R.I.P. - Bill Wilhelm

College baseball lost one of its all-time great coaches on Christmas Eve when former Clemson coach Bill Wilhelm passed away at age 81.



Wilhelm was the architect of a very successful Clemson program. He also was one of the great pioneers in the history of the sport, bringing much attention to a sport that now is in its greatest days and has many great years ahead of it.



While his contributions to college baseball as a whole were special, his success as coach at Clemson was extremely impressive.


Wilhelm spent 36 years (1958-93) with the Tigers and guided the program to six College World Series appearances, 17 NCAA tournament appearances and 11 ACC titles. He led the Tigers to the CWS two years before he retired.