commodore nation - april 2008

April 2008

HOW SWEET IT IS!HOW SWEET IT IS!CHRISTINA WIRTH HELPS ADVANCE VANDERBILT

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

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C O M M O D O R E N AT I O NC O M M O D O R E N AT I O N 1vucommodores.com

table of contents2 Connecting With The Web

4 National Commodore Club

6 In My Words Alan Metcalfe

7 Commodores Cubed Know your Commodores

8 Point of View Amanda Taylor

9 Another Year, Another Dance Women’s hoops makes it nine in a row

11 Commodore Tidbits By the numbers

13 It’s My Turn — Rod Williamson Sustaining the momentum

14 Balancing Act Jamie Graham overcomes tragic past

16 Men’s Hoops Season In Review Relive the 2007-08 season

20 Quick Hits A look at Vanderbilt’s sports teams

21 A Look Ahead View the athletic schedule in April

23 Where Are They Now? Former VU linebacker Jamie Duncan

24 The Last Look

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Editorial

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

Editor-in-Chief: Ryan Schulz

Director of Media Relations: Rod Williamson

Designers: Jeremy Teaford

Ryan Schulz

Digital Image Specialist: Julie Luckett Turner

Photographers: Neil Brake

Todd Drexler

Daniel Dubois

Steve Green

Stan Jones

Paul J. Levy

John Russell

Gary Stepic

Contributors: Andy Boggs

Chad Crunk

John Erck

Larry Leathers

Nick Petrone

Thomas Samuel

Amanda Taylor

Chris Weinman

Administrative

Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos

Vice Chancellor for University Affairs: David Williams II

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs: Michael J. Schoenfeld

Exec. Director National Commodore Club: Jeff Ulmer

Vanderbilt University’s Mission, Goals and ValuesVanderbilt University is a center for scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large. Vanderbilt will uphold the highest standards and be a leader in the quest for new knowledge through scholarship, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and outreach, and creative experimentation of ideas and concepts. In pursuit of these goals, Vanderbilt values most highly intellectual freedom that supports open inquiry; and equality, com-passion and excellence in all endeavors.

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity,affirmative action university.

ON THE COVER: Christina Wirth (Photo by Gary Stepic)

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to National Commodore Club, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, TN 37212.

SUBSCRIPTION: To subscribe to Commodore Nation, please contact the National Commodore Club at 615/322-4114.

ADVERTISEMENT: To advertise with Commodore Nation, please contact Vanderbilt ISP Sports.Stacy Hall, General Manager615/[email protected]

Photo StoreDecorate your home or workplace with the purchase of exclusive Vanderbilt photos. The photos range from images of Vanderbilt’s campus and athletic venues to action shots from Vanderbilt’s sporting events. There are three ways to purchase photos: custom framed, gallery wrapped canvas and unframed prints.

VUCOMMODORES.COM

Connect with

Vanderbilt Merchandise The latest Vanderbilt merchan-dise is available for purchase at Vanderbilt’s offi cial online store. The store features more than 100 items ranging from T-shirts to autographed basketballs to ties.

Joe Fisher’s Daily UpdateListen to what the Voice of the Commodores has to say about Vanderbilt on a daily basis. Fisher’s daily Vanderbilt updates on Nash-ville’s 104.5 The Zone are archived for your listening pleasure.

PodcastsDownload archived audio fi les to your computer or media device. Audio fi les available for download include postgame interviews, weekly press conferences, Joe Fisher’s daily updates and weekly radio interviews.

Commodore Nation ArchiveDid you miss an issue or wanted to show an article to a friend? If so, every issue of Commodore Nation from the 2007-08 academic year is archived on VUCommodores.com. There also is a survey you can fi ll out to provide feedback and ideas.

Online AuctionsPlace a bid on exclusive Commo-dore merchandise through Vander-bilt’s offi cial online auctioning. A few recent items up for auction have been an autographed baseball jersey by Tim Corbin and an autographed game program by the 2007-08 men’s basketball team.


