McKendree University Athletics

Virgil earned six varsity letters at McKendree: three in basketball and three in track. While he was a member of the basketball team, the Bearcats won the Prairie College Conference title and placed second in the Sunshine tournament in Portales, NM, setting five new tournament records in the process and gaining national attention. Virgil competed in the high jump in track all three years. After graduation he coached high school basketball five years in Woodlawn, Ill., before accepting a basketball coaching position at Southeaster Illinois College. Two years later he also became the college’s athletic director. In 1989 Virgil’s 500th win earned him distinction as the winningest active junior college coach in Illinois and a place in the Illinois Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His record ranked him 16th nationally among active junior college coaches in the history of the National Junior College Athletic Association. In 1992 he celebrated his 30th year at the college with a 593-378 career record. He was awarded the NJCAA Distinguished Merit Award in 1991.