“Coach Ridley was not just a winner, not just a teacher and mentor, but a transcendent figure in our city’s history,” said Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor and Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee during the dedication of a new historical marker honoring Cornelius Ridley, the legendary Pearl High School basketball coach.
Nearly 100 community members gathered outside of MLK Academic Magnet School, formerly Pearl High School, to celebrate Ridley’s legacy. Funded by Vanderbilt Athletics, the Metro Historical Commission marker was the latest expression of Vanderbilt’s support for the North Nashville neighborhood around Pearl High. Alumni Perry Wallace and Walter Murray, valedictorian and salutatorian of the segregated high school’s class of 1966, went on to have pioneering careers as students at Vanderbilt.
Background and legacy
Ridley, a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, won five state championships at Pearl High between 1960 and 1984. In addition to state titles, he amassed 684 wins, including 15 district championships and eight regional titles. Ridley served as a mentor on and off the court to his players during a time of transition and social change in the South.
In 1965, Ridley’s team participated in Tennessee’s first racially integrated basketball game against Father Ryan High School, and in 1966, he led an undefeated team to the state championship during the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s first integrated tournament. Wallace, team captain, would later become the first Black basketball player in the SEC, while his best friend Murray went on to become the first Black member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust.
The dedication ceremony
Lee joined Ridley’s daughter, Constance Ridley Smith, MLK Executive Principal Angela McShepard-Ray, , Tom Cash and Terry Vo, Historic Commission member Linda Wynn and a group of former players and coaches in paying tribute to the late Coach Ridley.
Ongoing support in North Nashville
The dedication is one of several ways Vanderbilt continues to invest in North Nashville’s cultural heritage. Learn more about the university’s recent initiatives in this community:
