By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — George Douglas Wilson was honored in ceremonies held Thursday evening in the hometown he loves, accepting one of the bigger honors the state has to offer.

The scene was the Kannapolis City Schools Central Office. Wilson was granted the Laurel Wreath Award for outstanding lifetime contributions to sports and athletics.

“It’s pretty neat to be recognized for doing something you love doing,” an humbled, wet-eyed Wilson said.

Wilson, who answers to Doug, was recommended for the honor by A.L. Brown athletic director Empsy Thompson. You can’t just nominate yourself for a Laurel Wreath Award. Friends and colleagues, including Kannapolis city councilman Ryan Dayvault, did the paperwork necessary to convince the governor’s office that Wilson was worthy of recognition. It took months, but speeches were made and cake and pizza were eaten as it all became official.

V.I.P. presenters included Richard Moxley, a regional director for the United States Senate.

Wilson is a 75-year-old great-grandfather, but A.L. Brown’s assistant girls basketball coach still has a 25-year-old’s mind and a 50-year-old’s energy. His wit has aged as well as his white hair and beard.

Wilson worried that all of the pizza might disappear before the dignitaries had a chance to dig in because A.L. Brown’s entire girls basketball team was in attendance to show their support. Wilson compared the Wonders to a Biblical plague of locusts any time there is a hot pizza within reach.

“Our girls love Doug,” said A.L. Brown head girls basketball coach Kayla Crayton, who was coached by Wilson herself a while back. “They were skeptical at first, but now they know he loves them and they love him. They think he’s hilarious.”

Cut Wilson open and he bleeds a combination of Wonder green and Duke royal blue. Wilson was a Duke basketball fan decades before Coach K made it fashionable to be one.

“How about that Cooper Flagg?” Wilson asks cheerfully. People assure Wilson that, yes, Flagg is pretty good.

Wilson is a basketball lifer, even though he didn’t play high school basketball. That sounds odd, but when he was in high school at A.L. Brown in the late 1960s, the talent pool was doubling, as integration brought an infusion of talent from Carver, which had been the school for Black students in Kannapolis during segregation. There were dozens of really good high school-aged players in the mill town, Black and white. The Wonders were so talented they won the North Carolina High School Activities championships in 1966-67 and 1967-68, Wilson’s last two years of high school.

A.L. Brown head basketball coach Earl Lentz knew who Wilson was because he’d been one of the standouts on the Kannapolis YMCA travel teams for years. He asked Wilson if he was coming out for the team and told him he’d get a fair chance to make it, but he also warned him that he probably wouldn’t play much.

Wilson loved playing basketball like a horse loves hay, so a seat on the bench wasn’t for him. He opted to continue to compete in the YMCA leagues. He played for strong travel teams representing Kannapolis all over the state that probably could’ve beaten some area high school squads.

Wilson added to his education at Central Piedmont Community College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College after high school, but his love of basketball never faded. He kept playing for decades after high school, organizing teams for church leagues, open leagues and industrial leagues, always serving as player-coach because he knew when he could no longer play the game, he would coach it. He put teams of 30-somethings in the stout China Grove Summer League in the early 1980s and competed against teams made up mostly of 20-year-olds on college rosters.

It was fitting that Wilson was honored just a few days after National Girls and Women in Sports Day, as coaching female basketball players has been the joy of his life. He’s a girl-dad, so he always has been able to relate to female athletes.

When he was asked to coach the Kannapolis Middle School seventh-graders in 1995, he didn’t say no.

“Someone asked me how we were going to do, and I told them I didn’t know if we’d score,” Wilson said. “I think we scored 28 points all season.”

That was a rough debut, but KMS was winning championships a few years later. Wilson had a special group of  girls there, and he would take them to A.L. Brown as head coach of the Wonders.

In 2001,  the Wonders won the South Piedmont Conference Tournament, beating West Rowan 46-43 in the final. Wilson was named SPC Coach of the Year, and the Wonders made it to the sectional finals in the playoffs. Wilson had another 15-win team — that was a feat in that era — in 2001-02. He served as head coach of the program from 1997-98 to 2005-06.

Wilson founded the Kannapolis Komets, an AAU program for girls basketball players. A lot of Rowan girls played for him. He was fun to play for. He also coached Concord First Assembly teams for three years.

‘Doug is a friend of kids,” said Dr. Chip Buckwell, Kannapolis City Schools interim superintendent. “He’s one of those people who understands that athletics is a great way to reach kids. He has used basketball to build a lot of positive relationships with players and their families.”

When Wilson was 68, A.L. Brown suddenly needed a girls basketball coach when Andrew Porter left to take the Lexington job in late July. Thompson, A.L. Brown’s long-time AD and baseball coach, called Wilson and asked him to pinch-hit as head coach for a season to give the school time to conduct a thorough search for a replacement. There wasn’t a serious chance for a successful season, but Wilson took the job. There’s not much he wouldn’t do for A.L. Brown or for girls basketball.

Kannapolis adults respect Wilson for his knowledge of fishing and for his decades of service on the A.L. Brown Athletic Booster Club Board of Directors. He has been honored by the Kannapolis YMCA as an ambassador for youth and for being an active member for more than 60 years.

He was a founding member of the Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Commission in 1989 and made a major impact there. He was chairman of that commission for eight years.

He’s been a member of the Kannapolis City Council since 2013 and has served as mayor pro tem.

“Doug has worked to bring a lot of positive change to Kannapolis,” Traci Dayvault said.

In 2018, Wilson received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the Office of the Governor for his volunteer work with organizations such as Special Olympics and Meals on Wheels. The Long Leaf Pine is a magnificent honor, although it’s not as exclusive as The Laurel Wreath, which is reserved for sports and athletics.

In 2022, Wilson received the Distinguished Legislator Award.

Despite all the good he’s done away from the court, Wilson has kept coming back to the game he loves. That’s why he sits on the bench next to Coach Crayton now and helps her steer the Wonders through a challenging, injury-plagued season in a talented conference.

“He is always consistent, he never changes, he is always Doug,” Crayton said. “He has made me a better person and coach with his guidance, and he always tells the truth. Even when it’s tough for me to hear, Doug will tell me the truth.”

Wilson spoke surprisingly briefly as he accepted the honor. He can perform stand-up comedy as well as anyone, but this was a solemn occasion, and he knew the basketball team was getting hungry.

Mostly, Wilson thanked his wife, Cathy, who has been there for almost all of his hoops journey.

Emotional friends didn’t mind talking about what Wilson has meant to them, though.

“There’s no one more deserving of The Laurel Wreath,” Ryan Dayvault said. “I don’t know anyone who has worked for Kannapolis as hard as Doug has. He’s a symbol for our youth. He’s a symbol for our town.”