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CORNERCOMMODORE CLUB

PHONE: 615/322-4114 vucommodores.com

It’s Performance That Counts

By Jeff UlmerNCC Executive Director

After watching the Commodore basket-ball team defeat the nation’s No. 1 ranked team (again) and the Commodore baseball team eclipse the defending College World Series Champions, I was reminded how fortunate Vanderbilt’s sports programs are for the support and generosity of its alumni and fans. Unless you were there, you can’t possibly imagine the electricity and excitement that filled Memorial Gym as the buzzer sounded and the orange shirts left the court in defeat. And just a few years ago who would have imagined that Commodore baseball season tickets would be sold out, even with expanded bleacher seating? But the fruits of your generous gifts are starting to be realized.

Even with limited financial resources (that cannot hold a candle to those of our conference peers) Vanderbilt continues to persevere. A famous coach once said “getting to the top is a lot easier than stay-ing there.” Vanderbilt is getting closer to the top, but we are much more concerned about our long-term ability to stay there. If we could just harness the enthusiasm we saw in Memorial Gym after the Tennessee game and transform that enthusiasm into dollars, Commodore athletics would be guaranteed a future of solvency, sustain-ability and competitiveness. But nothing is guaranteed unless we answer the chal-lenge of securing scholarship endow-ments and increasing annual gifts to the National Commodore Club.

Please consider how you can help by increasing your annual gifts to the NCC and making a campaign gift to support scholarships for our student-athletes. Consider what the Commodores have achieved in recent months, then imagine what could be achieved with the resourc-es of our SEC peers. If it’s performance that counts, the Commodores are doing their part. Let’s do our part and invest in our Commodores.

MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME WATCH AT SOUTH CAROLINA

NCC Members Will Zink, Chris Carter, JR Hand, Robert Ransom, K.C. Dyer and Jay Smith get together with a group of young alumni at Sportsman’s Grille to watch the VU men’s basketball game at South Carolina.

Howard, Chip, Jerry and Steven Fridrich gather in the Admiral’s Club at halftime of the victory over Tennessee.

Miller Orr, Jay Baker, Robert Brown and Lucas Spickard

MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME VS. TENNESSEE



The 2020 Society comprises members of the National Commodore Club, age 40 and younger, who contribute at least $100 annually. If you have been giving to the NCC at this level and are younger than 41, you automatically are in the 2020 Society. The Society is a creation of the 2020 Advisory Committee, a group of young alumni committed to increasing young membership in the National Commodore Club and promoting VU Athletics. If you are a non-alumni member of the NCC and qualify for the 2020 Society but have not been notified, please contact Cal Cook at [email protected] or 615/343-4878.

Vanderbilt Athletics and the National Commodore Club endeavor to endow all athletics scholar-ships. To help in that task, the NCC has cre-ated a new endowment level called the Black and Gold Society. Black and Gold Society members create an opportunity for a student-athlete while receiving full benefits of the Dudley Society with a five-year, $100,000 com-mitment. For more information on the Black and Gold Society and Athletic Scholarship Endowments, please contact John Erck at [email protected] or 615/322-7922.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME VS. TENNESSEE

You should have recently received your member-ship renewal for the National Commodore Club. Please mail it in, call 615/322-4114, click vucom-modores.com or stop by the office in the McGugin Center to make your gift. Every gift is allocated toward the goal of funding student-athlete schol-arships. This year’s membership deadline is May 31 (Vanderbilt’s fiscal year ends June 30). Thank you for your continued support of Vanderbilt Athletics. Your Membership Matters!

JOIN THE NCC OR RENEW TODAY!

The 2020 Society comprises members of the National Commodore Club, age 40 and younger, who contribute at least $100 annually. If you have been giving to the NCC at this level and are younger than 41, you automatically are in the 2020 Society. The society is a creation of the 2020 Advisory Committee, a group of young alumni committed to increasing young membership in the National Commodore Club and promoting VU Athletics. If you are a non-alumni member of the NCC and qualify for the 2020 Society but have not been notified, please contact Cal Cook at [email protected] or 615/343-4878.

