Bill Wright, Class of 2006

Bill attended Southern Methodist University, helping his team win the school’s first Southwest Conference Team Championship. He competed in the US Open five times, and achieved a No. 44 national ranking in 1963 and No. 52 in 1964.

Bill was the tennis director for the Vail Recreation District for 27 summers, and in 2003, Vail dedicated the Bill Wright Tennis Center at Ford Park in his honor.

After coaching stints at the University of Denver, Colorado State University and the University of Illinois, he spent 12 years at the University of California-Berkeley and 19 years at the University of Arizona. His 1980 UC-Berkeley squad won the National Indoor Team Championships and was runner-up in the NCAA Team Championships.

Bill has coached 12 All-Americans, a Pac-10 singles champion, and a doubles team that reached the quarterfinals at the French and US Opens. He also coached and captained the US Junior Davis Cup team.

Bill was selected NCAA Coach of the Year in 1978, Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1981, Region 8 Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004. In 2006, he was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. In addition, he published Aerobic Tennis in 1980, an instruction book emphasizing fitness.