By T. Scott Boatright
Over the past 10 months, Wilbert Ellis has seemingly hauled in as many awards and honors as his outfielders snagged fly balls during one of the 26 seasons he served as head coach of the Grambling State baseball team.
Last July Ellis was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and then earlier this year he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame and was presented with the Dusty Baker Coaching Impact Award during the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic in Houston.
Ellis, who is also a member of the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame (2022), the SWAC Hall of Fame (2011), the Grambling Legends Hall of Fame (2012) and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2007), snagged yet another honor last weekend as he was honored with the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s most prestigious honor — the Dennis E. Thomas Distinguished Service Award — during the SWAC’s Legends Awards and Roast at the Sheraton Flowood The Refuge Hotel & Conference Center in Flowood, Mississippi.
Thomas, who was the first and only offensive lineman in SWAC history to earn SWAC Offensive MVP honors, went on to a coaching career before moving into athletics administration, eventually serving as the commissioner of the Mideastern Athletic Conference from 2002-21, making a big impact by increasing student-athlete graduation rates, operating with financial prudence, and expanding the conference’s corporate footprint. He negotiated multi-million dollar contracts with ESPN and Nike, the former of which allowed for national broadcasts of football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, women’s bowling, track & field, softball, and baseball.
The SWAC’s Legends Awards and Roast annually honors former student-athletes as well as former or current coaches, athletics administrators or staff members who have had positive impacts on the historic conference. Proceeds from the Legends Awards and Roast benefit the SWAC Alumni Association’s Degree Completion Scholarship Fund, which provides financial support to student-athletes in the conference whose eligibility has expired and who are within 30 hours of graduating.
Ellis was a longtime assistant coach to Grambling president/hardball coach Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones before taking over as head coach in 1977.
During his tenure as Grambling’s head baseball coach, Ellis led the Tigers to a 737-413-1 career record, to three Southwestern Athletic Conference championships and to three appearances in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. During his tenures as an assistant and head coach, nearly 50 Tiger baseball players earned Major League Baseball contracts.
Eliis said earning the Dennis E. Thomas Distinguished Service Award was a meaningful experience.
“It was a wonderful event,” Ellis said. “It was an amazing and beautiful hotel. But what really made it special was I got to see and talk to my friend, Dennis Thomas, and receive an honor named for him.
“He and I have been friends for many, many years and have a lot in common in the fact that we’ve both been recognized not only for coaching athletics, but for impacting lives, and that’s the biggest honor you can get. So, it’s a really special award and one I was proud to receive.”
And as happened during his induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame last summer in Natchitoches, Ellis had a small army of supporters who made the trek to central Mississippi to see him honored.
“It was sold out — a big, big crowd,” Ellis said. “And a lot of them, a whole lot of them, were there for me. I can’t begin to explain what it means to have people come out and support me like that. I can’t begin to express my appreciation for that.
“Pat Bibbs, who coached women’s basketball at Grambling, was the Roast Guest of Honor, so we had a lot of GramFam there for the event. It was a special night and one I’ll never forget.”