2020 SOCIETY

MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME VS. GEORGIA

NCC’s Cal Cook (left) presents a game ball to Kaye and Ron Knox for their commit-ment to the Vanderbilt Athletic Scholarship endowment.

The NCC hosted a halftime event in the Admiral’s Room for all members.

Marcia McKinney and Wilbur Fesmire Sally and Chuck Thompson

Ken Massey with Jim and Ina Hitt in the Admiral’s Room at halftime. Former athletes and NCC members Jay Cutler and Brandt Snedeker

JOIN THE BLACK AND GOLD ENDOWMENT SOCIETY


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In My Words

On the basketball player he grew up idolizing

John Amaechi is really the guy that I look up to. We had the same coach (in England). We are pretty good friends and stay in touch. He’d always beat me

when he’d come home, of course, because he was in the NBA at that time. He actually got a start in

basketball after playing rugby, too, when he was 15 or 16, so maybe I can be on the same track as him – go to Europe and then come back to the NBA.

On how he developed his

outside shooting touch

I think some of it goes back to rugby. When you pass a rugby ball you try to rotate it and spin it a little bit, so when I’m flicking my wrist I have a little bit more technique of holding the ball and following through.

On the popularity of basketball in England

Basketball probably ranks fourth or fifth. It’s not one of the top sports. It’s the same way as soccer in the U.S., where it is still getting bigger.

On the growth of basketball in England

It is getting a lot bigger. Still, there isn’t a lot of sponsorship, so the financing of teams isn’t great. You might get one or two players that are a decent wage, but everyone else has a job on the side to make ends meet.

On switching from playing rugby to playing basketball

I went on a tryout for rugby to go on a tour of Australia when I was 15. I got whiplash in the second trial and that stopped me from playing.

Alan

The self-proclaimed “best dart player at Vanderbilt,” senior center and St. Helens, England, native Alan Metcalfe enjoyed the most productive season of his four-year Vanderbilt career

this past season. Beyond the basketball court, the Commodores’ Brit-ish import is a marksman when it comes to throwing darts. He has lost just one match in the last two years. In May, Metcalfe will gradu-ate with a degree in economics and a minor in philosophy.

Metcalfe

On his aspirations after graduation

Hopefully I’ll be able to carry on playing somewhere in Europe. I don’t really want to play in England yet. The competition isn’t great there, and the money is even worse. I just want to play for a couple of more years and get a little bit more expe-rience. I really enjoy coaching. When I was back home, I would coach our high school team and a couple of other teams. That is something I would look into doing long-term.



keeganBELL

Basketball

andyPULIDO

Tennis

julieBARTHOLOMEW

Golf

lizSHERWOOD

Basketball

Funniest Teammate

Alex (Red) Gordon

Nick CromydasJacqui

ConcolinoJessica Mooney

Worst Reality Show

Flavor of Love 3

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

The Moment of Truth

Flavor of Love 3

Jeans or Shorts

Jeans Shorts Shorts Shorts

Sport I Would Like To Play In College

Besides My Own

Football Basketball Basketball Volleyball

Favorite Number

35 — I used to

wear it in soccer

4732 because of Magic Johnson

Number of States I Have

Lived In

5 — My dad was a college

basketball coach

22 — Tennessee

and Georgia5

Would You Rather Be a Musician or

Actor/Actress

Actor Musician Musician Actress

Favorite Professional

AthleteSteve Nash Tiger Woods Chipper Jones Shaq

Commodores CubedOn making the England national team

I had only been playing basketball for six months at the time. I went on a tryout for the national team, and within three months I was on the national team. They saw some-thing in me that I could become a decent player. They stuck with me, and I never looked back.

On trying to help England make the

2012 Olympics

Hopefully next year I’ll be back on the men’s (national) team, and in 2012 we can represent in London at the Olympics. That would be a great experience.

On how he picked up playing darts

My dad got me my first dartboard when I was 10 years old. My grandma (Mary Metcalfe) won a lot of tournaments in our region. She would beat me when I was younger, so it ran in the family a little bit with the eye accuracy of the darts. My dad and I would just throw, and he would always beat me until about four years ago.

