2019 MSU Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: Darryl Wilson

by Josie Hutton, Student Assistant/Communications

Note: This week HailState.com will recognize members of the Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019. The class will be formally inducted at a gala Friday, Sept. 20 and recognized during the MSU-Kentucky football game in Davis Wade Stadium.

If the walls of Humphrey Coliseum could talk, where would they even begin? Those walls would tell stories of glorious moments, All-Americans and underdogs, taking the win in true Mississippi State fashion.

They've seen the unimaginable players pass through like Jeff Malone and Rickey Brown and the irreplaceable players like Erick Dampier and Quinndary Weatherspoon. They've seen crowds of 10,000 and more pack into seats to watch some of Mississippi State's most talented athletes compete in the Maroon and White.

Amongst the crowd of all of Mississippi State's finest is Darryl Wilson, a preeminent guard from Kennedy, Alabama who played for Mississippi State in 1994-96 with shining seasons that included a NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 1995 followed by a NCAA Final Four run in 1996.

Wilson is on the elite list of players with his 1,619 career points ranking eighth and his 17.4 scoring average ranking fifth in program history. Wilson is joined by legendary names of Dee Bost (2009-12), Quinndary Weatherspoon (2016-19), and Ray White (1976-79) as the only MSU players to amass over 1,600 points, 200 assists and 100 steals during their careers.

Even with his statistics being among MSU's best, Wilson remains humble in his induction to the M-Club Hall of Fame.

"It's pretty amazing, unexpected," Wilson said. "It gives me chill bumps just thinking about it because I didn't play the game for stuff like this. I played for the love, played for my coaches and my teammates, and the fans. That was kind of my number one love."

Wilson's love for the game is still carried with him today as he is now the head coach at Itawamba Agriculture High School in Fulton, Mississippi. He still loves the game today just as much as he did 20 years ago.

"With the coaching deal and the basketball deal," Wilson says, "I really enjoy it."

With Wilson's passion for basketball still alive, he never forgets the memories that were put together that made his time at Mississippi State so special especially when thinking back to the 1995-96 season and the ride of Wilson's life that took the team to the NCAA Tournament's final weekend.

"We felt very confident going into that year," Wilson said. "We worked our tails off in the preseason, and it carried on down that stretch. We got guys that were willing to sacrifice a lot of hard work, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It was just a blessing."

Wilson's drive for the game and hard work ethic did not go unnoticed in his playing time for Mississippi State. He registered double figures in 83 of 93 games fueled by 32 outings of 20-plus points. He secured 1996 SEC All-Tournament Team honors and provided 22 points against No. 1 Kentucky in the championship game as MSU won the school's first SEC Tournament crown.

Even through all of Wilson's record-breaking games that he competed in, the one thing that Wilson enjoyed the most about his career at Mississippi State was the true fight and race that Wilson surrounded himself in every day in his time in Starkville, on and off the court.

"It was all about the competition," Wilson said. "With me, it's about the competition of who is the better man and who is going to fight. That's what it's all about. That was everything to me. I didn't care if it was a pickup game at the recreation gym. My teammates and I competed at everything."

With Wilson's induction to the M-Club Hall of Fame fast approaching, Wilson can know that all of the labor and hard work that he put in was worth every second as his impact at Mississippi State lives on every day.

"It's a great feeling for me and for my family," Wilson said." I'm very thankful."

Mississippi State University Athletics

2019 MSU Sports Hall of Fame Inductee: Darryl Wilson

Players Mentioned

Quinndary Weatherspoon

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