Ted Wilson spent 43 years developing, fostering and nurturing countless
young athletes as a high school and college basketball coach.
Wilson served as Linfield's head men's
basketball coach from 1961-81 and was also an assistant football
coach under fellow Linfield Hall of Fame inductees Paul Durham and Ad Rutschman. Wilson, known as a relentless coach and competitor,
was also highly regarded for his wit and wisdom.
The old Riley Gymnasium was dubbed the "House of Hustle" in honor of Wilson's particular style of basketball.
His Wildcat teams won or shared 10 conference
championships and compiled an impressive 324-213 overall record.
His teams set numerous school records, including longest home winning streak (25), longest road winning streak (6), single-game scoring
record (141) and single-season scoring average (99.3).
Wilson was inducted into the NAIA District 2 Hall of Fame as a player
and coach. He was also inducted into the Eastern Oregon College
Hall of Fame, the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, the National Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame as a player. Although
Wilson did not play high school football or baseball, he was an
outstanding athlete in those sports, as well as basketball at Eastern Oregon College in La Grande. By his senior year, Wilson was serving
as player-coach in both basketball and baseball. Following college,
he coached basketball at La Grande, McMinnville and Beaverton high schools and was a pilot during World War II. He turned down pro
baseball opportunities to return to Oregon and coach.
Wilson was honored by Linfield College when the gymnasium
within the athletic complex was named for him during the building's dedication in 1989. Wilson died in May, 1996 at age 76. He was still teaching one class at the college and remained an active member of the Linfield community.