On where he plays in Nashville

The Villager and Buffalo Billiards. They both have dart boards that are pretty good.

On his favorite dart player of all-time

Dennis “The Menace” Priestley

On if guys on the team have taken a

liking to darts

It is picking up in the U.S. a little bit. We had it on T.V. in the locker room a couple of times and guys were asking me what was going on. We talked about it a little bit.

On if anyone on the team has ever

challenged him

I had a dartboard in my room last year, and Dan Cage challenged me a couple of times. He got really good, and he’s one of those guys that if he starts something, he will practice until he can beat you. ■

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Editor’s Note: Each month “Commo-dore Nation” will ask a varsity athlete to sound off on a point of personal interest. Taylor is a senior on Vander-bilt’s tennis team. She interned with Amnesty International last summer.

H elen Keller once said, “Life is either a daring adven-ture or it is nothing.”

It seems rare in our driven and pressurized cul-ture that we have the opportunity, amid all the commit-ments, obligations and responsibilities of every day, to step outside our routine and turn life into an adventure. The world of a Vanderbilt student-athlete is extremely sus-ceptible to this problem, as our efforts toward academics, sports, extracurriculars and more lock up most of our time and energy. It’s a blessed life, but a demanding one, par-ticularly if we want to take Ms. Keller’s advice.

However, in 2007 when my Human and Organizational Develop-ment major required me to find a summer intern-ship, I stumbled upon my chance to ditch the routine and stretch my-self in ways I never had before. I thus chose a city I’d never been to, where I didn’t know a

soul, with an organization I had pitifully little knowledge of — it was fantastic. The political scientist in me steered my applications right to Washington, D.C., and the future community organizer in me found some much-needed nonprofit experience in Amnesty International, USA.

Though I was armed with little more than enthusiasm for my internship, the wonderful people I worked for took me into their family without hesitation. Amnesty International is the largest human rights advocacy organization in the world with more than 2.2 million members; my job consist-ed of communicating with members, organizing events, recruiting AI leaders and conducting interviews. I even hosted a rap concert and rally on Capitol Hill to promote the AI cause. I learned quickly and with sincere interest about the many people around the world in need of a voice and the passionate and dedicated individuals who spend their lives in pursuit of providing one for them.

I also fell in love with D.C. immediately. I had an amazing roommate in a tremendously horrible and dirty George-town basement. I took the bus to work, which provided me a priceless view of the White House every morning. On a tour of the Capitol building I ran into quite a few Con-gressmen who made this political science nerd quite star-struck. I worked out in Georgetown University’s gym, and every Saturday morning I’d watch their basketball team, including Tyler Crawford and Roy Hibbert, play pickup or run drills. It was incredible how diving headfirst into the unfamiliar made every little thing an adventure.

I can hardly expect to be able to convey my gratitude for the whole experience. I’d imagine though, if Helen Keller were offering up more advice, it’d be to show appreciation by returning to the “routine” with a whole heart and the spirit to find what’s extraordinary within the ordinary. ■

Point of View

By Amanda Taylor

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Taylor (left) with fellow Amnesty International interns.



Cathy SwezeyHead Lacrosse CoachSwezey is in her 11th season as head coach of Vanderbilt’s lacrosse team. In 2007, the team played host to an NCAA Tournament game for the fi rst time in school history.

How much has having a team at Van-derbilt helped the growth of lacrosse among girls in Nashville?

I think Vanderbilt has played a huge role in that. There was boys lacrosse here before our sport being added to Vanderbilt, so I’m sure girls were drawn to the sport because seeing boys playing it made them more interested. I think having the opportunity for people to see girls play the sport and see the differences between the boys and girls play made a dif-ference. We tried to get out into the commu-nity early on. We ran different clinics, and we like to think that we had a big part in getting it started in this area.

Why do you think lacrosse has grown so much in Nashville and nationally?

