Athletic greatness comes in all shapes and all sizes.

It doesn't come naturally, but is achieved from hard work diligence and adversity along the journey.

There's opportunity and there's always struggle.

There is triumph and there is defeat.

And there is always a story behind the glory.

Wilbert Ellis is regarded as one of the finest representatives of college baseball and is beloved by Grambling fans and alums as he serves as an unofficial ambassador for the university.

He's never had an enemy that I ever known.

Just a genuine good guy.

Very loyal.

He's the last of the standing Icons of coaches.

at Grambling University of the big three that we always say with, coach Eddie Robinson, coach Fred Hobie and coach Wilbert Ellis.

Coach Ellis loves his community.

He loves his church.

He loves the people of God.

And he's always helping somebody.

Wilbert Ellis, you're only the second Ambassador Award winner in the history of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

Tim Brando, the nationally known broadcaster, was the first a few years ago.

Congratulations.

I said Grambling, but your career goes so far beyond the Grambling Tigers and your impact, even though that's where you first got your start coaching baseball.

Yes.

And we're now going to receive the call.

I just couldn't believe it right then.

now 13 years, you were an assistant coach.

But tell me about the circumstances that surrounded you being named head coach.

Well, you know, when Doctor Jones, when he retired and seven and seven Eddie Robinson was the football coach and the athletic director, the late Joe Johnson also was the president.

Joe Johnson played basketball on the Eddie Robinson.

Eddie coached basketball at one time.

And, Joe and Eddie got together.

I was out recruiting.

I was in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The state fair was going on, and I stopped by to see one of my friend, the late Jackson, and he told me, have you read the paper?

As a man, I have read no paper.

He said, man, you're all over the headlines.

It's a well.

What?

I didn't get locked up for nothing.

So I'm here today.

And he laughed and he said, coach, congratulations.

They name you the second baseball coach in the history of Grambling.

In all, he served 30 seasons as head baseball coach and a grand total of 43 years.

As part of He was a very calm coach.

Not hot tempered, very calm.

Just, taught the game.

Coach always told us about what we could possibly do for Grambling And told us about the rich tradition of Grambling baseball.

I didn't think about being named coach.

I wanted to go out and recruit some talent to make sure that whoever came, man would have an opportunity to be able to win ball games and touch lives and develop the lives of young people.

So when they go back out and, to life, they could take baseball skills and then life skills and put them together and be a total individual.

When Ellis retired from coaching in 2003, he had posted 743 victories.

Three Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and three NCAA tournament appearances.

I think when you talk about impact with Coach Ellis, it's bigger than just baseball.

For me, looking at him as a spiritual leader, looking at him as a man of character, man of honor, man of integrity.

And he's iconic.

And so we really cherish those moments that we have a chance to talk to him, sit with him and him to be around the team.

When you have somebody as precious as he is, man, you just you just sit down and listen to everything that he say is trying to soak up all that knowledge.

Because, man, he is a wealth, for Grambling State University and more importantly, man, he's been he's been a great asset to me.

But there was more to it than victories for you.

And now I want to transition into the youth camps because literally over many decades, thousands of young men and girls were exposed to life skills and baseball skills.

Yeah.

I always wanted to do.

I was around my dad, and my mother was very instrumental in a lot of it.

As the late Houston Ellis and Maddie Ellis.

I just wanted to make sure that I could do something different because my dad pushed that.

He said, make something different in life.

Touch young people in life.

I played a little ball, but I never wanted to play baseball.

I wanted to coach baseball ever since I was nine years old.

So when I started doing the camps and all of that, I did camps all around Shreveport, Monroe, even Alexandria down at the high school.

I did some camps down there.

So, you know, they said, what do you charge?

Nothing.

I don't want a dollar sign in the way of a of a of a young person developing.

I it's a free camp.

James Davis and I have been great friends that have since 12 years old.

And he's one of the great sliders of all time.

