New Lady Jackets head coach Alan Wilson is quick to credit Texas A&M Commerce coaching legend Sam Walker with illuminating a path forward for him in the coaching field.

Asked about what made Coach Walker so successful, Wilson commented, “You knew he cared.”

Wilson, who served as an assistant to Walker, described how Walker used a methodology based on details and discipline to guide his teams on the court and help his players make correct life decisions. 

Talking with Wilson about his journey to Mineola includes not only a discussion about coach Walker, but mention of a half dozen fellow coaching contemporaries who had and continue to have major positive influences on Wilson’s life.  

It was those coaching contemporaries, in fact, who led him to join the Yellowjackets athletic department.  

Influences are a large part of Wilson’s journey, and he readily admits that there has been no bigger influence than faith. His faith is based on a simple concept, “The grace of God is required for human beings to change,” he shared.

Wilson expressed how coaching is a blessing in that coaching can be a vehicle through which God influences young people. 

With this underpinning of faith, Wilson is busily building the Lady Jacket program. He is not, however, building for the future. He is building success today. 

Wilson’s teams employ a strategy of structured pressure against an opponent.

“The system is designed to keep the opposing team uncomfortable anytime they step on the court,” Wilson explained. The method of play requires rhythm and rotation, he added. 

The team is responding well to the new direction. “Once it clicks in place for the team, they will be locked in,” he said.

A native of Quinlan, Wilson earned a basketball scholarship to Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. as a shooting guard. After a serious injury derailed his playing career, Wilson joined the coaching staff at Texas A&M Commerce. 

A two-year head coaching stint at Crossroads preceded a seven-year run at Grand Saline. Relationship-building among the area coaches and the reputation of Mineola schools combined to bring Wilson to the Yellowjackets.

“It made the decision easy,” he stated. 

Wilson and his wife, Amber, reside in Canton. They share their home with their 3-year old daughter, Olivia. 

For those district opponents who may believe the Lady Jackets are in a rebuilding year, they should be warned. This team is growing and improving every day under Wilson’s leadership.