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Perry Wallace
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Perry Eugene Wallace Jr. (February 19, 1948 – December 1, 2017)[1] was an American lawyer who was a professor of law at Washington College of Law.[2] He was the first African-American varsity athlete to play basketball under an athletic scholarship in the Southeastern Conference, playing for Vanderbilt University.[3][4] His experiences at Vanderbilt are the subject of the book Strong Inside, by Andrew Maraniss, published in 2014.[5]
Key Information
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Education
[edit]Wallace attended [[Martin Luther King Magnet at Pearl High School
- History|Pearl High School]] in the then segregated Nashville public schools. He helped Pearl High School's basketball team go undefeated and win the team's first integrated basketball state championship. He was a straight-A student, valedictorian of his class and was named a high school All-American athlete.[3][6]
Wallace was recruited by many colleges,[3] and enrolled at Vanderbilt in 1966. He was one of two African-American players who arrived at Vanderbilt that year, but the other, Godfrey Dillard, was injured before he could earn a varsity letter (at the time, freshmen were not eligible to play on NCAA varsity teams), and ultimately transferred to and played at Eastern Michigan.[7] In 1967, Perry became the first black scholarship athlete to play basketball in the Southeastern Conference.
Wallace was generally welcomed by his teammates, but traveling with the team was difficult, and Wallace was often threatened from opposing teams with verbal taunts and roughness on the court. He became the first black athlete to complete four years at an SEC school,[7][9] graduating with a degree in engineering in 1970, and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers.[6] In 1970, he was awarded the Bachelor of Ugliness, a whimsically titled but prestigious student prize.[10] He responded with a press interview in which he described some of the loneliness he had felt on campus throughout the four years, ranging from small slights and the lack of true inclusion by or friendship from well-meaning people to overtly racist professors and racist incidents, such as a demand from the University Church of Christ, located across the street from the campus but not affiliated with it, that he not attend church services there because of his race.[10]
In the following season, basketball teams from Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and Georgia contained black athletes.[4]
Wallace earned his J.D. from Columbia University in 1975.[2]
Career
[edit]Wallace was a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, where he dealt with natural resources and environmental law. In 1992, he was appointed to the Environmental Policy advisory council of the EPA.[11] He became a professor of law at The American University Washington College of Law in 1993, where he specialized in environmental law, corporate law and finance.[12]
Honors
[edit]
- 1966 – Recruited by many colleges and enrolled at Vanderbilt
- 2003 – Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame[6]
- 2004 – Retirement of his Vanderbilt jersey, number 25[7]
- 2017 – Movie was made about Perry Wallace's life called Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace –
- 2021 – The United States Basketball Writers Association renamed the men's version of its annual award for courage among figures associated with college basketball as the Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Ammenheuser, David. "Perry Wallace: Vanderbilt, SEC basketball trailblazer dead". Tennessean. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- ^ a b "Perry Wallace, Professor of Law". Washington College of Law. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c "SEC Trailblazer Perry Wallace Will Speak at Landon". Landon. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ a b English, Antonya (January 25, 2009). "Former Vanderbilt star Perry Wallace learned to overcome hatred as Southeastern Conference's first black basketball player". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ Patterson, Jim (November 25, 2014). "Vanderbilt alum pens biography of the 'Jackie Robinson of the SEC'". Vanderbilt News. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Perry Wallace". Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
- ^ a b c Carey, Jack (February 19, 2004). "An SEC trailblazer gets his due". USA Today. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ Story, Mark (September 27, 2016). "UK reveals sculpture honoring first black football players". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ The aforementioned Northington, grieving over the death of Kentucky's other African-American signee of 1966, Greg Page, left UK shortly after his injury, transferring to Western Kentucky.[8]
- ^ a b Andrew, Maraniss (2014). Strong inside : Perry Wallace and the collision of race and sports in the South. pp. 347–355. ISBN 978-0826520241. OCLC 894510850.
