|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
When you think of Rice University
basketball the first thing that comes to
mind is Willis Wilson, the school's head
coach. The man lives and breathes
basketball and Rice. He has spent 22 of
his 47 years on earth at 6100 Main Street.
A four-year basketball letterman, Wilson
was team captain and graduated from Rice
in 1982; he was a five-year Rice assistant
coach, and is now starting his 16th season
as the Owls' leader and mentor. When his
time permits, Wilson often can be found
playing full-court basketball, directing
the offense, and even knocking down the
occasional sweet, left-handed jumper he
still possesses. HE LOVES THE GAME.
"I think the spotaniety of college
basketball is what makes it so great.
Every season you get to play close to 30
games and it's never the same and it gets
better with each passing year," says
Wilson. "It's an indescribable
satisfaction to play basketball and you
have to play the game to know that
feeling."
The span of 15 seasons that Wilson has
coached at Rice is the longest tenure of
any men's basketball coach in the 90-year
history of the sport at the school.
Suffice it to say, his 216 career
victories are also the most in Rice
history. In the past four years, the Owls
have won 69 games, the fourth-highest
total in school history.
Last season, Wilson coached the Conference
USA Player of the Year, the nation's
third-leading scorer, and first-round NBA
draft pick Morris Almond. Almond was third
in the country in leading all of C-USA in
scoring for the second-staight season at
26.1 points per game after averaging 21.9
as junior in 2006.
During the 2005 season, the Owls won 19
contests and advanced to post-season
action for the second consecutive season
for only the second time in school history
as Michael Harris and Jason McKrieth again
were named all-conference.
The 2004 team was Wilson's most successful
as it won 22 games including the BP Top of
the World Classic championship. For his
leadership in 2004, Wilson became the
first Rice basketball coach to be selected
as the National Association of Basketball
Coaches District 9 coach of the year since
the award began in 1970.
In 2004, the Owls were second in the
Western Athletic Conference in field goal
shooting at .474, third in assists
(14.91), and first in steals (8.33).
Heading into the 2002-03 season, the Owls
had some experienced starters graduate and
some young ones coming back from injuries.
The nine other head coaches in the Western
Athletic Conference thought the season
looked bleaked for Rice and picked the
Owls to finish near the bottom in the
annual preseason poll. With Wilson the
glass isn't half-empty, it's half-full,
and he again brought out the best in the
team. By the end of the year his Rice
squad was still in the hunt for the
league's number-one seed for the
conference tournament. On the last day of
the regular-season, Rice thumped
conference champion Fresno State by 21
points for its 19th win.
Wilson successfully guided the same Owl
team that the WAC coaches picked for a low
conference finish to the program's
third-highest win total since 1946. Along
the way his team handily beat a Colorado
squad that went on to earn a bid to the
NCAA tournament, claimed the first-ever
Bayou Cup in a convincing win over
cross-town rival Houston and lit up the
scoreboard with 106 points in single game
for the fourth-highest scoring barrage in
school history. Rice won games by big
margins (nine by 17 points or more) and
narrow ones (six by six points or less),
at home and on the road.
The 2002-03 Owls were 13-2 defending their
home court, thanks in part to Wilson's
high-octane offense that led the WAC in
shooting percentage and three-point
percentage. As a dedicated practitioner of
fundamentals, he saw to it that the Owls
also improved the little things, like free
throw percentage, and sure enough Rice
recorded its best percentage from the
charity stripe (73.7) since the late
1960s. Two of his charges, Omar-Seli Mance
and Harris, were named all-conference and
another, Yamar Diene, was selected to the
WAC's all-defensive team.
He orchestrated a nine-game turnaround
from the year before. That 2002 season was
marred by an injury situation where no
less than six players missed a combined
20-plus games. Still, Wilson's Owls fought
all the way. His team defeated Big 12 foe
Baylor, WAC rival and postseason-bound foe
Fresno State, as well as NCAA tournament
participant Siena. Six losses were by five
points or less, including four in
conference. Wilson never gave up, and he
didn't let the Owls do so either. At the
end of the year Harris was named freshman
all-America by CollegeInsider.com and the
WAC's freshman of the year. Stockpiling
honors and awards is nothing new to a
Wilson-trained student-athlete. In 12
seasons he has guided 14 Owls to
all-conference accolades. From all-SWC
honoree and Rice career scoring leader
Brent Scott to current NBA professional
Mike Wilks, his Owls become polished
players.
In 2000-01, the Owls posted a 14-16 mark
despite missing two key starters with
injuries for nearly half the season. When
Rice was even semi-healthy, Wilson guided
the Owls to impressive wins. The 59-56
victory over Tulsa at Autry Court was over
the Golden Hurricane squad that went on to
win the 2001 NIT championship in Madison
Square Garden. Rice also registered a win
over NCAA tournament-bound Hawaii and a
blistering 20-point win over Houston that
marked the Owls' largest margin of victory
in the long-running, highly-emotional
series.
