WWU's Willis Ball achieved much on football field, more off it

I thought I had a good handle on all the good athletes who have come through this region, but then I came across an individual I had never heard of before.

Willis Lee Ball.

That probably does not ring a bell for you either. Ball, a 1946 graduate of Bremerton High School, is in the Western Washington University Hall of Fame, inducted in 1987 for football. He was an honorable mention Associated Press Little All-American (1955), honorable mention UPI All-Coast (1953) and All-Evergreen Conference (1953). Ball, who died in 1987 of complications of renal failure, was a 6-2, 210-pound defensive tackle for what was then called the Western Washington College of Education. He became the first African-American to graduate from the school, obtaining a degree in 1956 in education.