Teresa Wilson is a legend in softball circles.
She set records as an All-American pitcher at Missouri.
She earned National Coach of the Year in 1989 when she led Oregon to the Women’s College World Series.
After two years heading the softball program at Minnesota, Wilson took an offer she couldn’t refuse in 1992 — a move to Seattle to become Washington’s head coach and to build the softball program, literally from the ground up.
One of Barbara Hedges’ first acts as athletic director was hiring Wilson. Hedges gave Wilson the help of full scholarships and built a $3 million softball park.
And Wilson, a native of Pickering, Mo., ran with it. The first official game her program played was a victory against then-No. 11 Michigan. The Huskies have earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament every year since their second season.
Now, official on Dec. 22, Wilson is a legend without a program, and it’s because of Dr. William Scheyer.
Scheyer — a former Washington team physician for the athletic department and later solely for the softball team — had his medical license suspended by the state in October. The suspension came four years after Scheyer was released of his duties by Washington and has sparked an internal investigation at a school beginning to be known for improper conduct in athletics.
The inquiry led the investigators through the softball program, where Scheyer was a volunteer physician through last season.
The allegations connected to the softball program include Scheyer handing out drugs to athletes without always examining the students. In an interview with investigators from the state health department, Scheyer said that Wilson knew what he was doing.
Wilson defended Scheyer — because he spent time with her team — until recent weeks, but she did not directly admit any knowledge of Scheyer’s alleged misdeeds. However, she was the reason that Scheyer stayed on with her program after other programs moved to the university’s sports medicine physicians in 1999.
Here’s the thing: Wilson either knew what Scheyer was doing or was so out of touch with the undercurrent in her program that she was blind to it.
Either way, that’s some terrible guidance for a program that Wilson took to the top and expected to keep there.
Her $93,000 annual contract that ends on June 30 now wraps up inside the athletic offices rather than on the field. Instead of firing her and potentially dealing with another lawsuit from a former head coach, Hedges has reassigned Wilson for the remainder of her contract.
Considering it’s only six months, the Huskies may as well have left Wilson in the dugout. It won’t be difficult for her to consult with the new head coaches and current players since she’ll be in the neighborhood.
The hardest parts will be the players who now have to learn how to lose — and gracefully — and Wilson’s attempt to keep her reputation intact. On the day she learned her fate, she acknowledged that she was considering hiring an attorney.
Wilson was the only coach the players — past and present — knew, guiding the Huskies to a 532-198-1 record in the program’s 11 seasons.
Starting at Washington’s first practice Monday, those involved with the program now know two new coaches: Former assistant coaches Scott Centala and Steve Dailey were promoted to interim head coaches. Only time and a regular season will tell how much of an impact Scheyer’s misdeeds had on the field.
Off the field, Wilson’s legend will survive. Just not at Washington.