A look at a former star

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 12, 2009

You never know what you might find cleaning out the closet. Karen Stamey came across this gem, a photo of legend Bill Wilhelm when he was the catcher for the 1946 Kannapolis Post 115 American Legion team that won the state championship. In the fall of 1957, acting on the advice of UNCís Walter Rabb, Clemson AD Frank Howard hired Wilhelm to coach the Tigers baseball team, and the China Grove native went on to become one of the great collegiate coaches of all-time. He coached Clemson 36 seasons and had a record of 1,161-536-10 when he retired in 1993. Wilhelm took the Tigers to the College World Series six times and coached 19 regular-season conference champions and nine conference tournament champs.