Written for the LSWA
Some great athletes are born to be that way based on God-given talent that can be improved on with a solid work ethic, sheer determination and love of the game.
But it can sometimes work the opposite way for great coaches, who don’t always have great careers as athletes but become great coaches based on the same kind of God-given talent combined with a solid work ethic, sheer determination and love of the game.
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductee Wilbert Ellis was one of those types of coaches. Ellis spent 30 seasons as Grambling’s head baseball coach after serving the previous 13 as an assistant under Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones.
Ellis retired in 2003 after posting a 743-463-1 record with three Southwestern Athletic Conference titles, five SWAC Western Division crowns and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
He was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame in 2011 and American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007. Now, he joins the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Ellis is part of the 12-member Class of 2024 to be honored June 20-22 in Natchitoches. For participation opportunities, visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255.
Those coaching credentials warranted strong consideration for LSHOF induction, but what sealed the deal, and made Ellis even more worthy was what he’s done out of a baseball uniform.
Ellis is the second recipient of the Hall’s Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, established in 2020 when Shreveport-based national broadcaster Tim Brando was the winner.
The award is presented only occasionally and honors long-term exemplary contributions to the perception of Louisiana by an individual who has ties to the state’s sports landscape.
“Throughout his life, as a coach and in many ways since then, Wilbert Ellis has been a tremendous representative of our state and his beloved Grambling State University,” said LSHOF chairman Doug Ireland. “Our selection committee believes he is the ideal person to be the second winner of the Ambassador Award as a man who has been nationally prominent in his field while constantly benefiting Louisiana through words and deeds. Coach Ellis has bolstered our state’s identity and its well-being.”
Ellis is nationally regarded as one of the country’s finest representatives of college baseball, beloved by Grambling alumni for his expansive yet now unofficial, longstanding role at the university.
He has been a trusted advisor for generations of presidents, athletic directors and coaches at Grambling, and to others in Lincoln Parish and statewide in community and governmental affairs.
Ellis was instrumental in the establishment of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum in Grambling, and the school’s Grambling Legends sports hall of fame. He still conducts baseball clinics for kids in Lincoln Parish and elsewhere, and serves as an NCAA Regional site supervisor.
It all began when Ellis was a youth in Ruston, organizing games and serving as a player/coach.
“For most young kids, that early love for athletics means they want to play the game for the rest of their lives — that was never my path,” Elis said. “I already knew when I was young I wanted to be a coach. It all started in those little league teams when me and my friends would form a team ourselves and if we didn’t have an adult with us, I’d often be the coach. And since I was 9 years old, I’ve never stopped coaching.”
It wasn’t long before adults started seeing the future Ellis had ahead of him.
“I remember being on my high school baseball team, Lincoln High in Ruston, when our head coach, Jimmy Duncan, was called into a meeting with the principal and had to miss a practice,” Ellis said. “We didn’t have any assistant coaches, so he asked me to take over the coaching duties until he could return.
“The next day Coach Duncan asked me how it went, and I told him that because of that day, I was sure that I wanted to be a baseball coach one day.”
Ellis went on to play for GSU’s baseball team but admits that even as a college student, Jones saw Ellis as more of a coach than a player. Ellis went on to graduate school at Kansas State, but it wasn’t long before Ellis rejoined Jones in the GSU dugout as an assistant coach.
“Dr. Jones was one of the best men I’d ever met, and I knew I wanted to emulate him in my coaching journey. Thankfully for me, he extended a hand and asked me to be an assistant coach on his staff.
“Not only did I learn from Dr. Jones, but also being in the presence of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and basketball coach Fred Hobdy at Grambling State was truly thrilling. I got to be around those legends for 17 years as an assistant coach, and when Dr. Jones retired from coaching, I truthfully didn’t know what I’d do next.”
Ellis soon found out.
“I was out on the road recruiting in Shreveport, when I stopped by the state fair to see a friend,” Ellis said. “That friend asked me if I’d seen the local newspaper, where an article said I’d been named the next head coach of Grambling State and right there in the middle of that state fair, I got down on my knees and thanked my Lord and savior Jesus Christ because I knew God had fulfilled my dream.”
