Jacksonville State University Athletics

E. C. “Baldy” Wilson was a good athlete, lettering on a Jacksonville team that lost only one game his junior and senior years and was invited to a bowl game. He also lettered in basketball. But his “real” claim to fame came when, as a player, he persuaded the school to change its mascot from the Eagle Owls to the Gamecocks and its colors from purple and white to red and white. Wilson went on to a stellar high school coaching career at Glencoe, where he remains one of the winningest coaches in school history. He also served as the basketball coach, winning nearly 150 games and capturing five county championships. After the ‘67 season, he retired from coaching and moved into administration, working in the central office for 10 years before serving two terms as Etowah County Superintendent of Education. The Glencoe City Park was renamed in his honor a few years ago. In addition, Wilson was named JSU’s “Alumnus of the Year” in 1987 and “Patriot of the Year” for the Gadsden area in 1995. He was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.