Jack Wilson - Baseball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

Jack Wilson

Title:
Assistant Coach
Years at GCU:
2024: 2nd season
Email:
jack.wilson@gcu.edu
Alma Mater:
Grand Canyon (2018)

Path to GCU
1993-96		Thousand Oaks HS (Calif.) Student-athlete
1997-98		Oxnard College (Calif.) Student-athlete
1998-00		St. Louis Cardinals organization Minor leaguer
2000-01		Pittsburgh Pirates organization Minor leaguer
2001-09		Pittsburgh Pirates Infielder
2009-11		Seattle Mariners Infielder
2011-12		Atlanta Braves Infielder
2017-21		Thousand Oaks HS (Calif.) Head coach
2019-22		USA Baseball Coach
2022-		Grand Canyon Assistant coach

A 12-year MLB veteran and all-star infielder, Jack Wilson joined the Grand Canyon baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach on July 10, 2022.

"Jack Wilson is one of the best baseball men I've ever met," Wallis said upon Wilson's hiring. "His passion and energy are the exact qualities I was looking to bring to my staff. Jack has been where all our players and recruits dream of going, and I can't wait for him to share his knowledge and experiences with the GCU baseball program."

In his first season on the Lopes staff in 2023, GCU won a WAC Regular-Season Championship. Wilson worked closely with Lopes infielders and coached hitting. GCU got on base at a .389 clip, the best mark for the program since 2011.

With an eye on one day coaching college baseball, Wilson graduated from GCU in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management.

A ninth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998, Wilson debuted for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001 and spent nine years with the club. He turned in his best season in 2004 where he hit .308 with 201 hits and was named both an MLB All-Star and Silver Slugger.

He also spent parts of three seasons with the Seattle Mariners and parts of two seasons with the Atlanta Braves before retiring in 2012. He appeared in 1,370 career games and racked up 1,294 hits.

"It has been a dream of mine to one day coach at the collegiate level," Wilson said upon his hiring. "As a GCU alumni and huge fan of the program when I started attending games seven years ago, this is truly the perfect scenario. After developing off-the-field relationships with Lopes players over the last few years, I feel honored to take the field with them. God is great, and I strive to honor him on and off the field with this amazing opportunity."

Following his playing career, Wilson added high-level coaching experience to his resume.

He was the head coach of Thousand Oaks High School from 2017 to 2021, collecting a 98-30-1 overall record and leading the Lancers to two Marmonte League Championships (2019, 2021) and a CIF-SS Division 2 title in 2021. Wilson's roster at Thousand Oaks featured GCU players in his son, Jacob Wilson, as well as Blake Reilly and Vince Reilly.

Wilson has spent the last four years coaching with USA Baseball. For the last two summers, he has been a member of the coaching staff for USA's 18U National Team. He will be coaching with USA this September as the 18U National Team third-base coach, looking to grab a gold medal in the Baseball World Cup in Florida. He is also serving as a roving instructor for the 16U/17U National Team Development Program. Wilson also served as a head coach in 2019 for USA Baseball Trials and the National Team Development Program.

Additionally, Wilson coached in the summer-ball circuit in 2021 as the hitting coach of the Mankato MoonDogs in the Northwoods League.

Jack has been married to his wife Julie since 1999 and the couple has three children: Jacob, Jaidyn Faith and Jersi Grace.