09/10/2026
In Remberance or the Philadelphia Wings, we present One from the archives
One on One...Andy Wilson
Kevin M. Neibauer
LaxPhilly
Andy Wilson had a distinguished lacrosse career. A standout collegiate player at Loyola, Wilson was drafted by the Philadelphia Wings just as the squad was building its dominance.
Wilson was part of two Championships while with the Wings and decided to retire just as the third season started.
Find out why he packed it in and get to know so inside stuff from the glory days.
Let’s go One on One... Andy Wilson
KMN- Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. Lacrosse and hockey are a way of life, At what age did you begin playing with a team or organization lacrosse wise?
AW- I started playing hockey when I was about 5 years old and lacrosse when I was 6. I played Tee Ball at 5 as my dad was a good baseball player at a young age, but I was so bored they moved me into lacrosse the next year. I kept taking my two older brother's sticks and going outside to play against the wall, so they realized I was much more interested in lacrosse.
KMN- Loyola, you played with several guys who made it to the MILL, was it awkward playing against them?
AW- At Loyola we competed during practice pretty aggressively so having to play against them when they were on another team was like being at practice. The great thing about the league back then is both teams would get together after the game and have a b**r. I hope it is the same way today. It was always such a social sport.
KMN- Dave Cottle, how much of an influence did he have on you?
AW-Coach Cottle was a big influence. I had played in about two field games in my life before I went to Loyola University. It was always box lacrosse in Canada. It took me a while to adjust to the game but Coach was excellent at the X's and O's and also the type of coach that would be in your grill to get the most out of you. I needed that in my life where as some of the other guys did not enjoy the yelling.
His persistence of kicking my butt got me through school as well as made me a better player.
KMN-The NLL recently held their entry draft. A lot of pomp and circumstance. Was it like that when you got drafted?
AW-John Tucker was an assistant coach at Loyola back in the day and was also playing for the Philadelphia Wings in the MILL. I was aware there was an indoor league but knew nothing about the tryouts or how it worked. Not long after graduating I received a call from Mike French the GM of the Wings to tell me they had drafted me in the first round. The only reason I new who Mike was is that he was a famous Canadian player who played at Cornell, I did not realize he was associated with the Wings and I did not even realize they had a draft. It was pretty funny but I was excited to go back to playing Box.
KMN-Two season’s in Philadelphia..What was it like playing in front of that crowd?
AW-The two seasons I had in Philly were awesome. To have 17,000 people watch you play and the excitement and aggressiveness of the game was a blast. You could see the fans so into the game and the amount of fans we would have show up at our away games blew our minds.
KMN-Lou Delligati seemed like a fun guy, was he really?
AW-Sweet Lou was a blast. Playing lacrosse with those guys were two of the most enjoyable years I had in sports. I would tell you that just hanging out with them either after the game or traveling was as fun as playing the game itself. I still remember the day we were traveling back from Boston after winning the championship and were in the airport, Lou had a Grateful Dead shirt with the bears that he always wore and I told him how much I liked it, he took it off in the airport and gave it to me and dug in his bag to grab another shirt to cover that huge hairy body. As we were on the plane and the Flight Attendants were going through their speech about "in case of an unlikely water landing your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device" you hear this big rip sound of Velcro being pulled and Lou is holding up a seat cushion to show everyone how it was done. There was no getting tight on that team, we were all just having a blast.
KMN-Two Championships In Philadelphia. Was one more special than the other?
AW-I was fortunate to play two years and both on Championship teams. We beat NY in the first one in ‘89 and New England in the second one in ‘90. The second one was special because our best all-around player John Tucker was injured and was on the bench for the game. We had read some press clippings when we arrived in Boston (played in Worcester) we read an article that interviewed the players talking about how deliberate we were in our 5 on 5 but that we were not that fast of a team and better in the half court set. We ran them out of the building that night. I had the chance of playing on a line with Brad Kotz for two years and that night I think I had 6 assists because I would just pass to Brad and he would bury it every time. That guy could run.
KMN-Did you remain in the league after Philadelphia?
AW- My third year I played one game for Philly and I was beginning my company with my partner and also about to have my first child so I decided to shut it down. Making $200 a game was not going to pay the bills and the bigger concern was an injury that might sideline me from my career for a period of time. It was hard to give it up and what amazed me was how long some of my teammates kept going. Scotty Gabrielson seemed liked he played forever. I was truly happy for how well the team did the years after.
KMN- You started a financial business. Talk about that.
AW- My partner and I started a Wealth Management Firm in 1992. We are still together and Lighthouse Wealth Management is the firm we created. It has been a great experience helping people fulfill their financial dreams and as someone who loves numbers and people it has been a perfect career for me. I was lucky enough my wife Melissa had a steady corporate paycheck so that we had time to get the firm off the ground.
KMN- Finally, Golf..Do you have the same passion for that game as you do lacrosse?
AW- I have had a few people ask me to come back and play in the masters league, and I tell them, golf is my passion and it fills my competitive nature and I am unlikely to pull a hamstring doing it. I am a 4 handicap and love to compete against my buddies at my club. I actually had a funny incident a few years back when I was playing in a championship match at my club in the year long Match Play championship. We were making the turn and I was two up and feeling good. I got distracted on the tee and hit a horrible shot into the bunker. I went to slam my club and as I tried to stop myself the club slipped out of my hand and sailed at my competitor and hit him in the leg and my driver snapped in half. My competitor started hopping around as the head of the driver hit him in the foot. I was totally embarrassed and offered to forfeit the match for being such an ass.
Thankfully he was a Canadian Hockey player and after hitting his drive he commented "it was just a stinger." I sometimes have to remind myself that I am not playing a contact sport anymore and I should just be having fun.
Thanks to Andy Wilson!
