Wallace helped change look of SEC basketball

By By Stan Torgerson / sports columnist
Feb. 24, 2004
Lasy Saturday, Vanderbilt took time before the Commodores' game with LSU to recognize Perry Wallace, the Southeastern Conference' first African American basketball player. He was signed by Vandy in 1966 and because freshmen were not allowed to play varsity sports under the rules of the day, his actual career spanned 1968-70.
Vanderbilt had picked the right person to be the first. Wallace was a fine person and an outstanding player. He was All-SEC in 1970 when he led his team in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game.
Last week the school retired Wallace' No. 25 jersey. The mayor of Nashville proclaimed "Perry Wallace Day." USA Today took note of the event with a story about his career and a three-column picture.
For those who say playing basketball is one thing but being successful in life is quite another, note that Wallace went to law school after graduating from Vanderbilt, graduated from the Columbia School of Law in 1975 and today is a law professor at American University.
He is entitled to this recognition and more. He went through hell to get it.
I was in my second year broadcasting SEC basketball the year Wallace broke the color barrier. I heard the jeers, the unkind remarks and read the sports columns, pro and con, and the letters to various editors which were mostly con.
He and his teammates held up well under the pressure. From 1968 through 1970 they went 56-22 overall. In conference play those three years produced 35 wins and only 19 losses.
I remember hearing the taunts, turning around and seeing the angry faces in the crowd, the disparaging arm movements. I remember talking with other announcers and writers about the reception Wallace was receiving wherever he played.
There wasn't a black player at Ole Miss until 1971 when the Rebels signed Coolidge Ball. He was also very talented, earning All-SEC honors three years in a row, 1972-74. Would the Rebels have signed him had not Wallace shown the way? We'll never know.
I do know this. In 1970 Alabama signed Wendell Hudson who was a terrific player. C.M Newton was the coach and one night many years later he and I discussed Hudson and Newton's career.
From 4-20, Newton's Alabama teams went to 8-18 and then 10-16 and then broke through the barrier with 18-8 followed by 22-8, 22-4, 22-5, three first-place seasons and two trips to the NCAA Tournament when the field was much smaller than it is today. He brought in African-American players who are now legends in Bama basketball Leon Douglas, Reggie King, Eddie Phillips and many others. And he never went 4-20 again.
One thing helped take some of the heat off Wallace. Those were the Pete Maravich years in the league and the LSU star drew more attention than any other player, including Wallace. After the intial reaction most of the league-wide attention went to Maravich except from the actual crowd wherever Wallace played on the road.
With Vandy and Alabama signing African-American players the other schools went after them too. Ole Miss signed Ball. Tennessee recruited and got Bernard King, one of the best players the SEC has ever had. Wiley Peck joined Mississippi State, as did Ricky Brown. Rudy Macklin signed at LSU and eventually became that schools all-time second-leading scorer behind only Maravich. Mike Mitchell joined Auburn and became a scoring machine. There were many others.
The SEC became a different league and Perry Wallace was the pioneer in making the changes. It has been ever since. The recognition extended to him last week was long overdue.