Perry Wallace's life story to be portrayed in a play
The life of Pearl High basketball great Perry Wallace, who went on to Vanderbilt and became the first African American to play in the SEC, will be portrayed in a play this fall.
The play is still in production, and as part of that, a staged reading of the script will be open to the public for free March 7. It will be at 7 p.m. at the John Seigenthaler First Amendment Center on the Vanderbilt campus. There will be a reception at 6:30 p.m.
Los Angeles-based actor David Chattam will read the script written by Playhouse Nashville co-founder and artistic director Chris Bosen.
After the reading, the audience will be asked to provide feedback to help shape the direction of the final script.
The play was inspired by the bestselling biography “Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South,” which was published in 2014 and written by former Vanderbilt sports information director Andrew Maraniss.
“It’s going to be amazing to see Perry’s life come to life on the stage,” Maraniss said. “It’s such an interesting and dramatic story, and I’ve been really impressed with the script that Chris has been writing. David’s a great actor, so I think it’s going to be an amazing experience.”
Wallace, who is now a professor of law at American University, will not be at the reading.
March 19 will mark the 50th anniversary of Wallace leading Pearl to a 21-0 regular-season record and the state championship in the first year Tennessee high schools were integrated.
That team will be honored at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Greater St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church on 26th Avenue.
Several members from that team, which also included Ted “Hound” McClain, who went on to play at Tennessee State and then in the ABA and NBA, Walter Fisher and James Douglas, will be in attendance.
Harpeth grad first to receive two NFF awards
The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame on Monday will celebrate its 50th annual awards banquet at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, and it will be special.
For the first time, an individual who already has received one of the chapter’s most prestigious awards will receive a second.
Retired Army Sgt. Kevin Downs was presented the Fred Russell Distinguished American Award in 2008.
While serving in Iraq in 2005, Downs lost both legs and suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by a bomb.
After attending the 2008 banquet and seeing all the high school players earn their various awards, Downs was inspired to become a football coach and joined the staff at his alma mater, Harpeth, as a volunteer assistant in 2012.
Prior to the 2015 season, he became a full-time TSSAA certified assistant, and on Monday he will receive the Bonnie Sloan Courage Award, which goes to an individual who faces great obstacles and continues to fight.
ESPN will debut a feature on Downs during the 10 a.m. edition of “SportsCenter” on Sunday and will re-air it through the day.
This year’s Fred Russell Distinguished American Award will go to Murfreesboro native Rhea Seddon, one of the first six women to enter the NASA astronaut program who was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2015. Seddon was a cheerleader at old Central High in Murfreesboro.
The Admiral William P. Lawrence Award for the top high school scholar-athlete in Middle Tennessee will go to Christ Presbyterian Academy linebacker John Orr, the grandson of former Vanderbilt quarterback and longtime NFL official Don Orr.
A total of 61 local high school players will be named Charles Hawkins Scholar-Athlete winners.
Spencer Pulley (Vanderbilt), T.T. Barber (Middle Tennessee State), Aaron Woods, (Tennessee State), Adam Noble (Austin Peay), Cayman Russell (Cumberland) and Grant Fuller (Sewanee) will be named University Scholar-Athlete winners.
Local sports talk radio show host George Plaster will be the emcee, and Kenneth Adams IV, a Titans owner who also is on the franchise’s board of directors, will deliver a special message prior to the awards presentation.
This will mark the final year for Robert Sullins to oversee the banquet as the chapter president. Former Titans executive Bob Hyde, who will receive the Roy Kramer Contribution to Football Award, is set to take over as president.
New York to name street after Anthony Mason
TSU basketball great Anthony Mason, who died in 2015, will have a street named after him in his hometown of Queens, N.Y.
The New York City Council approved the proposal to co-name a stretch of 147th Street between 123rd Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard “Anthony Mason Way.”
After graduating from TSU, Mason spent 13 years in the NBA and was a crowd favorite during his time with the New York Knicks (1991-96).
Stratford great to join Mississippi Sports Hall
Former Stratford basketball star Dontae Jones, one of the players on the 1995-96 Mississippi State team that advanced to the Final Four, will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum on March 31.
Jones played a key role on the team and was named MVP of the SEC Tournament. He plans to attend the induction ceremony in Jackson, Miss.
