Kevin “K.J.” Wilson Jr. was a high school freshman when comparisons started between him and Tartan legend Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan led the Titans to the 2000 Class 4A boys basketball state championship and scored 3,013 career points before playing at Iowa State.

Wilson, now a 6-foot-1 sophomore, leads Tartan, which is the No. 1-ranked team in Class 4A and perhaps the biggest threat to defending state champion Wayzata this season.

“He’s becoming a more complete player,” said longtime Tartan coach Mark Klingsporn, who also coached Sullivan. “His skill set is fantastic.”

Wilson’s talent has mixed well with fellow sophomore standout Emmanuel Oyesanmi and veteran transfers Duke King and Tyrel Pride. It has created the perfect formula for sustained success under Klingsporn, who has more than 700 career victories.

The Titans, who are a combined 49-1 overall and 30-0 in the Metro East Conference the last two seasons, are in the midst of a 53-game regular-season winning streak. They are 22-0 this season through Feb. 17.

“We’re No. 1, but that doesn’t mean we can just stop,” Wilson said. “We can’t let that get to us. We’re trying to get past sections and win state. It starts in practice, bringing the energy and competing every day.”

Wilson and Oyesanmi, regarded as two of the top three players in the state’s 2028 class, have shown potential. While only sophomores, they have been starters for two years. The future is now.

“We can’t be satisfied with this,” Oyesanmi said. “We just got to keep getting better. All this hard work is going to pay off eventually.”

Defensive growth

The Titans are contenders to win their first state title in 26 years partly because of Wilson’s development on both ends of the court.

Klingsporn’s system demands players put constant pressure defensively on opponents and force them into mistakes. That fuels Tartan’s up-tempo style that led to wins against Hopkins and Maple Grove earlier this season —their two best victories to date.

Wilson, who scored a career-high 33 points and sank nine three-pointers in a win at Mahtomedi on Dec. 22, has made a six-point jump in production from last season to a team-best 22 points per game. As he has grown taller and stronger, his biggest area of improvement has been defense.

In Tartan’s victory over Maple Grove on Dec. 27 at Macalester College, Wilson didn’t mind taking turns guarding Crimson four-star junior guard Baboucarr Ann.

“When he was younger, people would go at him, but they can’t do that anymore,” Klingsporn said. “He fits in with all the rest of our kids in regards to their defensive play. He’s just super sound. And he rebounds the ball great as a guard.”

King, a 6-5 North St. Paul transfer, can also defend much taller players. Pride, a 6-1 St. Paul Johnson transfer, is the team’s top lockdown on-ball defender.

“It’s great that Tyrel came back,” Wilson said about the former Tartan guard. “I felt like we needed that piece. Great shooter. Can attack the basket. Plays hard on defense. Adding Duke, too, he’s long, athletic and can bring the ball up the court.”

Both King and Pride led their respective programs in scoring last season before transferring.

“We do have a lot of weapons,” King said. “For us to be selfless and understand we all are not going to be able to do it every night and share the ball, that’s a big thing.”

Eyes on state

The Titans, who have clinched their third consecutive Metro East title, haven’t been to the state tournament since 2014. They’ve lost to Cretin-Derham Hall in the section playoffs for four straight seasons. Their postseason exits make it harder to appreciate their dominance during the regular season.

From 2023 to 2025, with guard C.J. Banks as the leading scorer, Tartan went 51-6 overall and 31-1 in its league with two Metro East titles.

Wilson averaged nine points as an eighth-grader in 2023-24 and 16 points last season, but he was primarily playing off the ball. One of his most memorable games was a team-high 21-point performance that nearly pushed the Titans past CDH in the section title game last year.

Wilson is now the primary ballhandler for Tartan, and he’s more formidable creating shots for himself and his teammates.

“He’s really improved on his ability to run the team as a true point guard,” Klingsporn said. “This year, he’s the guy who has got the ball in his hands all of the time. So, his decision-making and being a true point guard, the mindset you need to have to play that position, has really developed.”

Klingsporn talked to Wilson about the great guards who came before him at Tartan. After Sullivan, there were Antwan Kimmons, Jordan Horn, who’s now on staff, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe.

“I just feel like I play like J-Horn a little bit because he wasn’t the fastest, and I’m not either,” Wilson said. “I can shoot like Jake Sullivan. And I think I’m a pretty good ballhandler myself.”

The Titans, who could be tested Saturday vs. defending Class 3A champion Alexandria at Tartan, were briefly replaced by Wayzata on top of the Class 4A coaches rankings for one week without any losses.

