Hall of Fame
From the 2009 Hall of Fame program:
Rod Wilde was a member of Pepperdine’s first NCAA men’s volleyball championship in 1978, and in 1986, he became the first person in the history of the sport to win a title as both a player and a head coach.
Wilde grew up in Iowa, and with parents who were both volleyball coaches, he was quickly drawn into the sport. Without many options in the Midwest at the time and seeking to continue to raise his level of play, he traveled cross-country to enroll at Pepperdine.
During his four seasons with the Waves (1976-79), he was one of the top setters in all of college volleyball, if not the very best. Wilde was a three-time All-American first teamer who helped lead Pepperdine to the school’s first three NCAA Championships appearances. The Waves placed second in 1976 and third in 1977 before breaking through and winning the school’s first-ever NCAA title in 1978. Wilde was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament team that year.
He would go on to play professionally, competing in the International Volleyball Association as a member of the Tucson Sky, earning the league’s Rookie of the Year honors and winning a team championship in 1979.
Wilde also played with the U.S. National Team from 1982-84. He was set to be a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic squad but unfortunately suffered a broken leg in a match against the Soviet Union just six weeks before the start of the Games. He again was part of the national team from 1989-91.
Wilde began his coaching career with a men’s club team at the University of Arizona, leading the squad to two regional championships in 1980 and 1981. During the fall of 1984, he served as the head coach of the women’s volleyball program at Drake University.
When Marv Dunphy announced that he would be departing following the 1985 season to work with the U.S. National Team, Wilde got the call as his replacement. Wilde immediately made the most of his opportunity, leading Pepperdine in his first season to its second straight NCAA championship in 1986, as the Waves went 22-7 and knocked off USC in the national championship match in State College, Pa.
He became the first rookie coach to win an NCAA men’s volleyball title, and the first to win a championship as both a player and a coach. Over his three seasons (1986-88), the Waves posted a record of 58-27.
Upon Dunphy’s return, Wilde stayed on as an assistant coach in 1989, but he would later take the head coaching position with the UC San Diego men’s team, a job he held for three years (1991-93). He would then serve as a U.S. Men’s National Team assistant coach from 1993-2000, which included trips to the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. In 1999, he was head coach of the U.S. Pan American Games team. He then transitioned over to the women’s game, becoming an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin from 2001-07. The Badgers advanced to the NCAA Tournament all seven seasons.
Wilde helped out the Waves one more time during the latter stages of the 2008 season, coming aboard as an assistant coach for the final month of the season. Pepperdine made a thrilling run to the national championship match before settling for second place.
Wilde graduated from Pepperdine with a degree in kinesiology and physical education in 1980. He and his wife Kris reside in Madison, Wis. He has one son, James, who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife, Randi.
