Hall of Fame
Virgil Wallace joined the Newberry Indians’ basketball team from Keenan HS in Columbia in 1978. He went on to play in 131 games for the scarlet and gray, averaging 16.2 points per game for his career – a total of 2,124 points. He was named an NAIA honorable mention All-American in 1981-82 after two seasons as an all-District 6 honoree. He led the Indians to four consecutive 20-win seasons, which has not been approached in the 30 seasons since then. He was a District 6 All-Star, W.L. Laval Award winner and President’s Award winner in his senior year of 1982. As a junior, he was selected to play in Australia with an NAIA all-star team and averaged 30.1 points and 19.1 rebounds per game. He was a slam dunk champion, won the league rebounding trophy, American team MVP and all-star game MVP while Down Under. His Newberry records of 44 points and 25 rebounds in a game against Coker in 1982 still stand today. He earned a free agent invitation from the Portland Trail Blazers and was the only NAIA player to start on their rookie team. He went on to a professional career in Brazil with Club Atletico do Monte Libano in Sao Paulo. He was the city MVP and led his team to their first ever national title, hitting the game winning shot in a 75-73 win in the finals. They also finished second in South America and fourth in the world games. He also won MVP honors in a tournament in Kuwait. “Magic” was also a great student, earning a degree in political science on the dean’s list. He was the 1982 winner of the Fred V. Lester award for academic excellence.