Tartan eventually returned to the No. 1 spot last week, but Wilson knows rankings and comparisons won’t mean much unless his team makes the state tournament.

“We don’t even talk about the ranking,” Wilson said. “We still have to work on things. We have to come into every game like we don’t want to lose. Play hard and play aggressive. If we lose, then they can give someone else the No. 1 spot.”

Basketball Across Minnesota

Fuller’s five

Five Minnesota ballers who stood out:

Ja’Kahla Craft, Seton Hall: The sophomore guard from Elk River had a perfect game Feb. 14 in a win over DePaul with 26 points on 11-for-11 shooting from the field, including 4-for-4 shooting on three-pointers.

Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves: The new NBA All-Star Game format was a big hit Feb. 15. But not as big as the Wolves star who stole the show with a combined 32 points to win MVP honors after his team came away victories over a team led by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and others. Is Edwards the new face of the NBA?

Emma Miller, Crookston: The Crookston senior and former St. Michael-Albertville guard stands only 5-foot-1, but her impact on the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference was large enough to go down in league history. In a win against Minot State on Feb. 10, Miller scored 26 points to become the NSIC’s all-time scoring leader with 1,629 career points.

Alyssa Sand, St. Thomas: A 6-3 sophomore from Albany, Sand set the program’s Division I record for single-season steals and blocks. During the Tommies’ three-game winning streak, she posted 15 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks vs. Oral Roberts and 13 points, 13 rebounds and two steals vs. Denver.

Erma Walker, Hopkins: The Royals and their 6-foot senior post seem to be playing their best basketball with the postseason around the corner. Walker dominated a Feb. 12 victory vs. Minnetonka with 35 points. She also had 24 points in a Feb. 17 win vs. Wayzata.

Minnesotans in the Pros: Jericho jumps back into rotation

Former Cristo Rey and University of Texas standout Jericho Sims has seven starts this season for the Milwaukee Bucks, but he was in and out of the rotation until finding a steady role in February.

The springy 6-10 forward was averaging 7.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and shooting 79.3% from the field in seven games this month while playing 24 minutes per game through a Feb. 12 win vs. Oklahoma City.

His February highs include a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds with 6-for-6 field-goal shooting and 5-for-5 free-throw accuracy in a Feb. 11 win at Orlando and 15 rebounds in a Feb. 6 victory vs. Indiana.

College teams of the week

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season champions were crowned last week — the St. Cloud State men and Minnesota State Mankato women.

The Mavericks (29-0), the No. 1 team nationally in the Division II women’s rankings, secured the conference title by finishing 19-0 in league play after a Feb. 12 win over Augustana. Senior Natalie Bremer had her third 30-point performance of the season with 32 points on 13-for-19 shooting.

The Huskies (21-5) won their first regular-season NSIC championship since 1975-76 after overcoming a 16-point deficit in an 87-80 win against Augustana on Feb. 15. Their last conference title was in the North Central Conference in 2003.

Minnesota Top 25 update

The Wayzata boys and girls basketball teams are top contenders to win Class 4A titles this year, but they might have to go through Hopkins.

The Wayzata girls defeated defending state champion Hopkins 61-52 on Jan. 23. The defending Class 4A champion Trojans trailed Hopkins at halftime that Friday, but Christian Wiggins led host Wayzata to the 80-76 comeback win.

Before the playoffs, the Trojans boys and girls played the Royals one last time in the regular season Tuesday night, Feb. 17. The Wayzata boys won 94-79 at Hopkins behind 46 points combined from Wiggins and Nolen Anderson. The Trojans girls lost 77-74 to the visiting Royals, who got 31 points from Jaliyah Diggs.

Final thoughts ...

The buzz surrounding K.J. Wilson spread around the cities several years ago when he was a sharpshooting sixth-grader and the best guard in his class.

One of Wilson’s club teammates was Ichima Idoko, who would become the No. 1 prospect in the 2028 class. Wilson and Idoko, now at DeLaSalle, are impact players for two of the state’s top teams in Class 4A and 3A, respectively.

Not surprisingly, they’re also the two sophomore boys prospects with high major Division I offers. They have a bright future.

. . .

Basketball Across Minnesota will be published weekly on stribvarsity.com. Don’t be a stranger on X after reading, as chatting about these stories makes them even more fun to share. Thanks, Marcus (@Marcus_R_Fuller on X).