And he said, get your camp together.

I'll take care of everything need to be done.

And I didn't have to worry about that.

So what we do, we come up with a plan how we're going to do it.

I picked up 56 top man and had a training program.

And this training program is developed.

How well could you learn to work with kids and what you're doing?

The first thing in the training program, you listen, you let them talk.

You let them say the things that they need to say, that some of them don't have a parent.

They're single parents.

They don't know what a good life.

They know nothing but the streets.

And when we see these kids, I can be walking now.

And while my kids are come up running to me people just stop and start looking and then say, coach, when is the camp?

Is it tomorrow?

But this is the thing that I always wanted to do, to try to make a difference in the lives of kids.

And I had a what you call, nutrition and all of these different things.

I brought my former coaches back.

Ralph Gaud Gary, Eve and all these guys back to coach these young people because I wanted them to see what they could and should do by an example of these guys.

And they talks about life.

They talked about the things that you gotta do to make a difference in your life.

Then I talked about church.

So you need to go to church.

You need to get involved to make a difference in your life.

Streets is no place for you.

The streets has two things for you.

Death and prison.

You don't want either one.

So I had a group of kids started coming to church.

I invited them to my church.

And guess who sat with them?

I did.

I wanted to be an example, and thank God it was.

Ellis has been a trusted advisor for generations of school presidents, aides, and coaches at Grambling and was instrumental in the establishment of the Eddie Robinson Museum and the school's Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame on the Grambling campus, and serves as an NCAA Regional Site Supervisor for.

Out of all the accomplishments, Coach Ellis still keeps God first in his life.

he still lives by that principle of Matthew six and 33.

Seek first the kingdom of God and all of his righteousness.

And all these other things shall be added unto you.

everybody can't be a role model.

And I wouldn't put them in the role of a role model, because you have to be a certain person, a people.

I, I, I've wanted to develop something in communities.

I went to all the surrounding communities and met with the mayors.

I used to speak at their jails.

The sheriff, George Stone and Steven Williams they invite me out and and I go to the churches and then I go to the schools, and I want to talk about life, developing a life skill.

He still conducts baseball clinics for kids in Lincoln Parish and around the country, Hundreds of kids come out, just to be in the presence of Wilbert Ellis.

And he also, believes that there's still a place in baseball, for young African American men.

He was a coach, man.

He got after.

He's a hungry guy.

He loves to win.

and that's a big part of his tradition.

Also, Grambling.

is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

In 2024, he became only the second ever recipient of the Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, and was also named to the National Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.

One cannot deny his longevity in baseball, his service to his community and Louisiana, and his love for the Grambling Black and Gold.

play.

Yes, sir.

And damn, you know who's champion?

Yeah, well, there we go.

Keep doing it.

Let's go.

Grambling!

what's up.

Hell baby we Grambling!

Well, again, ambassador is a perfect description of you and your life and what you've accomplished.

And certainly congratulations for your induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

With this Ambassador Award.

It's been a pleasure meeting you.

Well, thank you so much.

And I'm so happy to be here.

Today is one of the greatest honors of my life, to be able to go into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, the top hall of fame in the state of Louisiana.

But beyond Louisiana, You know, I think this award is so well named the Ambassador Award.

Because that's what you mean for Grambling, for the state of Louisiana.

Well, college baseball for many, many decades.

And I think it transcends your career in a way, ambassador.

I think that's very appropriate.

Yeah.

When I looked up that word ambassador and said that, you know, you've done a lot where you are, but you went abroad and you you still doing it.

And I was so excited.

So I said, hold on a minute.

Let me get my breath and and, thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the head of my life.

Especially when your hometown or your state honor you.

It means more than any other honor that you could ever receive.

So what I try to do is to make sure I put myself in a position to give back and try to make a difference in our society and also make a difference in the lives of our young people.

That's all I want to do.

If you enjoyed this conversation.

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