James "Skip" Wilson (October 8, 1929 – July 26, 2022) was an American

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

head coach. As the winningest coach in Owls sports history, 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

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in 1994.

Early life

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 Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, 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 Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, earning both a bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in health and physical education in 1961. 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.

Coaching career

Wilson coached the

Temple Owls baseball The Temple Owls baseball team was a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, until the end of the 2014 season. On December 6, 2013, Temple announced that it would cut seven sports, ...

team for 46 seasons, taking over for future Temple athletic director Ernie Casale in 1960. He achieved 1,034 wins, reached the NCAA tournament 12 times, and coached more than 100 professional baseball players. 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. Finishing 10-1 in MAC play, the 1972 Owls reached their first

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

, defeating

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

twice (including 4-3 in the final) and

LIU Liu (; or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'battle axe', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the clas ...

to win the District 2 championship. They would lose 2-1 to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

(led by Joe Simpson), then defeat

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

(led by

Jim Sundberg James Howard Sundberg (born May 18, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player, television sports analyst, and executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1974 to 1989, most prominently as a member of the Texas ...

) and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in the loser's bracket before falling to eventual champion Southern Cal 4-3 in 10 innings to finish third. The Owls were led by future Major League pitching coach and manager

Joe Kerrigan Joseph Thomas Kerrigan (born January 30, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher, manager, and longtime pitching coach. He played for the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles from 1976 to 1980, and managed the Bos ...

. In

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, 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 Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

). Future Major League pitcher

Pete Filson William Peter Filson (born September 28, 1958) is an American retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during seven seasons at the major league level for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. P ...

led the Owls. Other notable Owl baseball players under Wilson included

John Marzano John Robert Marzano (February 14, 1963 – April 19, 2008), commonly referred to as "Johnny Marz", was an Americans, American professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers (baseball ...

Jeff Manto Jeffrey Paul Manto (born August 23, 1964) is an American former journeyman baseball player and hitting coach. Manto is currently the head coach of the Conwell-Egan Catholic High School baseball team. He is the former manager of the Trenton Thunde ...

Ed Wade Ed Wade (born January 31,1956, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania) spent 42 years (1977–2018) as an American Major League Baseball executive, including serving as Vice President and General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (1998–2005) and G ...

Bobby Higginson Robert Leigh Higginson (born August 18, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played his entire career for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Amateur career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Higginson ...

and

Steve Javie Steve Javie (; born January 17, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball referee who refereed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from the 1986–87 NBA season to the 2010–11 season and is currently an analyst with ESPN and ...

. Wilson's 1,034 wins are the most of any coach in Temple University history. He earned his 1,000 career win on March 14, 2004 as Temple defeated Manhattan 10-9. He received the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award in 1989 and 2001, winning the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

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

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Skip 1929 births 2022 deaths Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Sports coaches from Philadelphia Temple Owls baseball coaches Temple University alumni Basketball players from Philadelphia