Vanderbilt's Roy Skinner dies

NASHVILLE, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Roy Skinner, the most successful basketball coach in Vanderbilt University history, has died, officials said.

Skinner, 80, died Monday of respiratory failure at Southern Hills Medical Center, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported.

The four-time SEC Coach of the Year did more than just rack up wins at Vanderbilt in the 1960s and 1970s, the newspaper said. He broke ground by recruiting Perry Wallace, integrating the SEC with its first African-American player.

Skinner was just 28 years old when he first coached the Vanderbilt Commodores in 1958, becoming the permanent coach from 1961 to 1976 with a 278-135 record while leading Vanderbilt to a top-10 ranking eight times.

"He really set a standard of excellence and created a tradition of winning at Vanderbilt," Commodores Coach Kevin Stallings said.

"It's a sad day for everybody associated with Vanderbilt athletics," he said. "It's a really sad day."

Skinner, who was inducted into the Vanderbilt Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, is survived by his wife Nathleene as well as by children from a previous marriage.