Nov. 1, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Life is all about experiences.
And Western Kentucky University defensive lineman Arthur Wilson has had plenty of those in his 23 years.
Like graduating from Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then enrolling in Fork Union Military Academy in rural Virginia. And then moving on one year later to spend five years on the Hill.
Wilson, along with 18 fellow seniors, will be playing in his final regular-season game at L.T. Smith Stadium/Jimmy Feix field Saturday afternoon when Western plays host to Illinois State in a key Gateway Football Conference match-up.
After that, the 6-foot, 295-pounder will have plenty of opportunities to choose from, as he's already had a pair of jobs offered to him. But first, the business at hand for Wilson and the 21st-ranked Hilltoppers.
The chase for the Gateway title.
"I want to win it all," says Wilson. "We didn't finish last year, and that stuck with everyone as we went through winter and summer conditioning, and spring drills.
"Maybe if we beat Northern Iowa last year we would have had a home game instead of going to Furman. Being able to get a conference championship this year could catapult us into the national picture."
Wilson has started all eight games he has appeared in this season - he missed the Florida International contest after injuring his ankle the previous week in WKU's 31-12 victory at Northern Iowa - to help play a part in the success of the Hilltopper defense. His efforts have contributed to a unit that leads the Gateway in all four major statistical categories (rushing, passing, total and scoring), with Western ranking in the top 15 in the nation in the latter two.
In fact, Wilson has been contributing since he hit the field in 1999, starting 36 of the 44 games he has appeared in during his career. He enters today's contest with 123 tackles, including 13 behind the line of scrimmage, and 8? sacks.
"Arthur is an outstanding team player who focuses on the game instead of obsessing with personal statistics," Hilltopper head coach Jack Harbaugh says. "He is tremendous in the locker room, where he does a great job of making the younger guys aware of what's expected of them and what they need to do to take over a leadership role when the current group of seniors moves on."
"When I came into the program, I knew it was important to be where I was supposed to be and do what was needed to be done," says Wilson. "I've always done that, working just as hard whether it's in practice or in the classroom."
But it was a challenge for Wilson to even find his way into the lineup. He sat out the 1998 season after failing to qualify academically out of Winton Woods. Not for a lack of trying, though. After the NCAA instituted a sliding scale for high school athletes to meet eligibility requirements in the middle of his career, he fell 10 points short of the required SAT score on three consecutive attempts.
Which led to one year at Fork Union. Wilson was prepared to enroll in junior college out in California, but changed his mind when a couple of his WWHS coaches were able to help him enroll in the military academy.
"I was dropped off in the summer right into three-a-day practices," he recalls.
"The experience blew my mind, but it was what I needed. We were held accountable for military drills just as we were football drills, athletics wasn't an excuse to miss the other activities. They had been using that system for 200 years, they weren't about to change it for us.
"We were taught discipline and time management. When I arrived at Western, I was already prepared for the move having experienced homesickness the previous year."
After that year, though, Wilson almost never found his way to the Hill. He was set to attend the University of Houston, but the assistant coach who recruited him left the school, so when WKU came calling in May, Wilson accepted.
Even while he was working on getting eligible, the group of Hilltoppers he was sitting out with that season were discussing the possibilities of how good Western could be and their goal of winning a championship. Which they accomplished with an undefeated record to claim the 2000 Ohio Valley Conference title, helping lead WKU to an 11-2 finish and the quarterfinals of the NCAA I-AA playoffs - Wilson cites this as his most memorable accomplishment at WKU.
But through all the wins and successes on the field - Western has gone 31-14 (68.9 percent) since the beginning of the 1999 season - he never lost sight of a more important goal. Wilson graduated with a degree in marketing in the spring.
"I always knew I could play football," he says. "But my main goal was to graduate, and to do it in four years made it better."
"I'm very proud that Arthur got his marketing degree in four years, I think it speaks volumes about the commitment he made as a student-athlete," says Harbaugh.
Following this season, if Wilson's communications skills don't land him a chance to try out on the professional level, they should go on and serve him well in the business world. Which may wait while he continues to pursue his master's degree, as he has already been taking postgraduate classes this semester.
"I'll go home, work out and give the professional level one shot," he says. "I don't want to feel like I missed an opportunity, but I also don't want to keep going into camp every year. I know that if I get a chance I can make it.
"Marketing is such a broad field, it really lets you interact more with people. You can use your imagination more, there's a chance to free-lance a bit more than other areas."
Adds Harbaugh, "Arthur is so outgoing, he has a great personality. He's never been a stranger in here, and he can sit down with anyone and have a discussion at any level.
"Arthur has a warm, pleasant disposition that will serve him well in life's later work."
But that future will have to be put on hold temporarily. First there's the issue of Gateway games against Illinois State and Southern Illinois. Will Wilson feel any different when he straps on the pads one last time at Smith Stadium?
"I guess I might, because it might be my last game here and that's special," he comments. "There will be a lot of family and friends here. I think it will kick in close to game time. Two years ago this day seemed so far away."
And will the emotions show today? "I don't know, I might cry," he says.
Life is about experiences, and Wilson says he wouldn't trade the Western experience for the world.
"I tell everyone that you have to go away to experience college. A lot of people get caught up in the same crowd at home, but you have to leave to experience different things. I learn more every day just by getting up and going to class."
- WKU -
