Vanderbilt basketball legend Perry Wallace may have street named in his honor

The Vanderbilt men's and women's basketball teams will honor the legendary Perry Wallace, the first black basketball player in the SEC, by wearing patches on their uniforms.

Other tributes might also include erecting a statue or renaming a street on campus in honor of the former Pearl High star, who died Dec. 1.

Athletics director David Williams said the patches are currently being designed. They probably will include Wallace's No. 25 and be attached to the uniforms when both teams start the SEC portion of their schedules — the men on Dec. 30 at Florida and the women Dec. 31 at LSU.

Williams is meeting later this week with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey to see whether the other teams in the conference also would be interested in wearing patches to honor Wallace. 

"We went over (Wednesday) what the patches will look like," Williams said. "I can't tell you what the design will be; we want that to be a surprise."

The proposal to name a street in honor of Wallace is a grassroots effort started by Vanderbilt fans. Some would like to see 25th Avenue South, from West End Avenue to Blakemore Avenue, renamed in Wallace's honor. That stretch of the street runs next to Memorial Gym.

When asked whether Vanderbilt would approach the city about renaming the street or erect a statue of Wallace, Williams said: "We are trying to figure out how best to honor Perry and there is a process for any naming thing like that and I don't know what it will be. We are having those discussions, and I think you can count on us doing something."

Clarksville hoops great Marion on 'The Amazing Race'

Clarksville High basketball great Shawn Marion, who went on to enjoy a 16-year NBA career, will be a contestant on the next edition of "The Amazing Race," which begins Jan. 3 and airs 7-8 p.m. on Channel 5. He is teamed with another ex-NBA star, Cedric Ceballos.

The teams will begin their adventure in Washington Square Park in New York City and travel to their first destination, Iceland, where they must traverse a massive canyon above the Geitargljufur River.

The teams will travel to 10 countries and 21 cities and cover more than 29,000 miles in the quest to win the $1 million prize.

Ex-Vandy, TSU assistant hired at Mississippi State

Former Vanderbilt and Tennessee State assistant Charles Huff was the first coach new Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead hired for his staff.

Moorhead made Huff his run game coordinator and running backs coach.

Huff, who spent the past three seasons on the staff at Penn State, was at Vanderbilt in 2011, where he served as offensive quality control assistant under James Franklin.

Huff and Franklin had served on the staff together at Maryland in 2009.

Huff's first full-time position was at TSU (2006-08), where he coached tight ends, special teams and the offensive line.

Former MTSU QB is new Arkansas offensive coordinator

Former MTSU quarterback Joe Craddock is the new offensive coordinator at Arkansas. He followed Chad Morris from SMU to Arkansas.

Craddock played football at MTSU (2005-08).

He threw for 2,677 yards in his senior season and led the Blue Raiders to a 24-14 win over Maryland. 

Craddock also played baseball at MTSU (2008).

He joined Morris when they were both on Dabo Swinney's staff at Clemson (2012-14).

Sounds name new manager      

Fran Riordan was hired as the new manager of the Sounds this past week.

Riordan, 42, a Virginia Beach native, replaced Ryan Christenson, who was hired as bench coach for the parent club Oakland Athletics.

It will be Riordan's first time to manage on the Triple-A level. He led the Double-A Midland Rockhounds to a Texas League title in 2017.

 Riordan's 17-year managerial record is 869-857 (.503).

Goodpasture AD given new truck

Longtime Goodpasture athletics director Clint Parnell was surprised at halftime of Tuesday's boys basketball game when the school and Wholesale Inc. presented him with a new GMC truck.

It was their way of honoring Parnell for his 25 years of service in multiple roles at the school. He worked in Metro for 32 years before going to Goodpasture.

"The truck is of material value, but what they did with the crowd cheering and all is something that will last for a lifetime," Parnell said. 

Parnell is currently driving a 12-year-old Chevrolet Colorado truck. He said he's not going to drive the new truck because he doesn't want it to get dings and scratches like the old one.   

Bellevue's Browner wins Nagurski honor

Bellevue resident Ross Browner, a former Notre Dame football star, won the 2017 Bronko Nagurski Legends Trophy.

The award recognizes outstanding defensive football players from the past 40 years. Past winners include Alan Page, Bubba Smith, Ted Hendricks, Roger Wehrli, Mike McCoy, Jack Youngblood, Randy White, Randy Rhino, Larry Jacobson, Randy Gradishar and Chet Moeller.

Browner, 63, moved to Nashville in 2005 to work for former MTSU coach and athletics director Boots Donnelly, who is now CEO of Backfield In Motion, a nonprofit organization that assists in the education of at-risk, low-income male students in Metro.

Browner was a four-year starter, a two-time consensus All-American (1976 and 1977) and also won the Outland Trophy and the Maxwell Award at Notre Dame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

He went on to be a first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, played 10 seasons in the NFL and set the record for tackles by a defensive lineman in Super Bowl XVI.

Ex-Belmont player calls Lady Vols game

Former Belmont basketball player Madison Blevins called her first game on the SEC Network on Wednesday.

Blevins handled the analysis for the Tennessee Lady Vols' game against Troy. Bob Kesling did the play-by-play.

Tennessee crushed Troy 131-69.

Ex-Ryan kicker sets Air Force record

Former Father Ryan kicker Luke Strebel, now a senior at Air Force, set the Falcons’ record for career points this season with 254. 

Strebel converted all of his 131 extra-point kicks and 41 of 48 field-goal attempts.

Strebel also was a standout soccer player at Ryan. 

Lebanon to enshrine five

The Lebanon High Sports Hall of Fame will enshrine five new inductees in January: Barbara (Stone) Hallums (basketball player and coach, 1975), her son Scott Hallums (basketball, 1998), Vincent Harris (basketball and football, 1976), Clay Hannah (cross country and track, 2006), and John Robinson (football, 1967).

Barbara Hallums went on to play basketball at Belmont. Scott Hallums played basketball at Cumberland. Harris played football at TSU. Hannah ran track at Belmont. Robinson played football at Vanderbilt. 

Ex-Vols player, MTSU coach Helton dies

Former Tennessee football player and MTSU offensive coordinator L.T. Helton died Wednesday. He was 77.

Helton was an offensive lineman at UT (1959-62). After serving as a graduate assistant for the Vols under coach Bowden Wyatt, Helton spent 53 seasons coaching football on the high school and college levels.

He was the offensive coordinator on Donnelly’s staff at MTSU (1980-84).

Deadline nearing for baseball scholarships

Dec. 15 is the deadline for local high school baseball players to apply for annual scholarships awarded by the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association.

The group awards 17 scholarships to high school seniors. 

To apply, visit otbaseball.com.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter, contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter. 

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from Nov. 27-Dec. 3:
1. NFL: Titans-Texans, 18.0
2. College football: Georgia-Auburn, 16.3
3. NFL: Eagles-Seahawks, 11.4 
4. College football: Ohio St.-Wisconsin, 9.8 
5. NFL: Panthers-Saints, 8.7 
Each rating point is equal to 10,307 Nashville homes.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 senior programming director