'He made the program better': Alabama honors Charlie Wilson

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Every afternoon around 3 p.m. Alabama's Assistant Athletic Equipment Manager Garrett Walker could hear Charlie Pierce Wilson coming through the hallways to his office in Coleman Coliseum.

By the time he sat down in Walker's office and Walker had a minute to turn around to greet him, Wilson would share his latest opinion on whatever was on his mind, trying to egg Walker on or anyone who may have passed by into a debate.

"He was always talking smack to somebody," Walker said. "Any opinion you had he was going to take the other side, whether he believed it or not, just to get something started."

It was a daily occurrence where Wilson would try to get underneath someone's skin and try to stir the pot. His energy was relentless and whether you agree with his takes or not, Walker recalled that everyone on the team knew him and wanted to be around him, a rarity for a position that literally and figuratively works behind the scenes.

That infectious personality was what made the news of Wilson's death that much harder to cope with when the news broke in June.

So much so that when the Alabama basketball season began on Nov. 7 against Longwood, the team decided to honor Wilson by donning a "CPW" patch on the right shoulder of the team's home uniform.

"He was a great kid for us, I had a lot of fun with him when he was here for that year," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "He was one of those funny kids that made everyone around him laugh. You could kind of give him some crap and he'd give it back a little bit. I love Charlie, it's sad we've lost two guys so close to the program with (Alabama super fan Luke Ratliff) and him in such a short amount of time."

The patch adorned on the jersey was unique as Walker said the team rarely makes changes to its uniform, but it showed how influential Wilson was to the team.

Nobody saw that impact more than Perkins Carden who was also an equipment manager on the team and the two became close friends during their tenure.

"He made the program better, just by the energy he brought every day," Carden said. "He was one of those guys that everyone wanted to talk to just as soon as they got in the building. He just had an infectious personality that really just improved morale all the time, especially among the coaching staff."

Carden said he saw that energy every day while working with Wilson, but his enthusiasm grew in leaps and bounds when he served as the coach for the equipment manager scrimmages.

A day or two before the two men's basketball teams squared off, the managers would get their chance to represent their schools in an exhibition game. Wilson took these contests seriously, so much so, he would do his best John Thompson impression, dressing in a suit with a towel draped over his shoulder and whiteboard in his hand.

Wilson had the fire that made the legendary Georgetown coach a household name, which not only motivated the Alabama staff but irritated the opposition which caused some games to get intense.

"We've played some teams in (Coleman Coliseum) where tempers flared and we were close to benches clearing," Carden said. "I would be lying if I didn't say that Charlie didn't instigate one or two of those. ... He would just get after it coaching-wise and if another team mouthed off to him, he would go right back at them.

"It was a little bit of goofiness that kind of brought the mood down a little bit. Even after a win, you wanted Charlie in the locker room because you wanted to see him. He'd be right in the middle of it with everybody celebrating."

It's that intensity and passion for Alabama basketball that Oats said he was going to miss about him the most, but noted he will continue to be a source of inspiration as the year goes on.

"He was all about Alabama basketball," Oats said after Alabama's win against Longwood. "It was sad kind of before the game, I just got a chance to talk with his family after the game. During the game, we were all about winning like Charlie would like for us to be about. But I told his family, 'We had a great defensive performance for him.'"