CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina has announced
Collin Wilson as the next head coach of the Chanticleers' beach volleyball team. Wilson, who spent two seasons in Conway as an assistant coach for the Chants, becomes just the fourth head coach in program history.
Before returning to Coastal, Wilson served as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana during the 2023 season. Wilson was recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as part of the first class of Thirty Under 30 Beach Award winners in 2021, an award created to honor up-and-coming beach coaching talent at all levels of the sport.
As an assistant from 2021-22, Wilson helped guide the Sandy Chants to 42 wins, including a then-program record 24 victories in 2021. The Chanticleers registered 18 wins overall in 2022, including going 7-3 at home, and received votes in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Volleyball Top-20 Poll in April. The duo of
Ellie Hanford and Natalie Honzovicova were awarded the AVCA Top Flight Award at the No. 3 flight, while
Raychel Ehlers earned a spot on the 2022 C-USA Beach Volleyball All-Freshman Team.
In his first year at CCU in 2021, Wilson helped guide the Sandy Chants to a 24-8 overall record and advance to the semifinals of the 2021 ASUN Conference Beach Volleyball Championship Tournament. The Sandy Chants received votes all season long in the AVCA Beach Volleyball Top-20 Poll, posted a single-season program record of 24 wins, and posted a new program-long winning streak of 11-straight matches from March 20 to April 7. The duo of
Irena Drobnjak and
Sarlota Svobodova was named ASUN All-Conference first team and was a recipient of the 2021 AVCA Top Flight Award. Both Drobnjak and Svobodva were named to the ASUN All-Freshman team, while Drobnjak also picked up 2021 ASUN Freshman of the Year honors. The pair of
Lucy Campbell and
Martine Kragholm was named to the ASUN All-Conference second team.
Wilson came to Coastal after spending the 2020 fall semester working with the University of Oregon beach volleyball program.
Prior to returning to his home state of Oregon, Wilson served as a volunteer assistant coach with the CSUN beach volleyball program in 2020 and worked as an assistant coach with USA Volleyball before joining the Matadors. He also has experience as an assistant coach at LA Beach Volleyball Club and Platform 1440.
A 2019 graduate of the University of South Carolina, Wilson earned his bachelor's degree in hospitality, retail and sport management. He also served as the team manager for the Gamecocks' beach volleyball program and coach at the Magnum Volleyball club while at USC.
Wilson is a native of Portland, Ore., and a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
