NEWTON’S LAW : Vanderbilt Coach Is Passing the Grade on and Off Court

C. M. Newton raised quite a few eyebrows in 1981 when he agreed to come out of retirement to coach basketball at Vanderbilt.

Following the 1979-80 season, Newton had left Alabama, where in one seven-year span (1972-79) his teams won 22 or more games six times. After 24 seasons as a head coach, he had grown weary of the pressures of big-time college basketball. Yet, after just one year as assistant commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, he jumped back in.

“I found very quickly that I missed coaching more than I thought I would,” recalls Newton, whose Commodores are strong contenders for the SEC regular season championship. “But, even then, I don’t think I would have returned for any other job than the one at Vanderbilt. I had always admired Vanderbilt’s dedication to academics. It was a real challenge to take over a program that had been struggling and show that academics and athletics can co-exist.

“I still feel that way. I believe completely in what we’re trying to do with our total athletic program. I honestly feel we can be a winner under NCAA guidelines and within the academic framework of Vanderbilt.”

It hasn’t been easy. Recruiting at Vanderbilt has been more difficult than it was at Alabama where Newton’s teams won 211 games and three SEC championships in the dozen seasons he was there.

But Newton, a letterman on Kentucky’s 1951 national championship team and a pitcher in the New York Yankees’ farm system before beginning his coaching career at Transylvania College in 1956 at the age of 26, has fared better than might have been expected.

The Commodores, assured of their fourth winning season in Newton’s seven years at their helm, enter the final week of this year’s campaign with a shot at winning the SEC’s regular-season championship for the first time since they shared the title with Newton’s Alabama team in 1974. They also are likely to receive an NCAA playoff bid for the first time since 1974.

Vanderbilt, which made it to the third round of last year’s post-season National Invitation Tournament before being eliminated by Southern Mississippi, was 17-6 by Feb. 24, ranked No. 19 nationally and tied with No. 12 Kentucky for the SEC lead.

“We’ve brought stability to the program, upgraded ourselves in several areas,” Newton noted. “To have developed to the point where we can compete for the title has been very exciting.”

The key to Vanderbilt’s success has been the development of center Will Perdue. Perdue, a 7-foot, 240-pound senior who made the All-SEC team last season, has been a dominant force in the conference this year. The latest conference stats list showed Perdue leading in rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots and fourth in scoring.

Perdue, who wears 21-AAAAAAA shoes, was more of a liability than an asset his first two seasons when he had a total of only 122 points and 99 rebounds in 39 games. But after being red-shirted during the 1985-86 season because of academic problems, he became the potent inside force Newton had counted on when he recruited him out of Merritt Island, Fla., where he had been a high school All-America.

“A lot of people were surprised by Will’s improvement,” Newton said. “They thought it happened in just one summer but actually it began during his red-shirt year. As we watched him then, when nobody on our varsity could handle him when he got the ball inside, we could hardly wait for him to become eligible again.

“I’m extremely proud of Will and the progress he has made -- athletically, academically and personally.