Damon Wilkinson Season 2026-27

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Honorable-Mention All-Summit League (2026)
• Summit League Academic Honor Roll (2024-25)

BEFORE NEBRASKA
Damon Wilkinson spent his first three seasons at South Dakota State, earning honorable-mention All-Summit League honors in 2026. He played in all 32 games in 2025-26, averaging 13.9 points per game on 59 percent shooting while leading the Jackrabbits with 6.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per game. Wilkinson ranked among the Summit League leaders in field goal percentage (second), rebounding (fourth), blocked shots (sixth), free throw percentage (.720) and scoring (11th). He got to the foul line a team-high 150 times while averaging 23.8 minutes per outing. In conference action, his numbers improved across the board averaging 15.5 points on 59 percent shooting along with 6.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest. He reached double figures in 27 contests in 2025-26, including a pair of 24-point outings. Wilkinson totaled three double-doubles in 2025-26, highlighted by a 24-point, 19-rebound performance against Omaha. As a redshirt freshman, Wilkinson backed up former Purdue center Oscar Cluff and appeared in 27 games for SDSU. He averaged 4.9 points on 59 percent shooting and 2.4 rebounds per game. He had three double-figure efforts, including a season-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and a season-high seven rebounds in 19 minutes at Montana. He redshirted at SDSU in 2023-24.

He was a standout at De Smet High School and Coach Jeff Gruenhagen, leading his team to three straight Class B state titles and a 94-7 record in his four-year varsity career. He totaled 1,188 points and a school-record 785 rebounds, including a school-record 25 in a game. As a senior, he averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks per game and was a finalist for the Midco Sports' Class B Player of the Year and KELOLAND All-Star Boys Basketball Player of the Year awards. Wilkinson, the Dakota Valley Conference's Most Valuable Player, was a first-team Class B All-State honoree as a senior after garnering second-team accolades as a junior. He was named to the Class B all-tournament team in each of his final three years at De Smet, as there was no state tournament as a freshman because of Covid-19. A multi-sport standout, Wilkinson starred in both football and track in high school, earning all-state honors on the gridiron and was runner-up in the shot put at the state championships as a senior. Wilkinson was also a multi-time Academic All-State selection. Wilkinson played AAU basketball with the Pentagon Schoolers for Coach Buster Vincent.

PERSONAL
The son of Brittani and Mark Wilkinson, Damon has two younger brothers (Grant and Nate) and one younger sister (Brinley). Wilkinson is an agricultural economics major at Nebraska. His brother (Grant) is an offensive lineman at South Dakota State while both of his parents were college athletes. His mother, Brittani, was an All-American on the court at Augustana, totaling over 1,000 career points and nearly 700 rebounds and is a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame. His father, Mark, played football at South Dakota State. Wilkinson also looked at North Carolina State after transferring, but chose Nebraska for “the winning program, culture, coaching staff along with my fit with the players. It feels like home as well as the chance to compete at the highest level.”

CAREER HIGHS

Category	Total	Opponent
Points	24	2x, last at Omaha (1/28/26)
Rebounds	19	vs. Omaha (1/1/26)
Assists	3	4x, last vs. St. Thomas (3/5/26)
Steals	2	3x, last at Oral Roberts (2/14/26)
Blocks	3	4x, last vs. Omaha (1/1/26)
FG Made	10	at Omaha (1/28/26)
FG Attempts	15	vs. South Dakota (2/7/26)
3FG Made	None
3FG Attempts	1	vs. Milwaukee (12/19/25)
FT Made	10	vs. Omaha (1/1/26)
FT Attempts	13	vs. Omaha (1/1/26)
Minutes	33	at North Dakota (1/3/26)