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Beginning his 29th year as the Saluqis'
head coach, Verties Sails has guided his teams to nineteen Western
Division titles, fifteen TJCCAA State Championships, and nine Region VII
Championships and National Tournament appearances.
Sails holds a 612-240 career record at
Southwest for a
.718 winning percentage. Twelve times Coach Sails has been named TJCCAA Coach of the Year, and was inducted into the Tennessee Junior
and Community College Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2005,
Sails was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. In 2004,
Sails was inducted the National Junior College Athletic
Association Hall of Fame in Hutchinson, Kansas and also the Memphis
Amateur Sports Hall of Fame.
Sails was named head coach at Shelby
State in 1979 after serving as assistant coach at Memphis State
University for five years under Wayne Yates. He came to MSU from
Melrose High School in Memphis, where he compiled a 132-35 record and
led the Golden Wildcats to the Tennessee State Championship in 1974
with a perfect 35-0 record. Sails was twice voted high school Coach of
the Year while at Melrose (1970 and 1974).
Coach Sails has been involved in many
community acvitities, including Board of Directors for Dixie Homes
Boys Club, Special Olympics, Heart Fund Board of Directors, Leadership
Memphis, Charles Williams' Scholarship Committee Member, Memphis Park
Board Member, and Memphis and Shelby County Sports Authority. He was
also honored as one of President George Bush's 'Thousand Points of
Light', and is a Trustee and Deacon Board Member of First Baptist
Church, Chelsea.
Born March 28, 1942 in Rosemark,
Tennessee, Sails graduated from Woodstock High School in 1960. He
received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from LeMoyne-Owen
College in 1964, and a Masters in Education from Memphis State
University in 1967. Sails is married to the former LaFrancina Wilson,
and they have two children - Francesca Monique (age 32), and Verties
III (age 27).
Career Record >>
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