After beating Kentucky in the SEC Tournament championship, the Bulldogs were seeded No. 5 in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Virginia Commonwealth, Princeton, Connecticut and Cincinnati to earn a spot in the Final Four.
Schooldays Golf Tournament date set
The 92nd annual Tennessean/Metro Parks Schooldays Golf Tournament will be June 7-9 at McCabe Golf Course.
The free tournament for boys and girls ages 12-17 is the longest continuous running in the state.
Mt. Juliet’s Cooper Sears and Warren County’s Hannah Powellwon the 2015 boys and girls championships and will defend their titles.
Registration will be available May 9 at Tennessean.com.
MTSU’s Moore/Turnbow Cup is set for March 7
Speaking of the Schooldays tournament, 1996 boys champion Whit Turnbow is now a senior associate athletics director at MTSU, where the inaugural Franklin American Mortgage Moore/Turnbow Cup will be played on March 7 at The Grove Club in College Grove.
Along with Turnbow, who was the MTSU men’s golf coach until last August, the event is named in honor of former Blue Raiders player and coach Johnny Moore.
Four former Blue Raiders — Kent Bulle, Rick Cochran, Jason Millard and Chas Narramore — who are now on the Web.com Tour will give a clinic prior to the fundraiser tournament. Each also will play one hole with each group during the tournament, which will be an 18-hole shamble.
Registration is at 11 a.m., and the shamble will get underway at 12:15 p.m. For more information or to sign up, contact current MTSU men’s coach Brennan Webb at Brennan.Webb@mtsu.edu.
MBA’s Lea hired as Wake Forest linebackers coach
Former Montgomery Bell Academy standout Clark Lea, who played baseball at Birmingham-Southern and Belmont and then played football at Vanderbilt, is the new linebackers coach at Wake Forest.
Lea helped lead Birmingham-Southern to the NAIA World Series championship in 2001.
He transferred to Belmont in 2002 and played one season.
He switched to football the next year when he transferred to Vanderbilt and played linebacker.
Lea began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCLA (2005-06). He then went to South Dakota State (2006-07), returned to UCLA as linebackers coach (2009-11) and then to Bowling Green, where he worked for one season under Dave Clawson, who is now the head coach at Wake Forest.
Lea spent the past three seasons at Syracuse.
Hollenberg back to call the OVC Tournament
ESPN’s Rich Hollenberg will handle the play-by-play and Mark Adams will be the color analyst for the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Tournament on Wednesday-Saturday at Municipal Auditorium.
This marks the fourth consecutive year Hollenberg has called the tournament.
Pairings will be set after the Belmont-TSU game Sunday at Gentry Center, which tips off at 2:30 p.m.
NBA executive to speak at Don Meyer event
Orlando Magic senior vice president Pat Williams will be the featured speaker at the eighth annual Don Meyer Evening of Excellence on April 16 at Lipscomb’s Allen Arena.
Along with the Magic, Williams also was the general manager for the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers.
He has spent more than 50 years in pro sports, authored more than 70 books and completed 54 marathons, including 12 Boston Marathons.
Williams and his wife, Ruth, have 19 children, including 14 adopted from four different nations.
The fund-raising event is open to the public but reservations are required by April 8. To make reservations or for more information, contact Andy Lane at 615-966-5853 or andy.lane@lipscomb.edu.
Cumberland’s Hicks is Mid-South coach of the year
First-year Cumberland wrestling coach James Hicks was named the Mid-South Conference West Division Coach of the Year. Hicks led the Phoenix to its first conference championship.
Motlow’s Barford is TCCAA player of the year
Motlow State sophomore Jaylen Barford, the nation’s second-leading junior college scorer (25.8) who has signed with Arkansas, was named the Tennessee Community College Player of the Year.
Barford helped Motlow post a 23-6 regular-season record and earn a No. 2 seed in the Region VII Tournament, which begins Monday.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter, contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
SPORTS ON NASHVILLE TV
The top five local ratings for sporting events on television for Feb. 15-21.
1. NASCAR: Daytona 500, 9.6 rating
2. College basketball: Kentucky-Texas A&M, 3.8 rating
3. NBA: Cavaliers-Thunder, 3.5 rating
4. PGA: Northern Open (final round), 3.2 rating
5. College basketball: Tennessee-Kentucky, 3.0 rating
Each rating point is equal to 9,902 Nashville homes.Ratings for the SEC Network are not available.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 programming & research director.