NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As a student manager for the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team in the 1960s, Paul Wilson (AS‘69) frequently was handed stacks of cash by athletic department business manager Pete Naylor to cover the team’s hotel, travel and meal expenses on road trips.
A half-century later, as he takes stock of his life and the profound impact of his association with Vanderbilt basketball, Wilson has made a generous contribution to Vanderbilt Athletics to endow a men’s basketball scholarship.
Wilson, a retired entrepreneur and software developer living in Santa Barbara, California, recently endowed the 1960s Men’s Basketball Teams Scholarship, a lasting tribute to the history made by Commodore players and coaches during that decade.
And what a lot of history there was.
Most notably, the Commodores won their first-ever SEC regular season championship in 1965 and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The only two retired jerseys in Vanderbilt men’s basketball history honor two legendary players from the decade, consensus All-American Clyde Lee and pioneer Perry Wallace, the first Black varsity basketball player in the SEC.
Vanderbilt annually ranked among the nation’s attendance leaders during the decade with Memorial Gym developing its reputation as a magical place where the Commodores were nearly unbeatable. Over a one-week period early in the 1967-68 season, Vanderbilt knocked off three top-20 teams at Memorial.
All told, it was the decade of the 1960s that put Vanderbilt basketball on the map – and Wilson said he hopes the scholarship keeps that history alive for future generations.
“I got lucky in life from a financial standpoint and given all that I gained from being a basketball manager it felt natural to give back in this way,” Wilson said. “I look back on those years in the gym and understand how many important lessons I learned about leadership from guys like Clyde (Lee) and Bo (Wyenandt) and Bobby (Warren) and Jerry (Southwood), players who were just the quintessential leaders of groups.
“And that’s pretty important stuff to know as you’re trying to run a business.”
This is actually the second scholarship Wilson has helped launch. He previously worked with Southwood to endow the Roy Skinner Scholarship in honor of the former Vanderbilt coach.
Wilson, known as “Peegie” to his contemporaries from the Sixties, has also planned to make an addition to the new scholarship through an estate gift. His generosity has not gone unnoticed by the former basketball players his scholarship honors.
“My memories of Peegie are ones of relationship,” former All-American Tom Hagan said. “He was an all-efficient manager, always on top of the details and even keeping players loose with his unique sense of humor. He was an important part of the great friendships established over the course of our basketball seasons.”
Southwood added more praise for his old friend: “Thank you, Peegie, for endowing a scholarship in the name of all the players, managers and coaches from the 1960’s. I was fortunate to be associated with Peegie, both as a player and as an assistant coach during my days at Vandy. Regardless of the tumultuous times during this era, Peegie’s positive, upbeat attitude was always of enormous help to all.”
“It has been a blessing to know Peegie for these many years.”
In keeping with the spirit of a team manager working tirelessly behind the scenes so that others may succeed, Wilson, who is undergoing treatment for myeloma, opted not to attach his own name to the scholarship but to honor everyone associated with the program over a 10-year period. The generosity of Wilson’s contribution and the selfless nature in which he did it were not lost on Candice Lee, Vanderbilt’s vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director.
“Paul is not someone who seeks the spotlight, but we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his lifelong support of Vanderbilt, and in particular his devotion to the men’s basketball program,” Lee said. “He poured his heart into his job as a student manager at a time when the team didn’t have a large staff and the hours were especially long and hard. He never forgot the memories he made here, even as he built a successful business far from Nashville.
“And now he has chosen to give back to Vanderbilt – for the second time — in a way that not only honors his contemporaries from the 60s but builds a foundation for student-athletes in the future. Paul Wilson may not seek the spotlight, but his is a legendary name in Vanderbilt basketball history and we salute him.”
Vanderbilt fans wishing to honor the teams of the Sixties and make a contribution to the scholarship fund can contact the National Commodore Club office at ncc@vanderbilt.edu or (615) 322-4114.
