Central social studies teacher Mike Wilson was named as the new boys basketball head coach on March 20. Wilson will replace retiring physical education teacher Pete Kramer, who coached the team for 21 years.
“When I first found out I was pretty emotional about it because I think there’s a great deal of responsibility involved,” Wilson said. “Teaching is always going to be my primary responsibility, making sure that our students are healthy mentally and physically within the classroom and in clubs and things like that. But basketball is just one additional responsibility to be an advocate for students and to be somebody that students can go to and hopefully create a fun experience through basketball.”
Wilson has been an assistant basketball coach at Central for 14 years, most recently coaching freshman girls basketball. He also played basketball at Central as a student in the early 2000’s.
“We’re really excited about having him be our boys basketball head coach,” Athletic Director Chris Kirkpatrick said. “He’s coached at every level, boys and girls, and he played collegiately. He knows basketball.”
While the team won’t officially start practicing or playing until November, Wilson will meet with current athletes in mid-April and will work to communicate and implement his vision for the team prior to the start of the season.
“The program is going to assume more of my personality,” Wilson said. “I’m very much a believer in fast basketball, like up and down the court, get it and go. I hope that our play reflects more of what you might see in the NBA or in college women’s basketball, where it’s a little bit more up–tempo and high speed.”
Wilson hopes to have a positive impact on the players who come through his program.
“Basketball has always been pretty integral to my life,” Wilson said. “I was a product of a family that moved around quite a bit as a kid. Basketball always made the transition easy from community to community. I saw how important it’s been in my life and how invaluable it’s been to who I become today. So I figure, if I [want to] have that same type of effect on our student population, basketball is a great opportunity to do that.”
Jay Deegan contributed to this story
