Trainer Wilson answers call for UNLV sports

Kyle Wilson still isn't quite sure how he wound up in Las Vegas.

He remember something about a phone call in 1984 from Jerry Koloskie, then UNLV's head athletic trainer. The department had just lost its assistant trainer, and Koloskie wanted a West Virginia man to fill the position.

Wilson was that man.

"Kyle and I went to school together," said Koloskie, now UNLV's deputy director of athletics. "We were getting ready to start football, and I didn't have an assistant. I called some colleagues at West Virginia (University), and they suggested Kyle."

After one quick phone interview, Wilson was packing his bags. He arrived in Las Vegas three days later, and he's been at UNLV ever since.

Though his name is little known outside the university community, he has been an integral part of the success of the football, basketball and baseball programs for 27 years.

Wilson, whose staff tends to the health and physical safety of every UNLV athlete, said he never intended for the job to become a lifelong career.

"I got here and it was still 95 degrees at night," said Wilson, 52, who served as the assistant trainer until taking over the top position in 1990. "I thought, 'What am I doing here?' "

Yet he doesn't regret a moment. A lot has happened at UNLV over those years, and Wilson has seen it all.

Wilson played a role in the basketball team's 1990 NCAA championship. He was on the field in 1994 when the football team upset UNR to earn a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl. And he was there in 1996 when former baseball coach Fred Dallimore led the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time.

He has worked with high-profile coaches and players such as Jerry Tarkanian, John Robinson, Dallimore, Matt Williams, Randall Cunningham and Ickey Woods.

The job has been demanding, and Wilson never has married. The players, he said, are his family.

"I look at it as I've got 105 little boys," he said, noting that he works primarily with the football team these days. "It's tough, but it's been incredible."

Wilson, always a sports fan, knew early in life that he was never going to be the star football player.

"I was too short and too slow to be a good athlete," he said. "But I still wanted to help the team out."

As a teen Eagle Scout, Wilson had a background in first aid, and he began assisting the Parkersburg High, W.Va., football team during his junior year.

He went on to major in athletic training and education at West Virginia. He followed by earning a master's degree at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., where he was working when Koloskie made that life-changing phone call.

Wilson has since become one of the most respected trainers in the nation. He and his staff of 11 oversee all 17 athletic programs at UNLV, including cheer and dance.

He said his exposure to so many sports has produced some great memories.

"I enjoyed working with (former Rebels basketball coach) Jerry Tarkanian," Wilson said. "He had a great work ethic and he surrounded himself with a great staff. Everyone was talking about Rebels basketball back then, and I remember how many people would try to get into practices so they could talk to the players and get autographs."

Wilson added that some of the school's renowned coaches have helped him as much as he has helped them.

"Dallimore was a great guy," he said. "He taught me a lot about pitching mechanics and baseball injuries. I still use some of the things I learned from him."

Such a statement is indicative of Wilson's modest demeanor, Koloskie said.

"Kyle is very dedicated to the profession," Koloskie said. "He's a very low-key guy and he prefers to stay behind the scenes. But we've seen it all together. We've seen some great games and a lot of changes. It's been a great run."