Love at First Sight: Former Grambling Baseball Coach Wilbert’s early love for game turns into everlasting legacy

GRAMBLING, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Former Grambling baseball skipper Wilbert Ellis found much success as the head skipper for Grambling baseball.

737 wins, 463 losses and one tie.

But his success is credited to his passion for the game–a passion that he discovered the first time he ever played the game.

“I’d get a lot of kids together and we had a large backyard and my dad and mom home and we would play ball out in the back,” Ellis said.

For Wilbert Ellis–baseball has always been in his blood.

Many kids have dreams of playing in the Major Leagues–but Ellis’ dream was a little bit different.

“Ever since I was nine years old, I wanted to be a coach,” Ellis said. “I just wanted to be a coach.”

The former Grambling Baseball coach says growing up–he would always be the coach when all the kids got together to play some ball.

Mr. Ellis went on to play baseball at Grambling State under the legendary Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones–who eventually became his mentor.

But even after playing at the collegiate level–Ellis and Jones both knew the path for him was coaching.

Ellis went on to serve as assistant coach for Jones for 17 years before taking over as head coach in 1978 and the rest is history.

Ellis was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the SWAC Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame and most recently–the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame–all achievments he says would not have been possible without the great people who were by his side the entire journey.

“I was around some of the greatest people in the world,” said Ellis. “I had great parents, the late Houston and Mattie Ellis. I had people in the community and the church who kept pushing me and placing emphasis, you’re going to be somebody one day. You’re going to do this and you’ve got to keep going. Stay away from this, stay away from that. And then when I got to Grambling and met Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, the president and the head coach, and then Eddie Robinson and Fred Hopkins and many other people. The late Dr. Joseph Johnson was president and he was an athlete here [Grambling]. What we have to do is be truthful to the youth. We have to let them know we are sincere about trying to make a difference in his life or her life.”

And that is exactly what he continues to do.

No matter how much praise he gets or how many awards he receives–he is always driven to do more.

“All the letters and things that I get, it doesn’t do anything with my head, it just makes something in my heart beat faster wanting to do something to make a difference,” Ellis said.

Ellis continues to dedicate countless hours giving back to the youth and along the way–providing a very powerful message.

“Most of all, get something that nobody in the world can take from you,” Ellis said. “Get your degree, get in your profession and into your job market and be successful. When your lights come on in your community, others will see it and they will say, I want to be like him/her.”