West Rusk alum Tyree Wilson expected to be 1st round NFL draft pick

NEW LONDON, Texas (KLTV) - The NFL draft begins Thursday night, and there may be an East Texan’s name in the first round.

The small East Texas town of New London, population 958, has a native who is expected to be among the first chosen in the NFL draft. The school is all set for a huge watch party on Thursday night in the school gym to watch Tyree Wilson make history.

“We are anticipating a large crowd, we’re a small community, but we are spread out. We’ve got 1,000 kids in our District,” said West Rusk Principal Jake Jackson. “We invite everybody in the school, everybody in the community to come out. We’re open to get a good crowd in here to fill the gym up.”

Jackson watched Wilson grow into a player who’s caught the eye of the NFL, as did former Raiders head coach John Frazier. The football star began his college career at Texas A&M, and later transferred to Texas Tech; wherever he goes, he brings with him an integrity and work ethic that the “big guys” embrace.

“The one thing I noticed about Tyree is that he loves practice, he enjoys practice,” Jackson said. “He enjoyed conditioning, believe it or not, if he didn’t, he faked it.”

Many mock drafts have Wilson going in the top ten. No matter where he lands, that team will have 958 new fans on their side.

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