Former Vanderbilt basketball star Will Perdue will be teaming up with the VandySports podcast as an occasional co-host.

Perdue, the 1988 Southeastern Conference basketball Player of the Year as well as the league's Athlete of the Year, announced his involvement with the podcast during an episode released on Jan. 20.

Perdue spent 13 seasons in the NBA over a 792-game career between the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trailblazers, winning three titles with the Bulls and one with the Spurs. But his passion for Vanderbilt never left once he left campus.

"This [podcast] is an idea that [we] have been tossing around for a quite a while. ... As most people know, I, as an individual and a person am very passionate about Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt athletics, because of the time I invested and spent there, I can honestly say, it was some of the best times of my life, if not the best," Perdue explained on his Jan. 20 podcast appearance. "And that's saying a lot because of what I was able to accomplish once I walked off that campus."

Perdue, who has his degree from Vanderbilt, remains connected across the athletic department and the administrative and academic side of the college. He hopes to use those connections and as his relationships with former players and coaches to bring guests to the podcast.

Perdue has also been a critic of Vanderbilt at times, and hopes this gives a voice to people who'd like to see Vanderbilt athletics succeed. However, he said on the Jan. 20 episode that while he remains frustrated with the pace of progress and some athletics-related decisions at Vanderbilt, the podcast will serve to talk about good things happening at the school in addition to the issues that need addressing.

"What Vanderbilt made me, from a boy to a man, to the things that I learned--in the classroom, yes, but also just what [coach]] C.M. Newton taught me--to what I learned from other administrators in my time there, those within McGugin, those within the halls of the university itself, and the numerous classes that I took. Somehow, some way, I hope that this podcast becomes something that will help facilitate maybe a better relationship between the university and the athletic department, a better relationship between alumni and most notably former athletes and the university and the athletic department... hopefully maybe... we, together, can become a voice of reason.

"I don't want people to think this is a podcast where [we] come out all the time and bang on the athletic department for the mistakes they've made, and the things they're doing wrong. It's also when things are going well, to compliment and point those things out. It's a multi-purpose podcast."

Perdue maintains a busy schedule as a college basketball analyst for Westwood One while also working for NBC Sports Chicago covering the Bulls. His next appearance on the VandySports podcast is scheduled for Feb. 15.

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