Wilson, M. Volleyball Enter New Era

A new coach. A new look. And new success.

Despite a recent slump, the Harvard men's volleyball team (8-6, 0-4 EIVA) has swept two tournaments--the Northeastern Collegiate Volleyball Tournament and the Burgundy and Gray Invitational--without losing a single match. In the first tourney, the Crimson won 14 straight games and lost none.

Even in losing efforts, Harvard has held its own against highly touted Princeton and No. 16 Rutgers-Newark. It also boasts several national statistical leaders and has emerged as one of the region's hottest young teams.

The man behind it all is Coach Tom Wilson. Before coming to Harvard, Wilson helped lead regional powerhouse Wellesley to two straight top ten finishes in the NCAA women's tournament. Wellesley placed eighth in 1997 and third in 1998 with a combined record of 73-3 over the two years.

The Coach

With the perennial success of Wellesley, why would anyone leave a successful program to take over a Harvard team that was in the middle of the pack?

He didn't.

"I still work and coach at Wellesley partly because I love the players and staff there, partly because the men's and women's seasons do not overlap, and partly because I need to, for financial reasons," Wilson says. "Men's volleyball is a Tier II sport at Harvard, so the coaching position is only part-time. I have to supplement the income Harvard provides, and I can't imagine a more enjoyable second job than coaching at Wellesley."

Wilson brings to Harvard more than 20 years of volleyball expertise. His involvement with college volleyball began as a middle blocker for a club team at Central Missouri State University.

"Practice [on the club] was an excuse to get together with my friends and go party afterwards," Wilson says. "I only became serious about the sport after college, when some of my collegiate club teammates formed a USA Volleyball [league competition] men's team."

In the early 1980s, ex-national players dominated volleyball in the Midwest, so Wilson and company lost often. The defeats sparked Wilson's interest as a student of the game, however, eventually leading to his taking a position as a coach.

"We watched them [ex-national players] carefully and did our best to imitate them," he says. "We asked questions and read and thought a lot about the sport. Eventually--by the late '80s--we were able to beat them."

In 1991, Wilson and his wife moved to Boston. Luckily, he was able to join up with a batch of strong players, forming his own New England Seniors Team that has on several occasions battled in the medal round of the USA Volleyball National Championships.

Like the players he coaches, Wilson splits time on the court with time in the library. For the past several years, he has been working towards completing his Ph.D. in history at Brandeis University. He is scheduled to complete his dissertation on the emergence of scientific fraud as a conceptual category in the 17th and 18th centuries sometime during the summer of 1999.

"I hope to finish the remaining chapters this summer, partly because I've invested so much time in the project, and partly because the topic is fascinating." Wilson says.

In addition to working on his dissertation, Wilson kept busy over the summers by coaching at various volleyball camps. It was at one of these camps that he met Harvard co-captain A. J. Lewis.

"I knew he had a great reputation as a player and a coach, so I started chatting with him about our situation at Harvard and how it would be nearly impossible to find a decent coach who could afford to work on a part-time salary," Lewis says. "It never occurred to me at that time that three weeks later he would sign a contract to be our coach."

The Difference

After 16 years of service as the leader of the men's team, Ihsan Gurdal stepped down from the helm. Gurdal led the Crimson to Ivy League Titles in 1983, 1985 and 1993 along with three East Coast Final Four appearances. He compiled a combined record of 189 victories with only 121 defeats.

"It was a hard decision for [Gurdal] to give up volleyball, but he found that he had little time to devote to administrative duties like scheduling and recruiting, and it even became burdensome to make every practice and even some practices," Lewis says.

Gurdal left Harvard to attend to his business interests, clearing the way for Wilson to take the job.

Although perhaps a stretch, the changes implemented by Coach Wilson have been dubbed revolutionary by the volleyball circle.

Wilson is also emphasizing discipline and organization, something the team might not have gotten enough of under Gurdal.

The team spends much of its time in practice concentrating on the strengths and weaknesses of the next opponent.

"Wilson does his homework and is very strategic in match situations, placing emphasis on defense, whereas Gurdal liked to see our big guns put the ball on the floor," Lewis says.

Wilson agreed with his stressing of the importance of defense.

"From what they've told me, the biggest difference in practices and match play is my emphasis on blocking and floor defense," Wilson says. "We've made a lot of improvement in those areas in a very short period of time."

And Wilson has the statistics to support this claim.

Junior co-captain Ed Pankau currently leads the nation with 2.7 blocks per game. Senior middle blocker Evan Mager is also in the top 15 with 1.64.

Junior Joe Herger tops the statistical leader board in digs per game with 3.0. Lewis has 2.9, good for second, and Paul Guilianelli is also in the top ten.

"Coach Wilson is one of the top coaches that I have ever seen, let alone played for and learned under," freshman Conor Gaughan says. "He is always looking for the refinement that makes a good player a great one and I am confident that given the proper resources, he needs little time to take this team a long way."

The Outlook

With the hiring of Tom Wilson, the volleyball renaissance can be seen off the court as well as on. Wilson leaps on every opportunity to meet with administrators, giving the program a presence in the Department of Athletics. He is visible in the admissions office and has been instrumental in recruiting a solid class for next year.

Wilson has also played a vital role in developing promotional publications such as schedule cards and media guides--necessities that had been lacking in the program under Gurdal.

"Because men's volleyball does not receive as much funding as other varsity sports, we have to be tenacious to get the things we need, whether it be team shoes or a bus for road trips," Lewis says. "Things that other teams take for granted, we can truly appreciate."

Despite several close losses, the team will most likely be the most successful team since the 1993 one that won the Ivy Championship.

With Wilson at the helm, there seems to be no other way for the men's volleyball program to go but up.

"We are very lucky to have found Coach Wilson," Lewis says. "He has done great things in a short period of time, and his influence will greatly improve the program in the years to come. I only wish I had more than one month in which to learn from his experience."