Perry Wallace, who broke down a racial barrier in the Deep South by becoming the first black varsity basketball player in the Southeastern Conference, has died after a battle with cancer. Wallace made history when he played for Vanderbilt in a game against SMU on Dec. 2, 1967, becoming the SEC’s first black basketball player to compete in a varsity game. Two days later, he played in his first SEC varsity game for head coach Roy Skinner against Auburn. Wallace arrived on the Vanderbilt campus in the fall of 1966 along with Godfrey Dillard, another black basketball player. “I say to everyone associated with Vanderbilt, Perry gave us so much more than we ever gave him.

Source: thestar December 02, 2017 16:30 UTC