PARKERSBURG –Parkersburg South senior Allyssa Wilson will make her move to college knowing the fact that she will be continuing her basketball career. Wilson has set her eyes on playing for Columbus State Community College and has signed on to compete for the school. “I knew a while back that I wanted to play in college, but I just didn’t know where,” said Wilson. “And then I got a couple offers, and that kind of just narrowed them down.” The move to play basketball in college came as no surprise for her fellow teammates or her coach Ed Davis. “She always wanted to do this,” said Davis. “She’s a basketball junkie. She follows the game at every level.” Wilson found herself playing for a South team that made it all the way to the Class AAA state tournament semifinals this season. It was a long road on the hardwood court that ended with the Patriots capping their season with 21 wins and four losses. Wilson contributed to her team throughout the season averaging 4.3 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, 1 assist per game, and 1 steal per game. Her play time and contributions for South has since attracted the attention of various higher-ed schools. One of the people who came into contact with Wilson was the basketball coach for Columbus State Community College, Byron Allgood. “I saw some highlight videos of her and I knew she would be able to contribute to the team,” said Allgood. At the end of the day, Wilson was not only deciding on what team she wanted to player for, but also what school she wanted to attend as a freshman. There were other schools that contacted Wilson but she felt Columbus State Community College was her best fit. “At Colombus State they said they could play me right off the bat when I got there. So I really liked that,” said Wilson. “They seemed really interested in me and they had exercise science which is the major I want to study.” The 2017-2018 season for the South girls basketball team has opened a door for players like Wilson, and has allowed for some of the seniors to search for a college willing to let them play. There are five seniors who are graduating from Parkersburg South’s high school girls basketball team this year and Wilson is in that group. She is now the second player out of that graduating class to sign up to play basketball in college. “She’s a hard worker,” said Davis. Wilson will find herself using her knowledge of the game at her new school. Columbus State Community College is a school that competes in the NJCAA and they’re a DIII institution. This season at CSCC the girls basketball team finished with a 12-14 record. With a fresh new season on the horizon coach Allgood feels confident about his team’s decision to add Wilson. “We want to affect the culture of our school,” said Allgood. Deciding on which higher-ed school to attend is a choice many high school students have faced, but not a lot are given the opportunity to play the sport they love while studying their interests. This was the case for Wilson. One school was chosen when the time came down for her to decide on where she wanted to attend. She examined her options and even made school visits, but at the end of the day it was an obvious choice for her. “It was a quick decision,” said Wilson. Wilson will start her time playing for the Cougars in the fall of 2018. She will be a freshman who will see game time her first year there, and in doing so, she will have accomplished what she always aspired to do: play basketball at the next level.