Hannah Wilkerson, 2021 Moir Classic (File photo)
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
BOWIE, Md. — Former North Rowan basketball star Hannah Wilkerson looks forward to scoring her 1,000th collegiate point in the black and gold uniform of the Bowie State University Bulldogs.
Wilkerson entered the transfer portal shortly after her 2024-25 season ended and recently announced that Bowie State, a strong CIAA program located 18 miles from Washington D.C., will be her home for her senior season.
“I’m an old senior now,” Wilkerson said. “So it’s time to start thinking about life after basketball. I love the area Bowie State is in and I can see myself working there after I graduate. I can see myself making a good life there.”
Wilkerson was lightly recruited in high school despite scoring 1,589 points for the Cavaliers (that’s fourth in program history) in 3.5 seasons. COVID limited her junior season to 12 games.
Wilkerson was a 5-foot-8 guard who wasn’t rated as super-quick or viewed as a great shooter, so despite four years of consistent scoring, rebounding and effort, there were more doubters than believers that she could play at the next level.
She was grateful to accept an offer from Columbia International University, a small South Carolina school that competes in NAIA and the National Christian College Athletic Association.
She proved to everyone during her freshman season that she could thrive in college basketball. She broke the program record for points in a season with 522, averaging 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Rams. Her free-throw percentage (77) and 3-point percentage (34.6) were among the best in school history. She was first team all-conference.
When Columbia International’s head coach, Danielle Fleming, left for Clarion University, a Division II school in Pennsylvania that was facing a total rebuild, Wilkerson headed to Clarion as well. There wasn’t much left for Wilkerson to prove in NAIA, and she was excited about the challenge of playing at the D-II level. Thats the level of play she had grown up watching at Livingstone and Catawba.
The 2023-24 season, Wilkerson’s sophomore year, was a rough one. Clarion went 1-27, although Wilkerson did fine individually. She was an immediate starter and averaged 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. There was a game against a strong IUP squad in which Wilkerson had 18 points and 12 rebounds, a double-double just like in her high school days.
Wilkerson stayed for her junior year to help the program get back on its feet and Clarion made a big jump to 14-15 during the 2024-25 season. Wilkerson accepted a sixth-person role as the first off the bench, although she still got about 17 minutes per game. She averaged 7.5 points and 3.1 rebounds.
“We had a much better team, but I still did the same things I did as a sophomore,” Wilkerson said. “Coming off the bench wasn’t a hard adjustment and I was able to provide energy and change the game when I went in. I had a few more double-doubles.”
In a November game very early in her junior season, Wilkerson made the game-winning, buzzer-beating shot against Livingstone in a game played at neutral Bluefield State in West Virginia.
“That was a special night and I do remember it well because that was the last time my family got to see me play in person,” Wilkerson said. “That’s another reason that Bowie State is such a good fit for me. There are a lot of CIAA schools in the Carolinas, so my family will get a lot more chances to see me play. Bowie State is about five hours from home, so hopefully they also can make a few home games.”
Clarion was about nine hours from home for Wilkerson, so she’s getting closer.
She’s also getting closer to one of her college goals — 1,000 points. She needs 33.
She had that 522-point season at Columbia International and she had 235 and 210 in her two seasons at Clarion. That’s 967.
“I’m hoping it won’t take me too long,” Wilkerson said. “That’s going to be a good memory.”
Academically, she’s done well and has made all-academic teams, but with two transfers, it may take her an extra semester or so to earn a degree.
She is playing in a summer league now with some of her future Bowie State teammates, as she gets an idea what they can do and they get an idea of what she will bring to a solid program that was 19-10 in 2024-25.
“I’ve always loved basketball, and it’s been such a huge part of my life,” Wilkerson said. “This will be the last year I get to play, but the plan is to make the last one the best one.”
