Coro: Wilson's way fits GCU

An instant gut feeling is what introduced Louis Wilson to a basketball life and Grand Canyon.

Wilson was immediately drawn to the sport as a 10-year-old Bronx boy who just had moved to Alaska and followed the sounds of bouncing basketballs to a school gym camp that set his life course.

Forty-two years later, Wilson and GCU head coach Dan Majerle knew they would be good for each other from the first day they talked. The way they clicked led to Wilson becoming the Lopes' new associate head coach, bringing 26 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Lopes staff.

Wilson was a Utah State assistant coach the past three years and previously served as the head coach at Adams State, where his Division II teams went 95-46.

"In our business, most people would refer to this as a 'boomer,' " Wilson said. "You say 'Grand Canyon' to most people in America and they think of the park. You say 'Grand Canyon' to most coaches and they think, 'Wow! That thing is exploding.' To be part of that was exciting from the word go."

Wilson checked all the boxes for experience to coordinate the defense, handle scheduling and supplement recruiting. He is known for an ability to form relationships but never had a location like Phoenix and GCU in previous stops, such as Logan, Utah, Alamosa, Colo., and Pocatello, Idaho.

"The first time I met him, I could tell he was just a no-nonsense, to-the-point guy who I could really trust," Majerle said. "He's a guy who I knew would help coach our guys extremely hard but love them. He's going to get our players better, especially defensively. The big thing with him is he's a lifer in basketball. That's his passion – family and coaching.

"I could tell from just talking to him that he's a guy I want to go to war with every night. I know our players will love him. He'll do a good job of development. He's a really good recruiter. He's got a lot of ties and is tenacious that way. He'll be a huge asset to what we're trying to do to get to that next step."

Wilson was amazed by the buzz on GCU's campus when he first visited it at the end of the academic year, a time when he is accustomed to an energy drain. He thrives on energy, bringing it to every setting. He believes in putting himself at the center of players' lives allows him to demand more from them.

That care stems from a lifelong father figure, Alaska high school coaching legend Chuck White, and "the toughest human being I've ever met," his mother, Dolores Waldron. Wilson grew up as the ninth of Waldron's 10 kids in a Bronx three-bedroom project apartment, where the family ate red beans and rice daily because that is what she could afford. She moved them to Anchorage when her eldest son needed help after being stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Exploring newfound open space, Wilson biked down a path to the neighborhood high school, where the gym was filled with 100 kids in the same shirt playing basketball and the smell of McDonald's was in the air. White greeted him and asked if he was there for the camp, an unknown event to a kid who never had played organized basketball.

He did not have the $85 but he biked back there the next day, when White made a life-changing offer.

"If you promise to show up every day, stay out of trouble and work hard, I'll let you come for free and eat lunch for free," said White, who coached 18 state championship teams.

Wilson was part of those teams. First, as a middle-schooler keeping stats behind the bench. Then, as a point guard. Then, as a camp coach during his college days and an assistant coach after returning from a collegiate career at William Jewell near Kansas City.

When he became Adams State head coach, White retired and joined Wilson's staff there.

"That's my father," Wilson said. "That's the guy who raised me."

Wilson's coaching career has run through Southern Utah (1992-98), Idaho State (1998-2006), California State Northridge (2006-10), Adams State (2010-15) and Utah State (2015-18).

"He's very, very well-respected in the coaching circles," Majerle said. "He's a lifetime coach. I love those kind of guys. His passion is coaching and his relationships that he develops with coaches and former players. I've never heard one bad word about him. I know he's going to work his butt off. He was really blown away by everything we are doing here and the vision that we have and he wanted to be a part of it. That goes a long way with me. He was like a recruit, saying, 'This is amazing.' "

His head coaching experience allows him to understand Majerle's mindset and follow his vision. Some head coaches can feel like nobody understands what they are enduring, but Wilson sees Majerle's passionate style and truthful relationships with players and understands how those manifest.

That is his way, too. He says players "might think I live on their liver because I'm so in their guts on stuff."

Wilson also feels as if he can help fellow assistant coaches T.J. Benson and Chris Crevelone, who have amazed him with the recruiting inroads they have made in the program's young Division I life.

"I can support what they are already doing and I can bring an experience that helps to mitigate the loss of Coach (Todd) Lee," Wilson said. "My greatest strength as a coach is that I'm a relationship guy in the fullest sense. Everything about my life and my story is about the relationships I've been able to build and the way I've been able to reach people to coach them. I think I can help in an immeasurable way that way and build a relationship to help Coach Majerle relate to them, understand what guys are going through, to get guys to do what they want them to do and to tell them the tough things because you know them and care about them."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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