Wilson has guided the Owls to winning
seasons, including 1998-99 when Rice
finished 18-10 to equal the third-best
turnaround in NCAA history. The Blue and
Gray claimed sole possession of third
place and went 13-1 at home, including a
streak of nine straight victories. As the
Mountain Division's third seed, Rice
advanced to the WAC tournament where the
team defeated San Jose State 64-61 before
falling to 25th-ranked New Mexico in a
two-point loss (51-49) in the second
round. Wilson was the pick of the league
media and coaches as the WAC Mountain
Division coach of the year.
The 18 wins in 1998-99 equaled his
previous best as a collegiate coach. In
1992-93, his first Rice team also went
18-10 with convincing regular-season
sweeps over Southwest Conference rivals
Texas, Houston and Texas Tech. The Owls
finished the SWC race in second place and
were the only conference team to win a
postseason tournament game, reaching the
second round of the NIT.
In 1994, he earned the distinction on the
five-member list of "The Next Wave,"
America's hot young coaches by Inside
Sports. He maintained that success in
1994-95 by guiding the Owls to the
semifinals of the SWC Classic for the
second straight year before dropping a
controversial decision to Texas, the
eventual tournament champion. The winning
season was Rice's fifth consecutive, the
longest SWC streak at the time.
Wilson's performance in shaping the team
to a 14-14 record in 1995-96 was some of
his finest coaching. Despite a rash of
injuries that left the team with just
seven healthy players, and only one player
over 6-foot-5, Wilson coached the squad to
upset wins at Texas and Vanderbilt and to
the tournament title at the Michigan State
Spartan Classic.
A five-year assistant coach at Rice under
Tommy Suitts and Scott Thompson, Wilson
spent one year away from Rice as an
assistant coach at Stanford under Mike
Montgomery. In that 1992 season Wilson and
the Cardinal went "dancing" at the NCAA
tournament against Alabama.
As a member of the Rice staff during the
1988-91 seasons, Wilson helped the Owls
improve their SWC standing each year.
During Wilson's final year as a Rice
assistant (1991), the Owls finished fourth
in the league and received a bid to the
NIT. The winning record was Rice's first
in 20 years and the postseason appearance
marked its first in 21 seasons. He
returned to the campus in 1992 as the
school's 22nd head coach.
It was a move universally applauded for
the hire of one of America's bright young
coaches. The 47-year-old Wilson is now in
his 22nd year at Rice overall. After
arriving at the campus in August 1978,
Wilson was a four-year letterman for the
Owls under Mike Schuler (1979-81) and
Suitts (1982). He co-captained the Owls to
a 15-win season in 1982 and was a teammate
of former NBA star and Rice athletic hall
of fame member Ricky Pierce.
Wilson, a Will Rice College Fellow and
member of the college court, graduated on
time with a bachelor's of arts degree in
political science in 1982. He also
participated in the Rice NCAA Volunteers
for Youth program.
His first collegiate coaching experience
came at Rice as an assistant during the
1985-86 season. In 1986, he left Rice to
become the head coach at Houston's Strake
Jesuit College Preparatory before
returning one year later. Wilson also was
an assistant basketball and track coach at
Strake (1982-84).
Wilson won all-metro Washington and
all-county honors for Montgomery Blair
High School in Silver Springs, Md. As a
junior, he led Blair to the 1977 Maryland
state championship. He was the most
valuable player in Montgomery County as a
senior and captained the McDonald's
Coaches Scholarship all-star team in the
Capital Centre Classic.
Wilson is currently a member of the NABC
Board of Directors and is
second-vice-president and also serves as
chairman of the NABC All-America
Committee. He formerly served four years
on the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee and
was chairman during his final year. He
also served on the NABC Academic Committee
and was a voter for the USA Today/ESPN top
25 poll. He is a member of the joint NABC/NCAA
Special Committe on Recruiting and Access.
He is a member of the College Basketball
Partnership, which is chaired by NCAA
President Myles Brand. Wilson has also
participated in the NCAA Youth Education
through Sports (YES) Clinic at the Final
Four and previously was a member of the
board of directors for the Houston-area
Boys and Girls Club. He is on the board of
directors for TIRR Foundation.
Willis and his wife, Vicki, have three
children, daughter, Kristin, and twin
sons, Zachary and Keenan.
PERSONAL
Full Name: Willis Thomas Wilson, Jr.
Born: March 22, 1960, at Indianapolis,
Ind.
Wife: Vicki.
Daughter Kristin.
Twin sons: Zachary and Keenan.
Education: High School: Montgomery Blair
H.S., Silver Spring, Md., 1978. College:
B.A., political science, Rice University,
1982.
|
| | |
|
|
| | |