Rivercrest's Wilson wins first state title

Keiser native Rick Wilson has spent the last 37 years coaching the Colts.

Now, the Rivercrest head coach has a state championship to show for his work and dedication to the area where he grew up.

"I loved sports growing up, I loved them all," said Wilson, who has spent his entire coaching career at Rivercrest, after graduating from Arkansas State University. "I knew I wanted to coach. I'm glad I've gotten to do it here. It just so happened that I coached basketball. I was the junior high coach for the first five years."

With his team's 63-48 win over West Fork in the 3A state title game on Friday afternoon, Rivercrest currently holds the state titles in track, football and basketball -- a feat the he feels says a lot about the kids involved as well as the school.

"A lot of schools specialize in just one sport. We have 12 kids playing three sports," Wilson said. "That's a tribute to these kids and the hard work and effort that they've been willing to put in."

Four of his starting five and two-thirds of his team are coming off a state football championship in December and will try to defend their 3A state track title this spring.

"We knew we had some athletes coming up and when they were sophomores, that's when we started to realize we had something special here."

Wilson also credits the success of this group to the communication between the coaches of the different sports.

"We know each other and we like each other," he said.

That doesn't mean he hasn't been concerned about his basketball players getting hurt in other sports.

"I'll admit, there have been times when I've seen them take a hit during a football game and thought about how that might effect the basketball team but in the end, it's been great for the school. When the football teams wins, we all win. When the basketball or track team wins, we all win."

Just three days after the football team won the state title, they played their first basketball game and just two weeks later they were playing in a postseason atmosphere at the Northeast Arkansas Tournament over Christmas. Rivercrest played conference rival, Manila followed by eventual 1A state champs Bay and 2A state champs East Poinsett County. Wilson feels the added competition early on only helped his squad.

"It's all about where you finish at the end. I think it got them focused for the basketball season. Besides, these kids have played in so many big and intense games over the past few years. Nothing really fazes them any more."

With 37 years under his belt and now the attention of a state championship, what he's accomplished and how much longer he'll continue to coach has come up in conversation he says more than usual.

"I was asked about how many wins I have. Honestly, I tried to count them up but I really don't know exactly."

As for how much longer he wants to coach, "That's come up as well," he said. "I haven't thought about it much. I just really enjoy what I'm doing and I guess I'll just keeping doing it as long as I'm able and enjoy it."

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com