Meet Roosevelt Wheeler, the 6’11” and 240 lb. sophomore hailing from Richmond, Virginia. He is making waves as one of the rising stars in the game. He plays both positions covering the forward and center positions.
While Wheeler has been limited on minutes this year he has had a couple good moments in the 2022-2023 season. In a game against Maryland, he scored a season-high of 5 points, making 2 out of 4 field goal attempts and 3 out of 4 free throw attempts. He also played a total of 19 minutes in a game against North Carolina, making two field goals out of four attempts. His best MPG have been 19 on two occasions; once against Bellarmine and once against the Tarheels.
Wheeler has had his share of ups and downs, but he has shown his potential to become a reliable player. He had his season-high of 8 rebounds in a game against Bellarmine, 1 assist in a game against Maryland, and 1 block and 1 steal in games against Duke and Miami (FL), respectively.
The Backstory:
Roosevelt Wheeler goes by the nickname “Big Rose” and he made a name for himself during his high school career. As a junior in 2019-20 at John Marshall High School, he was one of five players who averaged double figures in scoring, putting up an impressive 15.8 points per game, along with 11.9 rebounds and 4.3 blocked shots. Wheeler helped his team go 23-2 that year and win the Virginia 2A state championship, which marked the second state title in his three years at John Marshall.
Unfortunately, Wheeler was hurt during his senior year. It was a COVID year and Richmond (Va.) Public Schools canceled winter sports due to the pandemic, which made it even more challenging for him to recover from an Achilles injury. Despite these setbacks, Wheeler earned first-team all state and all region selctions for 2019-2020. He was also highly ranked by various scouting services, including No. 43 by Rivals.com, 69th in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and No. 82 in the ESPN 100.
Wheeler’s basketball journey began in Atlanta before he moved to Hampton, Va. in August of 2016. As a freshman, he came off the bench to help his team win the Virginia state 3A championship. In his sophomore year, John Marshall made it to the semifinals of the 3A state championship but lost in overtime during its 21-5 season. The school moved to Class 2A for the 2019-20 season, where Wheeler and his teammates claimed the state title.
Coming out of high school Wheeler had attention from LSU, NC State, VCU, and Hampton. In the end, he chose to attend Louisville, where he hopes to continue to shine on the court.
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