William H. Wright Jr.

WRIGHT, WILLIAM H. JR. (BILL) - age 87, passed away at his residence on April 21, 2011. Marine veteran of WWII, a member of Church Street United Methodist Church. In a Knoxville Journal poll he was voted to be one of the top two all-around athletes to come out of Knoxville in the first half of the century. He played on two state champion American Legion baseball teams in 1940. In the 1941 State Basketball tournament he was the leading scorer, named outstanding player and selected to the All-State team. In the final game he scored more points than the entire opposing team, a record that has never been equaled in Tennessee. Turning down pro baseball offers he accepted a basketball scholarship to UT and in 1943 as a sophomore, he was a starting guard on the Vol's SEC championship. In July of 1943 he was called up into the Marines and assigned to the officers' training program at Duke University. At Duke he was co-captain of the Blue Devil basketball team that won the southern Conference Championship. He was named the All Conference 1st team. He also played baseball at Duke, leading the team in batting with a .400 average. He later received his 2nd Lt's Commission at Quantico VA. and served a year in the Central Pacific. After the war he returned to UT for the 1946-47 basketball season and was named to the Coaches ALL SEC second team. Passing up his final year of eligibility at UT he signed a bonus baseball contract with the St. Louis Browns (now Baltimore Orioles) and in 1947 played for Aberdeen, SD. in the Northern League where his team won the pennant and he led the league in runs batted in with 99. Promoted to Class B ball, he came down with tuberculosis, which forced him to give up his promising baseball career. After a lengthy recovery in VA hospitals, he returned to UT, received his B.S. and M.S. degrees and accepted a position as teacher and coach at the new Knoxville West High School in 1951. His teams won three Knox Prep-League AA basketball championships during his nine years at West, more than any other team during that period. In the spring of 1960 he was hired by Coach Bowden Wyatt at UT to become the first full-time academic advisor to athletes in the SEC, a position he held for 16 years. In 1963, in addition to his counseling duties he was named head baseball coach. His teams won SEC Eastern Division titles in 1966, 70, and 76 (tie) and finished in the top three in the division in 15 of his 19 years. He produced 5 All-Americans, four major league players, and at one time 17 of his former players were coaching baseball in high school or college. During the ten year period of the 1970's his teams had the best overall winning percentage in the SEC in conference games. He was also instrumental in starting the popular Diamond Dinner, which, each year, brought famous players to Knoxville to speak and sign autographs. He retired from coaching in 1981 as the winningest baseball coach in Vol history. In 1982 he was head coach of the gold medal winning USA team in the World's Fair International Baseball Tournament. After retiring, he was inducted into six Sports Halls of Fame, including the Tennessee, Knoxville, UT Baseball, State of Tennessee Baseball Coaches, East TN baseball coaches, and Knox Inter-scholastic League basketball coaches. An avid tennis player during his 27 years at UT he enjoyed golf after retiring. Preceded in death by parents, Hobart and Mary Wright, and sister, Jackie King. Survivors include wife, Theresa; sister and husband, Joy and Pat Shires; nephews, Pat and Kevin Shires; niece, Cathy Wilson and their families; niece, Teresa Yarber and her daughter Laura; son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Luanna Wright; sons, Steve and Barry Wright, and daughter Sara Neblett, all of Knoxville; daughter and son-in-law, Cassie and Don Zalewski of Huntington Beach, CA; grandchildren, Bradley, Lindsay, Kacey and Landon Wright, all of Knoxville, and Jessica Page of Balboa Island, CA. Memorial service at Church St. United Methodist Church on Monday, April 25, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Family will greet friends from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the church. Burial with Military Honors at Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, Lyons View Pike, Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fellowship of Christian Athletics, 406 Union Avenue, Suite 610, Knoxville, TN 37902 or Younglife, 911 Mountcastle St., Knoxville, TN 37916-3303. Condolences may be offered at www.berryfuneralhome.com.