Madison Park hoops icon always stays ‘true to the game’

Serghino René

At nineteen years old, Dennis Wilson was wondering around the Humboldt Ave. neighborhood in Roxbury when he came across a group of young boys playing basketball. They were in need of a basketball coach and when they asked Wilson in passing if he would be their coach, he thought “sure.”

He started the Humboldt Bombers and coached young boys 13 years old and under. Although Wilson was involved in sports at an early age, that moment defined the beginning of his coaching career.

“Be true to yourself and be true to the game.” That’s the motto the Madison Park High School head basketball coach has been living by his entire life. Awarded coach of the year by the Massachusetts State Coaches Association and the Boston Globe’s All-Scholastic Division I Coach of the Year, he has plenty to boast about, but has remained humble upon his achievements.

“I don’t do it for the awards and rewards,” says Wilson. “I live for the kids and God.”

This year the Madison Park basketball players went 15-3, making it to the South Division I Finals. The Cardinals were seeded third in the state, beating Brockton and Boston College High. Their streak ended with defending champions, Newton North. Overall, they were enthused.

“We are happy to go as far as we did,” says Wilson.

Wilson is no stranger to the small screen either. For 12 years he has been hosting BNN’s Sports Showcase, which airs every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. He doesn’t get paid to show his face, but he is fueled by his raw passion and motivation. He has interviewed a number of sports icons including Red Auerbach, Paul Pierce, Ken Griffey Junior, Bill Bellecheck and Tom Brady.

“When I retire, I want to put my effort and energy towards coaching and the show,” says Wilson.

Wilson is a teacher, a mentor, coach, role model and an entrepreneur to a sense — founding the Boston Raiders football program with his brother Harry Wilson in 1974.

For 36 years, Wilson has devoted part of his life towards helping youth in the community and making change.

“When the students come back to me as men and fathers, they say... ’thanks coach.’ That’s what keeps me going.”

Born and raised in Roxbury, it is no surprise that his sports career started at an early age where he began to make his mark. A student at Boston English High School, then located in the Fenway neighborhood, he was a three-season athlete playing football, basketball and running track.

He went to Delaware State, but returned to Boston due to the passing of his mother to Lou Gehrig’s disease. He then attended Salem State and was a back-up player for their basketball team. It was at college that he discovered his ability to make a difference.

College was an eye opening experience for Wilson, but at the same time what he experienced was not unexpected.

Boston’s neighborhoods weren’t as we know them to be today, 30 or so years ago. At the time the Orange line was above ground and came through Dudley Square. Boston was segregated in the sense that East Boston was mainly an Italian community, South Boston Irish, Mattapan Jewish, Dorchester mainly white and Roxbury was the enclave for blacks. Tensions were high and it spanned as far out as the suburbs.

But Wilson wasn’t new to this type of adversity. He experienced it all his life. He remembers visiting the Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown at the age of nine, only to be greeted by a group of young boys with bottles and chains saying “n****r go home.” Or going to Carson Beach only to be looked upon with scornful glares and racial remarks.

“I went from a predominately black school to a predominantly white school,” says Wilson. “I went through hell with racism at school — kids writing on doors and mirrors with the word ‘monkey.’”

Wilson says there was a lot of animosity, especially since he was an inner-city kid. He was just one out of the 16 black students at Salem State at that time. There was no African American club that represented their presence, so students, both black and white, made a proactive effort through sit-ins and protests to establish the Afro-Am Society.

When the program was established, Wilson became the club’s first president.

“We introduced a lot of black history and cultural programs to the school in hopes of opening the doors for future minority students,” said Wilson.

But Wilson pointed out that times have changed and the hostility is not the same. “We can’t paint the same picture with all people,” says Wilson.

Wilson has learned a lot from those early days and uses his experiences to help today’s youth. “We grow more intelligent about who we are and that comes with experience and exposure.”

As a coach he has told his players to stay hungry, stay humble and stay focused. He applies it to himself too, but says it is only possible because of the support he has received from his wife Gladys Wilson. He says some people are torn between their careers and catering to the person they care about — which often becomes an issue.

“My wife supported me all the way and allowed me to do what I needed to do,” says Wilson.

As for being a role model, that is his life work. Young people are bombarded with conflicting messages everyday from television and music, said Wilson. Through his actions and spiritual outlook on life, he tries to set an example for young people to follow.

“Don’t sing the song and dance the dance,” says Wilson. “Life is about making sacrifices for others too.”