BUFFALO, NY —Jake Wilkins often draws comparison to his famous father who preceded him decades ago with Georgia basketball.
Dominique Wilkins was a two-time All-American with the Bulldogs before his star turn in the NBA, but he never reached the NCAA Tournament with Georgia.
Jake Wilkins is on a March Madness team.
The freshman forward is part of a Bulldog team that is the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region and played Saint Louis on Thursday night March 19
Here are three things to know about Jake Wilkins:
He dunks like his pops
Jake Wilkins has put Bulldog fans on their feet at home games with some electrifying dunks.
Go ahead and call him the Human Highlight Reel 2.0.
Georgia is one of the top teams for dunks nationally with 198 entering the tournament.
Jake Wilkins’ 20 dunks are third most on the team despite averaging 10.2 minutes per game.
“Most people aren’t gifted with the bounce that I have,” Jake Wilkins said. “So, when I’m running, I know I can get over most people.”
Jake Wilkins biggest game in Bulldogs’ biggest win
Jake Wilkins has hit double figure scoring in five games this season.
The 6-foot-9, 185-pound Wilkins’ most impactful game probably came in the Bulldogs biggest win of the season.
Georgia beat eventual SEC Tournament champion Arkansas, ranked No. 17 at the time, 90-76 on Jan. 17.
Wilkins scored 11 points on 4 of 4 shooting including hitting both 3-point tries.
Wilkins, who finished up his high school career at Grayson High in Loganville, is averaging 4.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
“He reminds me of Asa [Newell] a little bit,” coach Mike White said of the 2025 NBA first-round pick from Georgia. “His path and his journey, his process is totally different. He’s running his own race, but a similar characteristic in that he loves to play. He comes to compete every day. comes to work.”
A missing piece to an All-American career
Dominique Wilkins played at Georgia from 1979-82 before his legendary career with the Atlanta Hawks.
He’s the only Georgia player to have his number retired (now top players can go in the UGA Circle of Honor instead) and was SEC Player of the Year in 1981.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Famer was part of teams that played in the NIT twice including the 1982 semifinals but never reached the NCAA Tournament.
Jake Wilkins soaked in the trip to Buffalo to play in March Madness.
“It’s a lot, I mean it’s a big deal,” Jake Wilkins told the Athens Banner-Herald. “Being a kid, you watched this on TV, being in class, you’d watch it. Being here, especially as a freshman, it’s a big deal.”
