DALLAS — It doesn’t take long to realize Toyelle Wilson is a natural born leader and, therefore, an excellent head coach.
“For me it was, 'Why would I want to do anything else in this world?'” said the first-year Southern Methodist University head coach. “This is the only thing I can see myself doing.”
As a four-year letterwinner at Manhattan College, Toyelle’s game was scrappy and gritty.
“I’d be so competitive setting screens,” she said. “I remember one time in practice I was setting a screen on the defense and my teammate was like, ‘You know I’m your teammate, right?’ For me, it’s just that competitive greatness. I was always taught that.”
Now she preaches it. Coaching wasn’t always her plan, though. Toyelle intended to enter the business world post-graduation. That is, until one phone call from a familiar face changed everything.
“My college coach left and took a job at Robert Morris,” said Toyelle. “He just called me up and said, 'Hey, would you want to be an assistant coach?' He said I was a great born leader. So I started coaching college in 2003 and haven’t looked back.”
Her resume is as glamorous as they come. As the head coach, Toyelle led Prairie View A&M to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. As an assistant to Kim Mulkey at Baylor, she helped the Lady Bears clinch a national championship in 2019. Then, most recently at Michigan, she was a part of the Wolverines’ Sweet 16 run just one season ago.
In the spring of 2021, Toyelle traded the maize and blue for the red and blue, becoming the first Black female head coach of any sport in the history of SMU.
“For me, I’m always telling the kids, ‘You never know who’s watching you, you never know who’s listening to you,’” she said. “I want to say I’m a good mentor to the next kid, even our players. That’s why some of them came here to be coached by a Black female. To me, every day I’m walking on the court, I know I have to be impactful.”
That influence can be found in SMU forward Savannah Wilkinson.
“My main goal is to play professionally,” said Savannah. “Then hopefully I’ll go back into coaching in some aspect. Whether that’s back home giving back to my community or here in the U.S. doing it at the college level.”
“[Savannah] and I have always had those talks,” said Toyelle. “Honestly, I think there’s three to four coaches on my team right now. I’m really excited to see what they do down the line.”
For now, it’s all about clinching a bid to the NCAA Tournament, something SMU hasn’t done since 2008.
“We came here to win,” Toyelle said confidently. “We came here to be at the top of the standings in the conference and to compete for championships. I tell the girls this all the time. How cool would it be to make history and have that accomplishment etched in stone forever?”