BERKELEY – The California men's tennis program is mourning the recent passing of former head coach Bill Wright, who coached hall of famers Mike Bauer, Chris Dunk, Steve DeVries, Peter Wright – Cal's current Director of Men's Tennis – and others during his tenure in Berkeley.
 
"Bill was my coach, mentor and friend," said Peter Wright, no relation. "He touched so many lives through his humor, energy and willingness to explore new ideas. Every day with Bill was filled with his enthusiasm for life, and the unpredictable journey of discovery that he brought us on. His legacy is that the people he interacted with always felt enriched by the experience. I owe much of my growth as a person, player and coach to the impact Bill had on my life." 

 
Bill Wright left a job as an attorney to coach at Cal, posting a record of 241-123 with the Golden Bears from 1974-86. A product of Atlanta, Georgia, he won conference titles as a player at SMU. Wright later played on the professional tour and – before Cal – coached at Denver, Colorado State, Illinois. He coached at Arizona after leaving Berkeley and collected 436 wins over the course of a 27-year coaching career.
 
Wright's 1980 Cal team was arguably his best, with the Bears capturing the 1980 ITA National Indoor Championship and finishing as the 1980 NCAA runner-up. He earned his share of the limelight in 1979 and 1980, when he was named the Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year, in 1982, when was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, and in 2001 and 2004, when Wright was named the ITA Region 8 Coach of the Year. In 2006, Wright was inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame.
 

His Bears also claimed individual success, with Scott McCain (in 1979) and DeVries (1985) each winning ITA All-American singles titles. Several of his players went on to earn induction into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame – Davis (2005), Dunk (2005) and DeVries (2016) – and into the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame – Bauer (2018), Davis (2010), Larry Stefanki (2011), John Hubbell (2014) and Peter Wright (2015).