University of South Carolina Aiken Athletics

Todd Wilkinson is in his third year as the Director of Athletics at the University of South Carolina Aiken, named to the position by Chancellor Heimmermann on December 28, 2022.

Wilkinson has 40 years of coaching and administrator experience. In his short time at USCA he has established a new culture of excellence throughout all areas of Pacer Athletics. Under his leadership USCA has captured two regular season championships in men’s basketball and sent five teams to NCAA Championships.  He is actively involved with the new construction of the Softball and Soccer stadiums. The softball field’s first home game was played on Feb. 9, 2025 while the soccer field is set to begin use this fall.
 
His model of winning the 4C’s (campus, community, classroom, competition) is now fully integrated into the culture of the USCA Division of Athletics connecting the Aiken community through downtown events and other service opportunities. The reintroduction of the Pacer Club has brought energy and connected Pacer stakeholders. Campus engagement through a game day experience initiative has brought atmosphere to Pacer contests. The student-athletes are high achievers in the classroom. 

Wilkinson had a distinguished career encompassing 30 years at Barton College. He spent eight years as the Director of Athletics, three years as Assistant Athletic Director and Compliance Director, and 19 years as the head baseball coach. Throughout most of his coaching career, he also served as an assistant professor of Physical Education and Sports Studies.

Wilkinson has a solid coaching background as well. He was hired as Barton's baseball coach in 1988 and became the winningest coach in school history, tallying a mark of 496-447-3 over 19 seasons. Wilkinson led his squad to league championships in 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2006 while picking up league or district Coach of the Year honors four times.

He has been on the baseball Regional Advisory Committee for NCAA Division II baseball. Wilkinson just completed four years of service representing Division 2 as the one Administrator to the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee.

Wilkinson attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a catcher and an outfielder for the Tar Heels for four years. As a senior, he hit three home runs against Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament – a record he still shares – to earn Tournament MVP honors. He was an all-ACC outfielder and All-ACC Academic selection his senior campaign.

Following college, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos and played outfield and first base for Jamestown in the N.Y.-Penn League. He was named Expos Minor League Player of the Month in July of 1984. Wilkinson was invited to the Expos winter instructional league and attended spring training in 1985.

He returned to UNC as an assistant coach in 1985, joining the staff at Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College in 1988 at age 26. Wilkinson made an immediate impact on the baseball program, posting an overall record of 217-163-2 and conference mark of 86-56 over the first eight seasons.

Wilkinson left Barton in 1995, working three seasons as assistant baseball coach at UNC Wilmington and two years as assistant director of the North Carolina Baseball Academy in Greensboro, N.C., before returning to lead the Bulldogs beginning in 2000-01.

Wilkinson has been inducted into four Hall of Fames; Plattsburgh High School, Clinton County Mariners, Barton College Athletics, and the George Whitfield Hall of Fame. Conference Carolinas awarded him the prestigious Legacy of the Game Award in 2017.

In addition to earning his bachelor's degree in education from UNC, Wilkinson received his master's in education from East Carolina University. He is married to the former Lindsey Mathews of Oxford, N.C. They have one adult daughter, Katie (Wilkinson) Leiser, who completed her undergraduate in 2015 from Barton and got a master’s degree in journalism in 2018 from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.