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 Wade in 1988 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-12-09)December 9, 1944 (age 81) Baltimore,Maryland, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Morgan State University |
| Playing career | |
| 1968 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| 1969 | Washington Redskins |
| 1970 | Denver Broncos |
| Position | Defensive back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1971–1974 | Edmondson HS |
| 1975–1986 | Dunbar HS |
| 1986–1989 | Maryland |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 272–24 (Dunbar High School) 36–50 (College) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| USA Today Coach of the Year – 1983 | |
Robert Pernell Wade (born December 9, 1944) is an American former professionalfootball player andcollege basketball coach. He was the men'scollege basketballhead coach for theUniversity of Maryland (1986–1989), as well as adefensive back in theNational Football League (NFL).
He was also the athletics coordinator of the Baltimore City Public School System from 1996 to 2015.
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Dunbar (Baltimore,Maryland) | ||||||||||
| College | Morgan State | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: 15th round, 385th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Position | Defensive back, No. 44, 24, 37 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Wade playedcollege football atMorgan State University. After his collegiate career, he played in the NFL as adefensive back for thePittsburgh Steelers (1968), theWashington Redskins (1969), and theDenver Broncos (1970).[1] He was released by the Redskins duringtraining camp on September 1, 1970.[2]
After his football career ended, Wade spent four years coaching basketball atEdmondson High School.[3] Prior to his coaching stint at Maryland, Wade coached atBaltimore'sDunbar High School for ten years, where he compiled a 341–25 record and was often ranked in the nation's top 10. In his best two seasons at the inner-city high school, 1981–1983, Wade put together teams that produced a 60–0 record, the second of which was ranked first in the nation byUSA Today. His 1981–82 team produced four future NBA players – three of them first-round draft picks – includingBoston Celtics captainReggie Lewis, who was the high school's team's sixth man, and 5'-3"Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, who had a 14-year NBA career despite being the shortest player in league history.[4] The other two future NBA players wereDavid Wingate andReggie Williams, who also combined to win anNCAA championship atGeorgetown in 1984.
Wade was originally hired to replaceLefty Driesell, Maryland's basketball coach of 17 years. Driesell resigned over concerns about the death ofAll-AmericanforwardLen Bias and subsequent revelations about his players' academic performances. Wade and Driesell had a frosty relationship, and Wade had consistently said he hadn't wanted Dunbar prospects to play for Driesell at Maryland—facts not overlooked by commentators. Wade was known as a strong disciplinarian, and he was appealing to Maryland administrators who were attempting to clean up the basketball program's image.[5] He was also hired in order to increase diversity, as he became the firstAfrican American coach of a major sport in theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC), despite the fact that he had no prior experience in coaching a team at the collegiate level.
Wade walked into a difficult situation. Not only was he hired just days before the start of the 1986–87 season, but he had to deal with the loss of several players suspended after the Len Bias incident. The result was one of the worst seasons in school history. The Terps suffered their only winless record in ACC play, as part of an overall 9–17 record. Wade quickly rebuilt the team and got the Terps back into theNCAA tournament a year later. Due to the transfer of star playersBrian Williams andSteve Hood, the team significantly regressed in 1988–89, losing 20 games, the most in school history. Wade was forced to resign on May 12, 1989, after only three years as head coach, compiling a 36–50 record, including only seven wins in ACC play. His resignation came amid allegations that he brokeNCAA rules in dealing with players and recruits. While criticized for his coaching abilities, his ability to recruit was not in question. In only two years of recruiting (he was hired too late for any serious recruiting his first year), Wade landed three NBA first round draft picks in Brian Williams,Jerrod Mustaf andWalt Williams.
An investigation found that, among other things, Wade had provided a loan to one of his recruits and provided free clothes to his players. More seriously, Wade lied to the NCAA on several occasions, and even went as far as to hold a meeting with his staff to coordinate plans to lie to the NCAA. In one of the toughest penalties handed out by the NCAA for such transgressions, the Terps were placed on three years' probation, banned from postseason play in 1991 and 1992 and kicked off live television for the1990–91 season. Their 1988 NCAA Tournament appearance was also scrubbed from the books due to ineligible players. Wade himself was hit with a five-yearshow-cause order, which effectively blackballed him from the collegiate ranks until 1995.[6]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland Terrapins(Atlantic Coast Conference)(1986–1989) | |||||||||
| 1986–87 | Maryland | 9–17 | 0–14 | 8th | |||||
| 1987–88 | Maryland | 18–13* | 6–8 | 5th | NCAA round of 32 | ||||
| 1988–89 | Maryland | 9–20 | 1–13 | 8th | |||||
| Maryland: | 36–50^ (.419) | 7–35 (.167) | |||||||
| Total: | 36–50 (.419) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
* 1988 NCAA Tournament appearance was vacated due to ineligible players; official record is 17–12.
^ Record at Maryland is 35–49 (7–35 ACC) without vacated games.
| International | |
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| National | |
