also participates in FANS, a school spirit organization that makes sure it is always showing up to support the endeavors of other students, whether that’s through sports, music or robotics; heck, he even joined Wissahickon’s Jewish Student Union, just so he could learn about more about the culture and perspective of a group of people different than his own background.
Perhaps the most telling sign of the respect Wilson wields at Wissahickon was the invitation he received from principal Dr. Lynne Blair to become a Student School Board Representative. In this role over the course of two years, Wilson got to meet regularly with Blair and other school and district leaders, seeing how decisions are made at the executive level while also serving as a liaison for the entire student body.
“It was right up my alley,” he said. “I got to talk to leaders of the school and tell them what the students were thinking and feeling. They all asked me questions about what changes I’d like to see. It allowed me to interact with high-ranking members of the community to hear their thoughts, while also giving them student feedback. It made me more confident in myself and my ability to be that guy for people. I’ve always pushed myself to be a leader; it’s why I say the word so much. It also showed that I’m not just an athlete, but a student-athlete who can make an impact as a student, too.”
Wilson considered enrolling at the University of Maryland or Penn State, but after his experience as a Wissahickon ambassador, being a small fish in a big pond suddenly wasn’t as appealing. So, as of two days ago, he had finalized his decision to attend the University of Delaware, where he will pursue a double major in Marketing and Sports Management. Wilson chose marketing because communicating with people is one of his biggest strengths, and sports management because, well, the kid signed up for water polo for a year just to show people he could. Sports will always be a part of his life, even while pursuing other endeavors. Maybe he’ll become a sports agent, or a vice president for a professional sports team. Wilson isn’t sure just yet, but he trusts his own instincts, so odds are that he made the right decision in choosing Delaware over Penn State or Maryland.
“I just thought that maybe I’d enjoy a smaller school,” Wilson said. “I’m a leader, and maybe at Delaware I can continue what I’ve been doing at Wissahickon. Just be someone that everybody knows.”
