Appointed head basketball coach in 1989 to replace Don Devoe, Wade Houston was UT’s first African American head coach and the first African American head coach of a major sport in the Southeastern Conference. He came to UT from the University of Louisville, where he had been an assistant for 13 years. He grew up in Alcoa and played his high school basketball at Hall High. He was the first African American basketball player to be offered a scholarship at the University of Louisville.
Before joining the Louisville staff, Houston was head coach at Ahrens High School in Louisville and at Louisville Male High, where he guided his team to the state championship in 1975. At UT he posted two winning records in five years as head coach, and resigned February 28, 1994, following a 5-22 season. He was replaced by Kevin O’Neill.
In 2003 Houston’s son, Allan, who played basketball at Tennessee for his father, graduated in 1993 and went on to a distinguished professional basketball career. He established the Wade Houston Scholarships, to be awarded to four African American undergraduate students annually.