Alex Wilcox wasn’t coming off the wall.
As trainer Marissa Robles and director of softball operations Jessica Cooley approached the Mississippi State freshman, ready to pull her out of her wall sit exercise against the fence at Nusz Park.
“‘Why don’t you come off the wall?'” they asked Wilcox. “‘Why don’t you take a break?'”
Wilcox, just back from her chemotherapy treatment from ovarian cancer, turned and gave her coaches a look that said, “‘Don’t you dare. I’m gonna finish this.'”
She did just that, wrapping up a 4-minute, 28-second wall sit through the pain of chemo and the burn in her legs that spring day in 2018. And, according to current head coach Samantha Ricketts, Wilcox didn’t think anything of it.
By the time the Bulldogs faced Ole Miss in mid-April, Wilcox was back in the hospital. She died June 25, 2018, in her hometown of Brantley, Alabama.
That fall, her teammates approached Ricketts and former head coach Vann Stuedeman, never having forgotten the resilience Wilcox showed as she stayed there on the wall.
“All the other girls on the team understood: If someone had the mental capacity and strength to get through a wall sit as they’re going through chemo, why can’t we?” said Stephanie Mock, head Olympic sports strength and conditioning coach at Mississippi State. “I think she really pulled the team together in that sense — that everything can be overcome.”
On Oct. 2, 2018, the Wall Sit Challenge was born: The Bulldogs taped themselves doing a wall sit in their indoor facility for 4 minutes and 28 seconds and sent it out on social media with the hashtag #428WallSitChallenge, hoping other softball programs around the country would follow suit to honor Wilcox’s memory and spread awareness of ovarian cancer.
“Everybody remembers her for her story and her overall fight and drive to be out on the field and with her team,” Ricketts said of Wilcox. “I think the Wall Sit Challenge is a specific example of time and also shows just how strong she was, physically and mentally, to go through a moment like that.”
The challenge went viral beyond Ricketts’ expectations, making its way through 230 college softball teams and 42 high school, club and professional teams. The Provo, Utah, fire and rescue department even got in on it.
Two years later, the challenge and Wilcox’s legacy persist. On Tuesday — April 28, or 4/28 — the Bulldogs are issuing the Wall Sit Challenge to softball programs across the nation, asking participants to film themselves performing the wall sit and tag three friends to join.
“‘OK, here’s an actual challenge that Alex went through that we can all participate in together,'” Ricketts explained. “I think it’s just a really good way to unite a lot of people and feel maybe just a little bit of what one of her struggles was.”
Wilcox’s memory won’t be forgotten soon at Mississippi State, where a Bulldog statue sits near the wall. Below it, her number 8 — in the shape of a teal ribbon — is featured prominently. Except for basketball and football, which have their own weight rooms, Bulldogs of every sport will always see the tribute.
“I wanted to make sure that she was remembered in a facility such as mine,” Mock said of Wilcox. “Every time the student-athletes come in the weight room, they see it, so she’s never forgotten.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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