Texas A&M Basketball
“After I finished basketball at A&M, coach Barone called me and told me I needed to get my degree. I needed 18 hours to get my degree. It would have been less than that if I took care of my business. Coach told me, “I’m going to give you a one year scholarship to finish your degree.” That was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I tell kids every day, “One day you’re going to bounce that ball and it won’t bounce back, you need something to fall back on.” I was lucky to have that degree."
“I remember it was one of the worst calls in basketball history called against me. I remember the two free throws being made and running off the court and I see coach Barone over there fighting and tussling with this one guy. I’m from East Park and our motto is, “Fight now and ask questions later.” I saw the guy talking crazy to coach and I hit him. After that, we run up to the locker room and there were fans up there throwing popcorn and drinks at us. We finally get in the locker room and I’m sitting there scared, don’t know what happened. Coach walks in and says, “Where is Joe Wilbert? Where is Joe Wilbert?” They said right there, he says, “Way to hit that guy!”
“When I got to campus, officials sat me down and I thought, “Oh man, this is it, I’m done.” They sit me down and said, “We support you. We don’t thing you did anything wrong.” They had lawyers there in Bryan/College Station and lawyers in Lubbock. In late April, I had to turn myself into Brazos County, I was in jail for 22 minutes.”
“He poked me in the eye reaching for the ball, that was the down spiral of our season. I was averaging around 30 points a game, I don’t know what was going on with me but I got hit in the eye and we went down hill after that. We didn’t make the tournament, trust me, Chuck Henderson reminds me of it every time I see him.”
“I never dreamed of being a great basketball player, I just happened to get good over time. I never talk about basketball, because I still don’t understand why I was good, but throughout this whole time, basketball has allowed me to do amazing things that I would never be able to do without it and meet wonderful people and Aggies that I never would have. I tell people all the time, people are curious about it, they say, “Tell me about the Aggies?” I tell them, “Next to being a Christian, it is the best thing you can be in this world.”
Aggie Flashback with former basketball player Joe Wilbert
Key quotes from Joe Wilbert interview
“Something I’m learning over the years, I’m appreciating just being an Aggie more. When I was an Aggie on campus, I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. Our university is one of the best in the world. It feels so good to be an Aggie.” “That’s how A&M discovered me. Coach Davis would always invite the A&M guys to come play at our open gym when I was at Bryan High School. So Dave Edwards, Chuck Henderson and all those guys came to Bryan High to play a pick up game, assistant coach Porter Moser was playing. I was home for the summer from college, we started playing and everybody is scoring all these points, Porter, who was a GA at that point went back and said, “I don’t know who this kid was at the Bryan gym, but we need to recruit this guy.” It came down to A&M and Mississippi State, on the last day I chose A&M. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to come back home and play in front of my parents.”“After I finished basketball at A&M, coach Barone called me and told me I needed to get my degree. I needed 18 hours to get my degree. It would have been less than that if I took care of my business. Coach told me, “I’m going to give you a one year scholarship to finish your degree.” That was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I tell kids every day, “One day you’re going to bounce that ball and it won’t bounce back, you need something to fall back on.” I was lucky to have that degree."
“I remember it was one of the worst calls in basketball history called against me. I remember the two free throws being made and running off the court and I see coach Barone over there fighting and tussling with this one guy. I’m from East Park and our motto is, “Fight now and ask questions later.” I saw the guy talking crazy to coach and I hit him. After that, we run up to the locker room and there were fans up there throwing popcorn and drinks at us. We finally get in the locker room and I’m sitting there scared, don’t know what happened. Coach walks in and says, “Where is Joe Wilbert? Where is Joe Wilbert?” They said right there, he says, “Way to hit that guy!”
“When I got to campus, officials sat me down and I thought, “Oh man, this is it, I’m done.” They sit me down and said, “We support you. We don’t thing you did anything wrong.” They had lawyers there in Bryan/College Station and lawyers in Lubbock. In late April, I had to turn myself into Brazos County, I was in jail for 22 minutes.”
“He poked me in the eye reaching for the ball, that was the down spiral of our season. I was averaging around 30 points a game, I don’t know what was going on with me but I got hit in the eye and we went down hill after that. We didn’t make the tournament, trust me, Chuck Henderson reminds me of it every time I see him.”
“I never dreamed of being a great basketball player, I just happened to get good over time. I never talk about basketball, because I still don’t understand why I was good, but throughout this whole time, basketball has allowed me to do amazing things that I would never be able to do without it and meet wonderful people and Aggies that I never would have. I tell people all the time, people are curious about it, they say, “Tell me about the Aggies?” I tell them, “Next to being a Christian, it is the best thing you can be in this world.”
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