Perry Wallace: Vanderbilt, SEC basketball trailblazer dead

Perry Wallace, the first African-American to receive a scholarship to play basketball at Vanderbilt University and in the Southeastern Conference, died Friday.

Wallace was 69. He died Friday in Rockville, Md.

After graduating from Pearl High School in 1966 as his class' valedictorian, he enrolled at Vanderbilt where he would become the first black athlete to play four years for a SEC school.

"I didn't care what color they were if they could win," former Vanderbilt coach Roy Skinner said in Andrew Maraniss' book "Strong Inside."

While his basketball teammates accepted him, he felt hatred from some Vanderbilt classmates. Opposing fans and players often harassed him when he was on the basketball court.

Rexrode: Perry Wallace's impact, importance can't be overstated

"The information we received today informing us of the passing of our friend and fellow Commodore, Perry Wallace, has saddened us all," said David Williams, Vanderbilt's Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs and Athletics Director. "Perry Wallace stood for all that is good in each of us. I had the good fortune to visit Perry a week ago and while he clearly knew his time was limited, his spirits were high and he expressed his love and appreciation for this great university. I say to everyone associated with Vanderbilt, 'Perry gave us so much more than we ever gave him.' My brother, rest in peace."

"Vanderbilt, the sports world, and the entire country lost a civil rights icon today," Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said. "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Perry Wallace, who through quiet strength and courage blazed a trail that still serves as a lesson in resilience and perseverance in the face of incredible obstacles. We are more fortunate for having known him and for his legacy at Vanderbilt. While his passing sadly comes just as we come together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Perry’s groundbreaking achievement, his legacy will live on. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.”

In 78 games, he averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Commodores.

"There were some rough times, especially when they had to go to Mississippi and places like that, but there was also some rough times for him out there on Vanderbilt's campus," Walter Fisher, a former high school teammate, told The Tennessean in 2015. "But through it all, he said that being bitter can eat you alive. And I thought that was so noble of him, because a lot of the bitterness that he might have had during that time has subsided now. It's over and done with and he didn't allow it to change him as a person."

After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1970 with a degree in engineering, Wallace was selected in the fifth round of the National Basketball Association draft. However, Wallace never played an NBA game.

“Perry Wallace is one of the most important figures in American sports history," said Maraniss, who has spent hundreds of days with Wallace over the past decade. "He was a pioneer under extraordinarily difficult and dangerous circumstances. He was an activist in his very existence. He was also one of the wisest, kindest, and forgiving people I ever met. I first interviewed him for a class paper at Vanderbilt in 1989 when I was just 19 years old. Over the decades he became both a mentor and father figure to me and I will miss him greatly.”

Wallace continued his studies at Columbia University where he graduated in 1975 with a law degree.

He went to work for Mayor Walter Washington, the first black mayor of Washington, D.C.

He then served in the U.S. Justice Department, worked for the National Urban League and eventually became a professor of law at American University.

"I am not apologizing for not staying in the spotlight, because I felt that what I did afterward was very much the same thing," Wallace told The Tennessean in 2015. "One of the things I discovered at Vanderbilt was what you get if you do step out into the spotlight. I just wasn't that kind of a guy. I still had a whole lot of my parents, who were born out in the country, in me. Peace and quiet was still very much a part of our lives and just kind of having a pretty modest existence."

He was named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. Vanderbilt retired his No. 25 jersey in 2004, and he was inducted into the university's inaugural sports hall of fame class in 2011.

On Saturday, the Southeastern Conference will honor him among six former athletes with the Michael L. Slive Distinguished Service Award for helping break the conference's color barrier.

"Perry Wallace competed on the court the same way he lived his life: with an extremely rare blend of courage, strength, skill and grace under fire. We will miss this truly amazing man," Nashville mayor Megan Barry tweeted after hearing about Wallace's death.

Father Ryan honored Wallace in 2015 when the high school retired its No. 25 jersey. The ceremony occurred during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Pearl-Father Ryan basketball game, the first desegregated high school basketball game in Nashville.

Funeral details were not yet available.