Hello, my name is Gus Tolson and I am raising funds for the next steps in Wilmer Basilio's student-athlete story. Wilmer graduated in June 2025 with a 3.0 GPA and also as one of the best athletes to come out of Edison High School history. This past year, he was a complete force to be reckoned with. He helped lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since the early 2000s, playing RT and DE. He finished the season with 102 tackles, 22.5 TFL, and 6.5 sacks in 10 games. This earned him First Team All Public, All City Selection, and First Team All State! He is the first athlete in school history to receive All State honors.

But Wilmer's story is more about perseverance and motivation. During his junior year, he became homeless, and that turned into an unwavering desire and drive to be successful. Not only was it a daily battle to eat and properly nourish for sports, but his academics also became challenging due to his ESOL background. He was still learning the English language and was having trouble going through his battles while also maintaining his grades. Instead of being sad and down about his situation, Wilmer used these hardships as fuel to his fire. He put forth an unlimited motor in everything he did on the way to graduating high school and receiving over 15 scholarship offers to continue his athletic and academic career. After dealing with setbacks from the top schools that Wilmer wanted to attend, he stayed determined and is now set out to begin at The Milford Academy for a Postgraduate year for football.

The funds donated will go towards Wilmer's tuition and misc. costs of moving in to campus and ensuring he has what he needs in the dorms.