Wilkerson announces retirement as KVA’s baseball coach
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
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HENDERSON — One of the most successful coaches in the history of Kerr-Vance Academy athletics in Todd Wilkerson has formally announced his retirement from the school’s baseball program following a stellar career that included three consecutive NCISAA 1A Championships.
Having coached both of his sons and a plethora of other talented players during his tenure, Wilkerson believed it was the right time to step away from the program, but he is confident that baseball at KVA will continue to thrive for many more years.
“I figured it was about that time,” Wilkerson said. “Both of my boys have graduated from KVA, with one of them now at [UNC-Chapel Hill] while the other is down at East Carolina getting his masters and helping the baseball team down there. This is a good time for me to step away and for someone else to start fresh over here.”
When Wilkerson took over as the head coach of KVA’s baseball team in 2012, he was tasked with rebuilding a program primarily consisting of eighth graders after a stout senior class had graduated from the school the year before.
George Hoyle Jr was a junior at the school when Wilkerson became the head baseball coach, and expressed his gratitude towards all of the guidance and assistance he provided when Hoyle returned to his alma mater as the athletic director in 2018.
“It’s been an amazing experience working with Coach Wilkerson,” Hoyle said. “Being a first-time AD coming in to have someone like that to observe and get advice from was really important for me. I’m not really sure how you replace someone like him, but we’re really excited for him and his family.”
Hoyle vividly recalls baseball being one of the least popular spring sports at KVA to the point where there were issues with just fielding a team, but he credits Wilkerson for revitalizing baseball at the school and turning the program into one of the most efficient at KVA.
After enjoying several strong campaigns under Wilkerson during the 2010s, KVA finally gave him his first NCISAA 1A title in 2017 when they defeated Lawrence Academy in a three-game championship series 2-1.
One year later, KVA brought home their second state championship after dominating Wayne Country Day 9-2. They hoisted another NCISAA 1A Championship banner in 2019 by easily taking care of Albemarle School in two consecutive matchups.
Wilkerson said that he was pleasantly surprised to see KVA bring home three consecutive NCISAA 1A titles to conclude the last decade, but he attributed the success of those championship teams to the amount of talent on his rosters and the dedication everyone put in towards getting better each day.
“It’s always the goal to make it all the way to the state championship,” Wilkerson said. “Winning three of them back-to-back is really hard to do no matter what sport you’re in, but we were lucky to have so many great players at a great school.”
Wilkerson added that his goal as a coach was to build a strong culture that would enable KVA to stay one step ahead of their competition, which primarily focused on teaching leadership skills to the veterans on the roster that were later passed down to the underclassmen.
Hoyle said that Wilkerson more than accomplished his goals as a coach merely by providing his players the qualities they needed to be successful both on and off the field, and is confident that the culture Wilkerson created will persist with the baseball team as it attempts to secure its fourth straight NCISAA 1A title this season.
“One of the main things we preach at Kerr-Vance is family,” Hoyle said. “I think Todd tried to make sure that was implemented in the team and the guys really wanted to play for each other more than they wanted to play for themselves. It was really cool to see Todd grow this program when it could have easily fallen off.”
Wilkerson affirmed that he would not be in his current position without the help of his wife Joan, his sons Colby and Daniel, and his coaching staff of Mike Rigsbee, Ricky Strickland and Danny Evans. Although Wilkerson said that he will miss being in the dugout, he is looking forward to watching KVA maintain its efficiency as a spectator.
“I’ll always remember being around so many great people at KVA,” Wilkerson said. “It’s a great place to go to school and play sports, and I consider myself lucky to have been a part of that for so many years.”
Rigsbee will take over as KVA’s head coach ahead of the upcoming spring season, which is scheduled to begin in March.
By Brandon White bwhite@hendersondispatch.com;
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
HENDERSON — One of the most successful coaches in the history of Kerr-Vance Academy athletics in Todd Wilkerson has formally announced his retirement from the school’s baseball program following a stellar career that included three consecutive NCISAA 1A Championships.
Having coached both of his sons and a plethora of other talented players during his tenure, Wilkerson believed it was the right time to step away from the program, but he is confident that baseball at KVA will continue to thrive for many more years.
“I figured it was about that time,” Wilkerson said. “Both of my boys have graduated from KVA, with one of them now at [UNC-Chapel Hill] while the other is down at East Carolina getting his masters and helping the baseball team down there. This is a good time for me to step away and for someone else to start fresh over here.”
When Wilkerson took over as the head coach of KVA’s baseball team in 2012, he was tasked with rebuilding a program primarily consisting of eighth graders after a stout senior class had graduated from the school the year before.
George Hoyle Jr was a junior at the school when Wilkerson became the head baseball coach, and expressed his gratitude towards all of the guidance and assistance he provided when Hoyle returned to his alma mater as the athletic director in 2018.
“It’s been an amazing experience working with Coach Wilkerson,” Hoyle said. “Being a first-time AD coming in to have someone like that to observe and get advice from was really important for me. I’m not really sure how you replace someone like him, but we’re really excited for him and his family.”
Hoyle vividly recalls baseball being one of the least popular spring sports at KVA to the point where there were issues with just fielding a team, but he credits Wilkerson for revitalizing baseball at the school and turning the program into one of the most efficient at KVA.
After enjoying several strong campaigns under Wilkerson during the 2010s, KVA finally gave him his first NCISAA 1A title in 2017 when they defeated Lawrence Academy in a three-game championship series 2-1.
One year later, KVA brought home their second state championship after dominating Wayne Country Day 9-2. They hoisted another NCISAA 1A Championship banner in 2019 by easily taking care of Albemarle School in two consecutive matchups.
Wilkerson said that he was pleasantly surprised to see KVA bring home three consecutive NCISAA 1A titles to conclude the last decade, but he attributed the success of those championship teams to the amount of talent on his rosters and the dedication everyone put in towards getting better each day.
“It’s always the goal to make it all the way to the state championship,” Wilkerson said. “Winning three of them back-to-back is really hard to do no matter what sport you’re in, but we were lucky to have so many great players at a great school.”
Wilkerson added that his goal as a coach was to build a strong culture that would enable KVA to stay one step ahead of their competition, which primarily focused on teaching leadership skills to the veterans on the roster that were later passed down to the underclassmen.
Hoyle said that Wilkerson more than accomplished his goals as a coach merely by providing his players the qualities they needed to be successful both on and off the field, and is confident that the culture Wilkerson created will persist with the baseball team as it attempts to secure its fourth straight NCISAA 1A title this season.
“One of the main things we preach at Kerr-Vance is family,” Hoyle said. “I think Todd tried to make sure that was implemented in the team and the guys really wanted to play for each other more than they wanted to play for themselves. It was really cool to see Todd grow this program when it could have easily fallen off.”
Wilkerson affirmed that he would not be in his current position without the help of his wife Joan, his sons Colby and Daniel, and his coaching staff of Mike Rigsbee, Ricky Strickland and Danny Evans. Although Wilkerson said that he will miss being in the dugout, he is looking forward to watching KVA maintain its efficiency as a spectator.
“I’ll always remember being around so many great people at KVA,” Wilkerson said. “It’s a great place to go to school and play sports, and I consider myself lucky to have been a part of that for so many years.”
Rigsbee will take over as KVA’s head coach ahead of the upcoming spring season, which is scheduled to begin in March.
