Bill Pilgeram was named the Corban University head women's basketball coach in May of 2018. He joined the Warrior staff following more than 20 years of success coaching at the high school level at Capital High School in Helena, Mont. In the spring of 2023, he was named the university's Director of Athletics while retaining his head coaching role with the women's basketball program. Following the 2023-24 season in a dual role for the department, Pilgeram made the decision to step down as the women's basketball head coach and commit 100% of his efforts towards leading the entire athletic department.
When asked to describe his time as the Corban women’s basketball head coach, Pilgeram stated, “I have been blessed to coach the women that God has placed in our program since my arrival, and it has been a fantastic experience that I will always cherish. I will miss that relationship tremendously, while still remaining very confident in this team’s ability to continue excelling both on and off the court.”
Pilgeram concludes his collegiate coaching career with a 75-90 overall record with the Warriors for a career winning percentage over 45%,good for fourth all-time among Corban women’s basketball head coaches. In his inaugural season with the Navy and Gold, the Warriors finished 26-10 overall, featuring an NAIA National Tournament run that ended in the round of 16 at the final site. In the six seasons he coached at Corban, his team qualified for the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament four separate times and reached the championship contest on one occasion. His teams have had multiple NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll appearances, climbing as high as No. 14-overall in the entire country to represent the second-highest ranking in program history.
During Pilgeram’s six-year stint as the Warriors’ head coach, he saw his student-athletes come through his program and earn 52 Academic All-Conference accolades in total, including a program-best 13 from this past 2023-24 season. He’s coached six different Academic All-District award winners in his head coaching career, along with a pair of All-Americans and eleven All-Conference players. Since the 2018-19 season, the women’s basketball team has graduated 22 student-athletes, who have all gone on to serve in both the Corban fellowship and at-large communities.
“Corban University is an amazing place, and I have absolutely fallen in love with Warrior Nation,” Pilgeram began with when asked to detail his expectations as the now full-time Director of Athletics. “This opportunity allows me to five my full attention to the entire athletic department without the demands associated with coaching this incredible program. I am grateful to President Yeats and Brian for their confidence in me to fill this role within the university in educating Christian’s to make a difference in the world for Jesus Christ.”
Since 2006, Pilgeram has guided the Capital High School Girl's Basketball team to 10 State Tournament appearances, including winning the State Championship in 2015. During that year, he was named the 2015 Montana Coach of the Year, and during his time as head coach of the girl's team at Capital High, he led the squad to five conference championships.
Prior to serving as the girl's head coach at Capital High, he was the boy's head basketball coach for eight years, leading the team to three appearances in the State Tournament. In the mid 1990s, Pilgeram led the Colville High Boy's basketball team to a number of District and League Championships, garnering the Frontier League Coach of the Year plaudit in 1997.
Prior to his high school coaching days, Pilgeram was a men's basketball standout at Carroll College (Mont.). While garnering NAIA All-America Second-Team honors in 1992, as well as NAIA Academic All-America plaudits, he was the three-time Frontier Conference MVP award-winner during his time at Carroll.
