A fixture in college basketball for more
than 22 years Willis Wilson’s name has
become synonymous with excellence when it
comes to coaching and teaching the game.
The former head coach at Rice University
for sixteen seasons is also his alma
maters’ all-time winningest coach as well
as having coached Rice to more post-season
appearances than any other Rice coach in
the past 60 years.
Wilson has produced more than 25
professional players during his tenure at
Rice and he has been recognized as the
Western Athletic Conference Mountain
Division Coach of the Year in 1999 and was
the NABC District 9 Coach of the Year in
2004. He has coached 5 NBA players
including; Adam Keefe of the Atlanta Hawks
and Utah Jazz; Brent Scott of the Indiana
Pacers; Mike Wilks with the Atlanta Hawks,
Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs (where
he won an NBA champions in 2005), Denver
Nuggets, Washington Wizards, Seattle Super
Sonics and Orlando Magic; Michael Harris
of the Houston Rockets; and Morris Almond
the 27th player taken in the first round
by the Utah Jazz in the 2007 NBA Draft.
When it comes to developing talent there
is no better teacher of the game in
America than Wilson, who coached the 2007
Conference USA Player of the Year, and
All-America selection Morris Almond.
Almond led all of C-USA in scoring for two
straight seasons at 26.1 points per game
in 2007 after averaging 21.9 as junior in
2006. In addition Mike Wilks and Michael
Harris were named College Insider
Conference Players of the year under
Wilson’s direction. The eighteen
All-Conference selections during Wilson’s
tenure are by far the most by any coach in
Rice Basketball history.
Wilson was a long standing member of the
National Association of Basketball Coaches
(N.A.B.C.) Board of Directors (2000-08)
and was first-vice-president in his last
year in 2008, and in addition served 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 was a member of the joint
NABC/NCAA Special Committee on Recruiting
and Access, and a member of the College
Basketball Partnership, which is chaired
by NCAA President Myles Brand. Wilson has
participated in the NCAA Youth Education
through Sports (YES) Clinics at the Final
Four and previously was a member of the
board of directors for the Houston-area
Boys and Girls Clubs. He is a former
member of the board of directors for TIRR
Rehabilitation Clinics as well as the TIRR
Foundation. Wilson also serves on the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Blue
Ribbon Committee to select the Bob Cousy
Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award.
The opportunities for Willis Wilson to
give back to the basketball community and
the local community in greater Houston,
Texas where he resides have not gone
unnoticed. He was honored with the
distinguished John Lotz Barnabas Award in
2008, presented annually at the Final Four
by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to
a basketball coach who best exhibits a
commitment to Christ, integrity and lives
a balanced life. He was honored in 2004
with the NABC Literacy Champ Award for
promoting reading and writing to school
kids. Wilson has also been recognized by
the Association of Rice University Black
Alumni at the Blacks in Blue Dinner:
Celebrating Over 40 Years of Excellence at
Rice.
A Will Rice College Fellow and member of
the college court, Wilson, graduated with
a bachelor's of arts degree in political
science from Rice 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). Prior to begin named as
head coach at Rice he served one year as
an assistant coach to Mike Montgomery at
Stanford University.
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.
Additionally, Wilson is a noted clinician,
lecturer and public speaker.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS & HONORS:
- 1999 Western Athletic Conference
Mountain Division Coach of the Year;
Houston Chronicle, Western Athletic
Conference Coach of the Year
- 2002, 2007 Winner of Basketball Coaches
District 9 Coach of the Year
- 2007 Blacks in Blue Distinguished Alumni
Award, Presented by Association of Rice
University Black Alumni (ARUBA)
- 2008 John Lotz Barnabas Award, Presented
by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
CHAMPIONSHIPS & POST SEASON APPEARANCES:
- 1992 Washington Husky Classic Champions
- 1993 National Invitational Tournament
2nd Round
- 1995 Michigan State Oldsmobile Spartan
Classic Champions
- 2003 Top of the World Classic Champions,
Fairbanks, Alaska
- 2004 National Invitational Tournament
- 2005 National Invitational Tournament
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 |