Campus news and events

News Releases

Contact: Julie Navejar
kajam03@tamuk.edu or 361-593-2590

Javelina Athletics director honored with appointment, award

KINGSVILLE (March 7, 2006) — For Jill O. Willson, athletics director at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 2006 has been a very good year. First, she took over as chair of the NCAA Division II Management Council and then she received the YWCA’s Y Women in Careers Award.

Willson assumed the chair of the Management Council in January after serving as vice chair. She replaced Paul Engelmann, professor of economics and faculty athletics representative at Central Missouri State University.

“This is a pivotal time for Division II athletics as we seek to strengthen and attract interest in our division by emphasizing the qualities that make Division II unique,” she said. “I look forward to continuing the great work already being done to improve an already great part of college athletics.”

In addition to being a member of the Management Council since January 2003, Willson has served on the South Central Regional Women’s Basketball Committee, the NCAA Woman of the Year Selection Committee and is currently on the NCAA Nominating Committee.

The Management Council handles the day-to-day operations of Division II and makes recommendations to the Presidents Council on various policies and passage of non-controversial legislation. The chair presides over quarterly meetings and makes reports to the Presidents Council. She will serve as a member of the NCAA Executive Committee and Division II Administrative and Budget and Finance Committees.

Willson was one of eight women from the Corpus Christi area to receive the Y Women in Careers Award from the Corpus Christi YWCA.

She came to A&M-Kingsville in 1992 as head women’s basketball coach. She then served as associate director of athletics and was named athletics director in July 2002.

As head coach, Willson led the women’s basketball team to its first-ever Lone Star Conference South Division title in 2000. The same year, she was named Coach of the Year for District Five of the NCAA Division II by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year.

As athletics director, she established the university’s Javelina Jamboree, an annual event aimed at raising funds to endow all 105 athletic scholarships on campus. The event began in 2001 and has brought many former Javelina athletes back to the area for a golf tournament to benefit future student athletes.

She is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

In addition, Willson is active in the community serving as president of the Boys and Girls Club of Kingsville. She is a member of the Kingsville Rotary Club having served as secretary, president-elect and president. She is on the Board of Directors for the Cactus Bowl, the Kingsville Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Kingsville Advisory Board for Planned Parenthood. She served on the Advisory Board for the Paisano Council of Girl Scouts of America and also was a member of the Coastal Bend Regional Leaders from 2001-2004.

In 2004, she received the Pathfinder of the Year Award from the American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Willson holds a bachelor’s degree from West Texas A&M University and a master’s degree from Wayland Baptist University.

This page last updated 10 March, 2006