Wilson was a triple-threat back in high school at Piedmont. As a senior in 1942, he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in decisive wins over Jacksonville and Cherokee County. On the first play of Piedmont’s win over Oxford, Wilson intercepted a pass and scored. For the season, he scored nine touchdowns, passed for five touchdowns and drop-kicked 14 extra points as Piedmont finished 7-2-0. After graduating in 1943, he served in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. Returning from military service in 1946, Wilson tried out for football at the University of Mississippi and earned a scholarship. At Ole Miss, he lettered in both football and baseball. In football, he intercepted 10 passes as a senior in 1949, an SEC record that stood until 1982. Included was an interception Wilson returned 99 yards against Florida. Wilson recorded 20 interceptions for his career, still an SEC record. In 1950, his senior season of baseball, he was named captain and selected for the All-SEC team. After graduating, Wilson was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in football and the Cincinnati Reds in baseball. He played minor league baseball for three years in the Reds’ system. In 1952 for Columbia, South Carolina’s South Atlantic League champions, Wilson hit .303 with 194 hits, including 40 doubles and 10 triples, before retiring at age 28. For 12 years Wilson coached high school football and baseball in Mississippi. In 1964, he joined the faculty at Carson-Newman College where he taught for 26 years and served as baseball coach for 23 years. His first Carson-Newman team won the NAIA national championship. He served on the United States Olympic Committee for baseball for four years. Wilson was inducted into the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986, the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Carson-Newman College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. He died June 21, 2008.