Warren Wilson College Athletes Know Their Worth
Sophie Aguilar | September 16, 2025
Student athletes at Warren Wilson College (WWC) know that there is more to life than just their sports.
“You want to go somewhere where you are valued as a person, and then as a player,” Alec Hilliard, a small forward and shooting guard for WWC’s men’s basketball team, said.
WWC competes in NCAA Division III, offering 10 different sports, including two nationally ranked cycling teams. WWC also offers several club sports, including rock climbing and ultimate frisbee.
Deshawn Hamilton is a freshman on the cross-country team and shares similar views to Hilliard. Hamilton believes that WWC is preparing students for a world outside of college. He pointed out that being at WWC shapes students into better people.
Hamilton started running as a hobby in his freshman year of high school. During his junior year, he decided to pursue cross-country competitively, making it to national competitions as an individual athlete.
“I want to make it to nationals, [and] win a conference,” Hamilton said. “I want to show people that just because you’re in a Division III sport doesn’t mean you can’t be great.”
Katie Wurst is the associate athletics director at WWC. One of her roles includes supervising the Athletics Crew, which is the largest crew on campus with around 65 students. Working on the Athletics Crew gives students experience in different departments within athletics. This includes gym supervision, sports medicine, public speaking and game day management.
“I think you get the complete package of preparing for an enriching life,” Wurst said. “There are limitless opportunities to learn about so many different topics.”
Wurst emphasizes the importance of learning how to engage with the community that students have around them. According to the Business of College Sports, playing a sport in college is a great way to have a built-in community. While athletes recognize there is a sense of community at WWC, they try to develop an even stronger connection with their teammates.
As a senior, Hilliard wants to help his underclassmen teammates by passing on his knowledge, on and off the court. Hamilton also appreciates the mutual support that is shared amongst teammates, mentioning how the cross-country team speaks very highly of each other, and want to see each other run faster.
“You can only make someone work as hard as they want, but if you give them the mindset and instill it into them for basketball, then they’ll be a good person,” Hilliard said.
At WWC, athletes know their skills are appreciated on and off the track, field or court. Coaches know that academics take large amounts of time and effort from students, but Wurst believes that this can be used to the athletes’ advantage. Students may be motivated to do their work so they can participate in their practice afterwards.
Wurst says academia and sports go hand in hand in Division III athletics. The experiential learning that students get from being on the Athletics Crew helps them understand and appreciate every aspect of their sport and all the work that goes into it. She provided the example of the water and ice that is given to athletes at practice, saying how they learn to appreciate it more once they have had to be the person who has helped set up the water coolers for the team.
Hilliard played at a larger Division II school in the past, but left because of how impersonal it was.
“The school's culture wasn’t there,” Hilliard said. “Some places you just don’t feel good, and it’s just not the right fit for you or for your health overall.”
He has since found the climate he needed at WWC.
“You have to find yourself outside of your sport,” Hilliard said. “You don’t want to go somewhere where you’re just playing, you want to know good people, and I felt they were good people, the school’s very beautiful, and it had the facilities needed to have success.”
At WWC, student athletes are provided with the support and education they need to succeed in life. They get hands-on training in the field they want, along with athletic training. And athletes are striving to uphold each other and help their teams to win.