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Skip Wilson

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James "Skip" Wilson (October 8, 1929 – July 26, 2022) was an American college baseball head coach.

As the winningest coach in Owls sports history,[1] Wilson was inducted into three different sports Halls of Fame: the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981, the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.[2]

Early life

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Born in the Philadelphia suburb of Germantown on October 8, 1929, Wilson was a standout three sport star at nearby St. John's High School, graduating in 1948. Wilson earned a basketball scholarship to Georgetown University, but he would drop out, opting instead to play minor league baseball.

After serving in the US Army, Wilson returned to school at Temple University, earning both a bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in health and physical education in 1961.[2]

In addition to his extensive collegiate coaching career (which also included a stint as the freshman basketball team at Temple), Wilson taught physical education and driver training at Roxborough High School of Philadelphia for 34 years.[2]

Coaching career

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Wilson coached the Temple Owls baseball team for 46 seasons, taking over for future Temple athletic director Ernie Casale in 1960.[3] He achieved 1,034 wins, reached the NCAA tournament 12 times, and coached more than 100 professional baseball players.[2]

Before joining the A-10, Wilson's Owls squads played in both the Middle Atlantic Conference (1960-1974) and East Coast Conference (1975-1982). Temple won four MAC conference titles, eight ECC East division titles and five ECC conference titles.[3]

Finishing 10-1 in MAC play, the 1972 Owls reached their first College World Series, defeating Penn State twice (including 4-3 in the final) and LIU to win the District 2 championship. They would lose 2-1 to Oklahoma (led by Joe Simpson), then defeat Iowa (led by Jim Sundberg) and Connecticut in the loser's bracket before falling to eventual champion Southern Cal 4-3 in 10 innings to finish third.[4] The Owls were led by future Major League pitching coach and manager Joe Kerrigan.

In 1977, Temple went unbeaten in ECC play and won the Northeast Regional tournament, finishing unbeaten with wins over UConn, Catholic, Cornell and St. John's to reach the 1977 College World Series (the last time the program would ever reach Omaha). Future Major League pitcher Pete Filson led the Owls.[3]

Other notable Owl baseball players under Wilson included John Marzano, Jeff Manto, Ed Wade, Bobby Higginson and Steve Javie.[1]

Wilson's 1,034 wins are the most of any coach in Temple University history.[5] He earned his 1,000 career win on March 14, 2004 as Temple defeated Manhattan 10-9.[1]

He received the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award in 1989 and 2001, winning the Atlantic 10 Conference title two times and the Atlantic 10 East Division three times.

Temple's former home baseball venue, Skip Wilson Field, was named for Wilson. However, the Owls baseball program was discontinued in 2014, much to Wilson's expressed dismay.[6]

Skip Wilson died from stroke complications on July 26, 2022.[2]

Head coaching record[7][3]

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Temple (Middle Atlantic Conference) (1960–1974)
1960 Temple 16-5 15-2 2nd
1961 Temple 6-11-1 5-9-1 11th
1962 Temple 13-7-1 4-3 5th
1963 Temple 20-3 10-0 1st NCAA Regional
1964 Temple 15-7-1 4-5
1965 Temple 10-9-2 Unknown 3rd
1966 Temple 20-5 7-3 2nd
1967 Temple 22-10-1 8-6 T-3rd
1968 Temple 25-6 10-3 1st NCAA Regional
1969 Temple 15-11-1 9-7 5th
1970 Temple 13-12-1 4-6 4th
1971 Temple 9-18-1 4-8 7th
1972 Temple 33-15 10-1 1st College World Series
1973 Temple 33-11 9-2 1st NCAA Regional
1974 Temple 15-18 6-4
Temple (East Coast Conference) (1975–1982)
1975 Temple 32-16-1 11-1 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1976 Temple 37-8-1 8-1-1 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1977 Temple 34-9 9-0 1st (East) College World Series
1978 Temple 32-9-1 10-0 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1979 Temple 23-5 10-0 1st (East)
1980 Temple 26-18 9-1 1st (East)
1981 Temple 27-13-1 7-2 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1982 Temple 25-10 9-1 1st (East)
Temple (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1983–2005)
1983 Temple 27-8 9-1 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1984 Temple 33-14 9-2 1st (East) NCAA Regional
1985 Temple 33-18-1 9-3 1st (East) A-10 Tournament
1986 Temple 30-17-1 8-3 2nd (East) A-10 Tournament
1987 Temple 26-20-2 10-5-1 3rd (East)
1988 Temple 27-27 8-8 3rd (East)
1989 Temple 28-28-1 11-5 2nd (East) A-10 tournament
1990 Temple 17-31 5-11 4th (East)
1991 Temple 20-24-2 9-7 3rd (East)
1992 Temple 15-35 5-11 4th (East)
1993 Temple 18-21 11-9 3rd A-10 tournament
1994 Temple 18-25 9-12 6th
1995 Temple 16-33-1 9-15 7th
1996 Temple 28-23-1 12-8 2nd (East) A-10 tournament
1997 Temple 16-31 9-12 T-3rd (East)
1998 Temple 18-28 7-11 5th (East)
1999 Temple 28-28-1 12-9 2nd (East) A-10 tournament
2000 Temple 24-28-3 9-11-1 3rd (East)
2001 Temple 27-31 15-7 T-2nd NCAA Regional
2002 Temple 22-28 11-13 2nd (East) A-10 tournament
2003 Temple 20-27 10-14 T-4th (East)
2004 Temple 23-26 10-14 T-4th (East)
2005 Temple 17-33 8-16 T-4th (East)
TOTAL: 1,034-824-27 404-276-4
Total: {{{overall}}}

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Former Temple baseball coach Wilson dies at 92". ESPN.com. 2022-07-26. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  2. ^ a b c d e Miles, Gary (July 28, 2022). "James 'Skip' Wilson, legendary baseball coach at Temple and longtime high school teacher, has died at 92". inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  3. ^ a b c d "2010 Temple Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). OwlSports.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records (PDF)" (PDF). NCAA. p. 195.
  5. ^ Bonner, Kevin. "Baseball's Wilson retires after 46 seasons". Temple Times. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  6. ^ "Temple Hall of Fame baseball coach Skip Wilson not pleased with elimination of baseball program". timesherald. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  7. ^ "2014 Atlantic 10 Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Atlantic10.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.