Legendary Coach Houston Wheeler
Houston Wheeler was at the helm of the Trinity University baseball program from 1963 to 1985, leading the team to three NCAA playoff appearances and five Southland Conference championships. On top of this Wheeler was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1965 and 1968 and inducted into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. He was a Trinity graduate himself, and an accomplished athlete in his own right. Wheeler was the captain of the football team during his time at Trinity and was an All-Conference basketball player as well. Outside of athletics, Wheeler was a member and the Alumni Secretary of the Blue Key Fraternity. A February 1940 Trinitonian article described Wheeler’s athleticism, touting him as, “Five feet, ten inches tall, and fast as greased lightning” (Trinitonian). As a basketball player he was described as a player with, “quick-thinking ability” and this attribute surely transferred over to his coaching career. Yet another Trinitonian article, this one from October of 1940, describes Houston Wheeler catching touchdown passes for the Tigers football team. While most of his own athletic success came in sports outside of baseball, it is clear that Houston Wheeler’s competitive spirit and quick-thinking ability formed him into the great baseball coach that he became. Paul Batista described him as, “A great organizer” and also mentioned that, “he did a really good job of recruiting great players” (Batista). So, despite Coach Wheeler not have an extensive background in the sport, he was able to adjust to his environment and find ways to win, leading him to a long and storied career coaching Tiger Baseball. What Paul Batista made very clear was that Coach Wheeler had a good eye for talent, and it showed in the talented players that he recruited and brought through the system, especially in 1972 and 1973, as those teams were led by some of the most accomplished players in Trinity Baseball history.