For those of you who don’t know redshirt freshman running back Jordan Wilkins, you better get to know him fast.
Wilkins might be the strongest back the Rebels have this season, and he is on pace to be a cornerstone for the future.
This weekend’s game versus Vanderbilt is not only a big game for Ole Miss, but it’s also big for Wilkins as he will play against his brother Trey Wilkins, who starts at wide receiver for the Commodores.
The senior caught one pass for 19 yards in the Commodores’ 37-7 loss to Temple last week. The Vanderbilt receiver is two years older than Jordan and mentored him throughout his football journey.
Jordan received his first carries as a college football player with 5 rushes for 21 yards. This will be the first time the two brothers have played against each other as they both played on the same high school team at St. Benedict at Auburndale in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Wilkins’ brothers broke many school records while attending St. Benedict.
Trey owns the school’s all-time record for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Jordan, on the other hand, owns the school’s all-time record for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
Amazingly, Jordan also owns the school record for 298 rushing yards in a single game. Jordan also led his team to the first ever win over Briarcrest Christian School in 2011, where former Rebel Michael Oher played high school football.
The two brothers gained their athletic gifts from their parents, Billy and Angie Wilkins. Billy used to play for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL and Angie has a degree in Sports Management. Angie Wilkins said the boys started playing sports by the time they were 4 years old.
“We tried to get them involved in every kind of sports so they could figure out what they liked best,” she said. ”We thought basketball was going to be the one they both played in college but they turned out both loving football more.”
The Wilkins’ brothers didn’t begin playing football until they were in the fifth grade. While Jordan was younger, he had to wait to play football. While he waited, Jordan would attend Trey’s practices to learn from his older brother.
“Jordan always tried to stick with Trey so he was trying to keep up and be as good as him in everything even being two years apart,” Angie Wilkins said.
Jordan loved football so much at an early age that he snuck into one of Trey’s sixth grade football practices. Jordan made one of Trey’s teammates borrow his pads and jersey and started to play. Billy was the coach of that team and didn’t notice Jordan was out there until fifteen minutes later.
“Having two boys close together was awesome,” Angie Wilkins said. “They never fought and they had great respect for each other.”
As for the game on Saturday, Billy and Angie will be wearing neutral colors, but will have on both Vanderbilt and Ole Miss gear.
“All of our family is coming and many friends, and I want it to be a good and safe game,” Angie Wilkins said. “It doesn’t matter who wins. I just hope they are both happy with what they individually do on the field.”
The storyline going into the game this weekend may be quiet, but one of Trey and Jordan’s former high school teammates saw this matchup coming.
“Well for me personally, I knew the day that both of them were playing each other in the national spotlight was inevitable since the first day that I stepped on the field with them,” said former St. Benedict defensive back Justin Crone. “They are just a special breed of athletes that you rarely get to see in private school football in Memphis.”
Billy and Angie Wilkins will cheer and root for their sons, and Angie admits that this game will be emotional for the Wilkins’ brothers as they both love competing and playing together.
“They really don’t like competing against each other,” she said. “They’ve always been on the same team.”
