Former Berea Men's Basketball Coach Passes Away
Coach Roland Wierwille served as the Head Coach of the Berea College men's basketball team from 1972 until his retirement in 2004. He won 464 games and led Berea to the Final Four of the NAIA Division II national tournament. He also was the director of athletics and a golf coach during his time there. Wierwille has been honored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.
While coaching at Berea College, he has served on the coaching staffs at the international level, assisting the U.S. Team (Division I) in the World University Games in Japan and the Jones Cup Competition in Taiwan with Lute Olson, formerly of the University of Arizona.
Prior to Berea, Coach Wierwille was an assistant coach for seven years at Transylvania University under C.M. Newton and Lee Rose. He also was an all-around athlete, played his high school basketball, football and golf at Madeira (Ohio) where he was made a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 25, at 2:00 P.M. at the Old Seabury Gymnasium on campus. Lakes Funeral Home in Berea is in charge of arrangements.