THOMASVILLE, Ga. (Angelo Pontello) — It is the end of an era for the Thomas University softball program. After 20 years of collegiate coaching and 13 years with the Night Hawks, Head Coach Bill Wilson is putting down the score book and walking away from the game, officially announcing his retirement Monday.
Wilson finishes an illustrious career that includes over 500 wins, with 311 of them coming from the Night Hawks. The Doerun, Ga. resident also retires as one of the Top 25 All-Time winningest coaches among the NAIA.
Under his leadership, Wilson has guided the Night Hawks to the conference tournament every year since 2012, with three conference championship game appearances, and one conference tournament title in 2018. Thomas has additionally made two trips to the NAIA National tournament with Wilson at the helm
The NAIA coaching career journey for Wilson began at Palm Beach Atlantic, spending one season as the assistant coach and five seasons as the head coach. Coach Wilson led the Sailfish to a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) South Region title and NCCAA National Tournament appearance in 2004.
Wilson next served as the head coach of Northwood University’s (now Keiser University) softball team for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, leading the Lady Seahawks to a 50-51 overall record while going 18-18 in the Sun Conference.
While he is proud of his team’s accomplishments on the clay over the years, Wilson is more proud of the impact he has made on his athletes’ lives over the course of his coaching career, ranging from little league to the collegiate level.
“I want to thank (then) A.D. Mike Lee and President Gary Bonvillian for trusting me to this job” said Wilson. “I tell my players that God gives everyone the ability to touch people's lives in certain ways and this is what he gave me. My greatest joy has been my players. I'm so proud of them all. They are not only great players but also wonderful young ladies. God put them all in my life. Once you are in my life you are always in my life. God bless you all. I'm always a phone call away.”
A national search for TU’s new softball coach is underway.
For up-to-date information on these games and other TU Athletics, visit www.TUNightHawks.com [tunighthawks.com]. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, and feature stories of your TU softball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksSoftb [twitter.com].