- ^ "Biography – Wallace" (PDF). Washington College of Law. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ "CV" (PDF). Washington College of Law. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- ^ "USBWA Names Men's Most Courageous Award in Honor of Perry Wallace" (Press release). United States Basketball Writers Association. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
Further reading
[edit]- Maraniss, Andrew (2014), Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South, Vanderbilt University Press, ISBN 978-0826520234
- Maraniss, Andrew (2016), Strong Inside: Young Readers Edition, Penguin Young Readers, ISBN 9780399548345
External links
[edit]Perry Wallace
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Perry Wallace (1948–2017) was an American basketball player, attorney, and law professor recognized as the first African American varsity athlete to receive a basketball scholarship in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), where he played for Vanderbilt University from 1966 to 1970.[1][2]
A high school valedictorian and All-American at Pearl High School in Nashville, Wallace led an undefeated team to Tennessee's first integrated state basketball championship in 1966 before enrolling at Vanderbilt, where he debuted in an SEC varsity game on December 2, 1967, against Southern Methodist University.[3][2]
During his college career, he ranked second in Vanderbilt history for career rebounds per game (11.5) and earned All-SEC second-team honors as a senior, though he endured death threats, racial epithets, physical assaults on road trips, and social isolation that contributed to Vanderbilt forfeiting games and ultimately led to his departure from Nashville after a candid 1970 interview about his experiences.[3][1][2]
After graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vanderbilt and briefly playing minor-league basketball with the Philadelphia 76ers, Wallace obtained a J.D. from Columbia University in 1975, worked as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as a law professor at American University for over two decades, advocating for human rights and environmental justice.[1][2][3]
His resilience was honored with Vanderbilt's retirement of his No. 24 jersey in 2004, induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, and the naming of the USBWA Perry Wallace Award for Most Courageous Player in college basketball.[1][3]
Perry Wallace, a standout basketball player and valedictorian at Nashville's Pearl High School, drew interest from nearly 80 colleges, including Kentucky and Tennessee, after leading his team to strong performances in state tournaments. Vanderbilt head coach Roy Skinner recruited him aggressively in 1966, providing a campus tour on March 29 that included the engineering school, aligning with Wallace's academic interests in electrical or chemical engineering. Wallace committed to Vanderbilt on May 3, 1966, signing the first basketball scholarship awarded to an African American in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), influenced by Skinner's sincerity and the team's initial kindness rather than external pressures.[9][13] Other recruiters warned Wallace of the SEC's entrenched segregation and potential racial hostility, tactics that inadvertently reinforced his determination to seize the scholarship and local opportunity on merit. Enrolling alongside Godfrey Dillard, Wallace integrated Vanderbilt's program as part of the broader push against the conference's whites-only varsity basketball policy, which had persisted despite civil rights advancements elsewhere; the SEC remained the final major conference to field integrated teams.[9][13] Wallace debuted in an SEC varsity game on December 2, 1967, during Vanderbilt's 88-84 victory over Southern Methodist University, becoming the first African American to play in such a contest. Teammates and campus peers generally welcomed him, reflecting his selection based on proven high school prowess rather than symbolic designation. However, integration exposed disparities between home support and road adversities, including documented threats from opposing venues, which Wallace confronted through personal agency and focus on performance.[13][9]
Perry Wallace played as a forward for Vanderbilt from 1967 to 1970, contributing significantly to rebounding and scoring despite the team's modest overall success. In the 1967–68 season, Vanderbilt finished 20–6 overall and 12–6 in SEC play, placing third in the conference.[14] Wallace averaged 9.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game over 26 games.[4] The following year, the Commodores went 15–11 overall and 9–9 in the SEC, with Wallace improving to 11.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.[15][4] His senior season saw Vanderbilt at 12–14 overall, but Wallace peaked at 17.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, amassing career totals of 1,011 points and 894 rebounds.[16][4] These figures underscored his role as a dominant interior presence and gritty competitor, even as the team did not advance to major postseason play.[12] Wallace faced intense racial hostility from the outset, receiving death threats prior to his varsity debut on December 2, 1967, against SMU, which marked the first appearance of an African American player in an SEC-sanctioned game.[12][17] In road games across the Deep South, such as at Ole Miss on February 9, 1968, he endured racial epithets from fans who jeered misses and booed makes during warmups, compounded by physical aggression from opponents, including an elbow to the eye shortly after entering the court.[18][19] Similar targeting occurred in venues like Alabama and Mississippi, where opponents exploited lax officiating to deliver hard fouls aimed at intimidating him, while crowds hurled slurs and objects.[20][21] Teammate support was inconsistent; while some players, including later recruit Godfrey Dillard, offered solidarity, others provided limited emotional backing during the height of abuse, leaving Wallace to rely on personal resilience.[20][21] He coped by channeling focus into fundamentals—rebounding aggressively and maintaining composure under duress—turning adversity into fuel for individual performances, as evidenced by his statistical progression amid ongoing opposition.[19] This grit enabled sustained contributions without derailing his play, highlighting causal links between targeted hostility and his adaptive determination on the court.[17]
Early Life
Childhood in Nashville
