By Mike Perleberg
Mike and Shelia Wilson had long, successful coaching careers at Rising Sun schools. They will be the focus of a ceremony prior to the Rising Sun boys basketball home game versus Switzerland County on Friday, December 12. Photo provided. (Rising Sun, Ind.) – Rising Sun High School will welcome back the Wilsons this Friday night. Mike Wilson and wife Shelia were each coaches and educators at Rising Sun for nearly four decades. Across a variety of sports, the couple combined for more than 700 wins, 24 ORVC titles, and 15 sectional titles. “And they grew a culture of champions in the Rising Sun community,” says Rising Sun High School principal and athletic director Noel Bostic. The Wilsons will be honored on the court prior to the start of the Rising Sun boys basketball home game on Friday, December 12. The Shiners host rival Switzerland County starting with the junior varsity game tip off at 6:00 p.m. In addition to his various coaching duties, Mike Wilson was the athletic director at Rising Sun HS from 1962-2000. According to Bostic, Wilson was also the boys head basketball coach for the Shiners from 1962-1968 and 1982-1995. He coached the Shiners to 192 wins but most notably won four sectional titles when Indiana’s basketball tournament was a single-class bracket in 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1989. Mike Wilson also coached boys track to ORVC titles in the 1960’s, one year guiding the team to the school’s best ever 3rd place finish in a track sectional. Shelia Wilson was just as accomplished as her husband. Bostic called her a “pioneering coach for Rising Sun girls sports in the mid 1970’s.” She was the first coach of Rising Sun girls basketball, cross country, track and volleyball. Wilson’s volleyball teams excelled as she amassed 440 wins, 14 ORVC championships, 11 sectional titles, two regional championships and a semistate title in her final year in 2000. Shelia Wilson also coached girls’ track to seven ORVC titles. "There are lots of wonderful memories of our coaching careers. Our wins could not have happened without the dedication of some great shiner athletes," says Shelia Wilson. The couple still lives in Rising Sun. Do you have fuzzy memories of the Wilsons’ time at Rising Sun schools? Share them on our Facebook page or in the comment section below.
Battlefield Cross Dedication Set for Saturday at Lesko Park
Former LHS Teacher Charged with Child Seduction
Manchester Fire Begins Advanced Life Support Emergency Medical Services
Grant Opportunity Could Save Whitewater Canal Historic Site
East Central FCCLA Student Sees Architecture in Her Future
INDOT: Crews Complete Lane Improvement Work on SR 229