Ellis made the most of it.
That dream included helping nearly 50 players he and Jones coached at Grambling go on to earn professional contracts.
As Jones’ assistant at Grambling, Ellis coached greats like Tommie Agee, who was the 1966 American League Rookie of the Year and appeared in the 1966 and ’67 All-Star games as a Chicago White Sox player before going to New York and playing a key role in helping the Mets win the 1969 World Series.
As the Tigers’ assistant, Ellis also coached Ralph Garr, who led the National League in hitting in 1974, compiling a.353 average on his way to All-Star honors. The 1984 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee hit .300 or better five times during his career.
As GSU’s head coach, Ellis guided the college careers of Matt Alexander, who won a World Series title with Pittsburgh in 1979; Lenny Webster, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1985 and appeared in the 1997 AL Championship Series; and Gerald Williams, who was selected by the New York Yankees in the 1987 amateur draft and appeared in a pair of NL Championship Series (1998-99) with Atlanta and in the 1999 World Series against his former team, the Yankees.
“I feel grateful for the opportunity to touch the lives of all of those players’ lives and all the others, whether they played pro ball or not,” Ellis said. “All those players who wore the Black and Gold made this possible. Without them, all of these honors and accolades would never have happened.”
Ellis also coached current Minor League manager James Cooper, who not only played for Ellis but also became Grambling’s fourth baseball coach before moving on to the New York Yankees’ organization as a coach.
Cooper got to know Ellis when Cooper was a freshman GSU outfielder in 2000 and played for Ellis for four years before Ellis retired from coaching when Cooper headed toward his senior season as a G-Man.
“After I was drafted by the Houston Astros, I often talked to Coach Ellis, who was a source of motivation for me,” Cooper said. “He helped me out spiritually, financially and emotionally. He’s always been someone I can count on when I need someone to talk to.”
But it wasn’t always as a baseball coach that over the years Ellis has impacted others with the power of a home run.
In 2015, the Ruston-Lincoln (Parish) Chamber of Commerce presented Ellis with the 2015 Robert E. Russ Award, which is the highest award that is given for community impact in Ruston or Lincoln Parish, and in 2021 Ellis received that year’s Bill Best Humanitarian Award from the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.
That award was established in 1997 by the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce to recognize a local citizen for their outstanding contributions to humanitarian interests, unselfish giving, and service to others.
Ellis oversaw construction of Grambling’s baseball facility that houses Wilbert Ellis Field at Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Park and serves as president of the Friends of the Eddie Robinson Museum organization.
And in 2022 Ellis was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame in Baton Rouge for his proactive approach in working with youth conducting clinics teaching hardball skills at the same time as offering instruction on the importance of life skills such as staying in school and completing their educations, staying away from drugs and alcohol and becoming productive citizens upon entering adulthood.
Those clinics include nearly 15 years worth of free Wilbert Ellis Youth Baseball Clinics in Ruston and more than 20 years guiding similar youth camps in conjunction with the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
“My whole life has been about guiding people and especially children and young people,” Ellis said. “For me, it was never about the wins and losses – instead, I wanted to see what I could teach them about the game of life through the game of baseball. Every year I’d attend the national coaches convention to learn different ways to make an impact in the kids’ lives, and those lessons have helped me make a difference here in Louisiana. We now have youth camps in Grambling, Ruston, and Lincoln Parish where 200-300 kids come out for the sessions.
“All I’ve wanted to do since I was young was lead coach others in all phases of life and with his grace the Good Lord has granted me with that honor, just as the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is granting me this upcoming honor. Being honored and joining all the great athletes, baseball coaches and players from Louisiana, the state I’ve always lived in, is incredibly thrilling and rewarding. It’s been a good life for this kid who coached on the east end of Ruston.”
T. Scott Boatright, a Louisiana Tech graduate, works in university communications at Grambling State and also writes for LincolnParishJournal.com.