Perry Wallace was born on February 19, 1948, in Nashville, Tennessee, into a working-class family of five children residing in the city's segregated black community in North Nashville.[4][5][6] His parents, who had migrated from Murfreesboro in the 1930s with only eighth-grade educations, emphasized self-reliance and hard work amid economic hardship; his father operated a small construction business as a bricklayer, while his mother, Hattie Haynes Wallace, worked as a domestic cleaner in downtown office buildings.[7][8][9] Wallace's early years unfolded against the backdrop of Nashville's intensifying civil rights struggles, including school desegregation efforts and downtown sit-ins in the early 1960s, yet his family's focus remained on personal merit and resilience rather than external confrontation.[6] Hattie's intelligence, curtailed by systemic racism and poverty that limited her schooling, profoundly shaped her children's outlook; she routinely brought home discarded magazines from her workplace, exposing young Perry to broader knowledge and cultivating his intellectual curiosity despite scarce resources.[2][10] This practice underscored a household ethic of leveraging available means for self-improvement, fostering Wallace's drive for academics and extracurricular pursuits from an early age.[2] The family's modest investments in their children's potential, such as purchasing a $200 trumpet for Wallace in his youth, reflected a commitment to nurturing talent through determination, even as he gravitated toward physical activities that demanded discipline and merit-based achievement.[9] These formative experiences in a resource-constrained environment honed Wallace's character, prioritizing education and personal agency over victimhood in the face of segregation's constraints.[10][2]High School Athletics
Perry Wallace competed in basketball and track and field at Pearl High School in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1963 to 1966.[3] As a senior in 1966, Wallace starred on the Pearl High School basketball team, which achieved an undefeated 31-0 record and captured the Tennessee state championship in the inaugural integrated high school basketball tournament.[11][12] The team's success in the segregated Negro league and subsequent tournament victory highlighted Wallace's merit-based performance as a forward, earning him All-American honors and attention from college scouts evaluating talent in a talent-scarce era for integrated programs.[12] Wallace's track involvement supplemented his basketball prowess, positioning him as a versatile athlete in Pearl's athletic program, though specific event records remain undocumented in primary accounts.[3]Collegiate Career
Recruitment and Integration into SEC Basketball
Perry Wallace, a standout basketball player and valedictorian at Nashville's Pearl High School, drew interest from nearly 80 colleges, including Kentucky and Tennessee, after leading his team to strong performances in state tournaments. Vanderbilt head coach Roy Skinner recruited him aggressively in 1966, providing a campus tour on March 29 that included the engineering school, aligning with Wallace's academic interests in electrical or chemical engineering. Wallace committed to Vanderbilt on May 3, 1966, signing the first basketball scholarship awarded to an African American in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), influenced by Skinner's sincerity and the team's initial kindness rather than external pressures.[9][13] Other recruiters warned Wallace of the SEC's entrenched segregation and potential racial hostility, tactics that inadvertently reinforced his determination to seize the scholarship and local opportunity on merit. Enrolling alongside Godfrey Dillard, Wallace integrated Vanderbilt's program as part of the broader push against the conference's whites-only varsity basketball policy, which had persisted despite civil rights advancements elsewhere; the SEC remained the final major conference to field integrated teams.[9][13] Wallace debuted in an SEC varsity game on December 2, 1967, during Vanderbilt's 88-84 victory over Southern Methodist University, becoming the first African American to play in such a contest. Teammates and campus peers generally welcomed him, reflecting his selection based on proven high school prowess rather than symbolic designation. However, integration exposed disparities between home support and road adversities, including documented threats from opposing venues, which Wallace confronted through personal agency and focus on performance.[13][9]
Basketball Performance and Racial Challenges
Perry Wallace played as a forward for Vanderbilt from 1967 to 1970, contributing significantly to rebounding and scoring despite the team's modest overall success. In the 1967–68 season, Vanderbilt finished 20–6 overall and 12–6 in SEC play, placing third in the conference.[14] Wallace averaged 9.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game over 26 games.[4] The following year, the Commodores went 15–11 overall and 9–9 in the SEC, with Wallace improving to 11.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.[15][4] His senior season saw Vanderbilt at 12–14 overall, but Wallace peaked at 17.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, amassing career totals of 1,011 points and 894 rebounds.[16][4] These figures underscored his role as a dominant interior presence and gritty competitor, even as the team did not advance to major postseason play.[12] Wallace faced intense racial hostility from the outset, receiving death threats prior to his varsity debut on December 2, 1967, against SMU, which marked the first appearance of an African American player in an SEC-sanctioned game.[12][17] In road games across the Deep South, such as at Ole Miss on February 9, 1968, he endured racial epithets from fans who jeered misses and booed makes during warmups, compounded by physical aggression from opponents, including an elbow to the eye shortly after entering the court.[18][19] Similar targeting occurred in venues like Alabama and Mississippi, where opponents exploited lax officiating to deliver hard fouls aimed at intimidating him, while crowds hurled slurs and objects.[20][21] Teammate support was inconsistent; while some players, including later recruit Godfrey Dillard, offered solidarity, others provided limited emotional backing during the height of abuse, leaving Wallace to rely on personal resilience.[20][21] He coped by channeling focus into fundamentals—rebounding aggressively and maintaining composure under duress—turning adversity into fuel for individual performances, as evidenced by his statistical progression amid ongoing opposition.[19] This grit enabled sustained contributions without derailing his play, highlighting causal links between targeted hostility and his adaptive determination on the court.[17]