GLENN WILKES,
JR.
HEAD WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL COACH
20th
Season

When Glenn
Wilkes, Jr. took over the reigns of the Rollins women's basketball
program in 1986, there was little doubt that he had the background
to develop into a successful collegiate coach, but his accomplishments
as the Tars leader have been even greater than could have been imagined.
After posting only two winning records in the 15 seasons prior to
his arrival, the Tars have registered a winning record all 20 years
under Wilkes, including sixteen 20 plus win seasons. The Blue and
Gold has also risen up to become a perennial conference powerhouse
and a national contender. The team has won 10 Sunshine State
Conference regular season titles, six SSC Tournament crowns and has
made a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament nine times under Wilkes'
watch.
Over the
last eight campaigns, from the 1998-99 season through the 2005-06
season, Wilkes has taken the Tars to an even higher level of conference
and national success. Rollins is regularly found on the WBCA Top 20
and atop the Sunshine State Conference standings. The Tars have won
six SSC titles, four SSC Tournament Championships, and earned berths
to seven out of the past eight NCAA Tournaments on their way to a
204-42 record over the last eight years.
Wilkes set
the tone for his successful tenure during his initial campaign with
the Tars. During the 1986-87 season he led Rollins to a 21-6 record,
the first 20-win season in women's basketball history. The following
season the Tars posted a 26-3 overall record and claimed both the
SSC regular season and tournament championships. The Tars also claimed
the regular season title in 1989 and the regular season and tournament
titles during the 1989-90 season. The team returned to the top of
the league during the 1995-96 season by earning a share of the regular
season crown.
The 1998-99
Tars posted a 27-3 record and claimed both the Sunshine State Conference
regular season and post season championships before losing in the
second round of the NCAA tournament. Wilkes was honored as the Sunshine
State Conference "Coach of the Year" and was also named the Rollins
College Student-Athlete Advisory Council "Coach of the Year." The
1999-2000 Tars finished the campaign with a new school record for
victories in a season on their way to a 28-4 record, claiming the
SSC regular season championship before being upset in the finals of
the conference tournament. The Tars again made the NCAA Tournament,
winning their first two games before losing in the regional final.
Rollins finished the year ranked tenth in Division II, and Wilkes
was again honored as SSC "Coach of the Year" and was named the South
Regional "Coach of the Year." During the 2000-2001 season, Wilkes
led the Tars to a 26-4 record while claiming both the SSC regular
season and tournament titles. The Tars earned a bye in the first round
of the NCAA South Regional, and then suffered an overtime defeat to
conference foe Barry in the second round. Wilkes was honored as the
SSC "Coach of the Year" for the seventh time and was named the South
Regional "Coach of the Year" for the third time in his career.
In 2002-03,
the Tars finished third in the conference regular season, but made
a run in the post season tournament and advanced to the championship
game. They suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to Florida Southern,
but still received and invite to the NCAA Tournament where they fell
to eventual Elite Eight participant, Central Arkansas. In 2003-04,
they finished with a school record 29 wins and went a perfect 14-0
in the conference, en route to the SSC regular season and tournament
championships. The 29 wins included a stretch of 21 straight
victories. For the first time, Rollins played host to the NCAA
Division II South Regionals, where they advanced into the Sweet 16
before losing to Henderson State.
The
team followed up their record setting 2003-04 season with a 21-10
record in 2004-05. The team won the SSC Tournament Championship
and advanced to the NCAA tournament for sixth time in seven years,
only to lose in the first round.
The 2005-06
season saw Wilkes take his troops to even higher levels, as the team
went undefeated throughout the regular season, finishing 26-0.
This was the first time in Rollins basketball history that a team
went undefeated through the regular season. The Tars would go
on to finish the season at 28-2, breaking school records for most
wins to open a season and most consecutive wins in a row, 28.
For his hard work, Wilkes was named the Sunshine State Conference
Coach of the Year for a ninth time, the NCAA Division II South Region
Coach of the Year for a fifth time and the NCAA Division II Coach
of the Year for the first time.
Wilkes is
easily the winningest coach in Rollins women's basketball history,
rolling up a record of 446-141. Successful collegiate coaching
is nothing new to the Wilkes family as Glenn is the son of former
Stetson University Head Coach and Florida Hall of Fame member Glenn
Wilkes, Sr. He is now only 105 wins behind the total of 551 career
coaching victories posted by his father during a 38-year career. A
number of those wins came during the four seasons in which the younger
Wilkes spent as a player for his father. A four-year letterman and
the one time holder of the Stetson single game assist record, Wilkes
was a starter on Stetson teams that defeated powerhouses including
Marquette, Southwestern Louisiana and South Carolina.
Following
his playing career, Wilkes served as a graduate assistant at Stetson
for one year. He then worked as an account executive for United Stationers,
the country's largest wholesaler and was the Houston Division Salesman-of-the-Year
in 1983.
Wilkes married former Rollins
College All-American basketball star Kim Tayrien in August of 1992.
She currently teaches at Winter Park High School. They are the parents
of two boys, Wyatt and Van.
|