I think it is the culture of the sport. You see it in a lot of adolescent movies, and people seem to be drawn to that. It is very fan-friendly, it is fun to play and it allows for a lot of creativity.

You played lacrosse and fi eld hockey in college, why did you choose to coach lacrosse?

It was truly just a pure sport preference. When I was playing (fi eld) hockey, I loved it, but I always loved lacrosse. Year round I thought about when I was going to get to step out onto that fi eld again. With (fi eld) hockey, I dreaded it and then when I was in it, I enjoyed it. I think it is the freedom of the sport and the creativity. There is so much strategy that can be coached, which makes it really exciting.

How important of a step was it to host an NCAA Tournament game last year?

It is big. I felt last year was a step for us back in the right direction. I’m also highly hopeful that it is the beginning of consistency where we don’t have down years or rebuilding years.

What is the best advice another coach ever gave you?

I’m not sure if it is the best, but something came to my mind immediately. “You have to hate losing more than you love winning.” – Sharon Pfl uger, lacrosse coach at TCNJ (Trenton College New Jersey). ■

Compliance questions? Please contact:Candice Storey George Midgett John PeachDirector of Compliance Compliance Coordinator Compliance Coordinator615/322-7992 615/322-2083 615/[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

CORNERC O M P L I A N C E

Another Year, Another NCAA Tournament

Q:

A:

A few student-athletes would like to work on one of the presidential candidate’s cam-paign this spring and summer. Is it permissible for student-athletes to endorse political candidates?

Yes. NCAA Staff Interpretation - 12/30/87 - Student-athlete Endorsement of Political Candidate - states that enrolled student-athletes could be involved in the endorse-ment of a political candidate provided the student-athletes receive no remuneration for their involvement and are not obligated to make any time commitments; sug-gested that the following disclaimer be utilized in any press releases containing their names: “The student-athletes are acting as citizens of the state, and do not neces-sarily represent the views of their institutions of higher education or the NCAA.”

Current employment legislation (Bylaw 12.4.1) would allow a student-athlete to earn income as any other employee in the candidate’s offi ce (e.g., stuffi ng envelopes, handing out fl iers).

There are 338 programs that play Divi-sion I women’s basketball. Of those programs, just three percent or 11 of

them have advanced to the NCAA Tourna-ment each of the last nine seasons. One of those programs is Vanderbilt.

In addition to Vanderbilt, the list of pro-grams that have also played in the last nine NCAA Tournaments reads like the Who’s Who of wom-en’s college basketball: Connecticut, Duke, Geor-gia, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Old Domin-ion, Purdue, Stanford and Tennessee.

It isn’t something you will see on ESPN or on the front page of the newspaper, but be-ing one of the select few to make the NCAA Tour-nament each year since 1999-2000 is quite a remark-able feat.

Making the streak even more impres-sive is the fact that it was started by former head coach Jim Foster and has continued under Melanie Balcomb, who has taken the Commodores to the Big Dance each of her six seasons.

“I think it says a lot for our stability in our program and our consistency,” Balcomb said. “Everybody has peaks and valleys, and this was one of the years where we thought we might have to take a dip down with only one senior and two juniors. We

have come a long way, and I’m really proud of our improvement and I’m proud of the staff and the players.”

It is no team’s birthright that it will make the NCAA Tournament every year, but for many Vanderbilt fans it may seem that way. VU has not only made the last nine

tournaments, it also has made 21 of the last 23 tournaments.

In a day and age where ex-pectations of fans can be

as tall as the ocean is wide, Vanderbilt’s ac-complishments have created an expecta-tion that the program will be successful ev-ery year.

“After you do well, the expectations fol-

low that,” Balcomb said. “The expectation to

overachieve no matter how many upperclassmen we have

is defi nitely here at Vanderbilt.” Even with the number of trips to the

NCAA Tournament piling up, Balcomb knows that each trip to the tournament is special, and an invitation should never be taken for granted.

“We look forward to wherever we go,” Balcomb said. “It is March, you want to be playing and you don’t really care where it is.” ■Editor's note: CN went to print after Vander-bilt advanced to its 13th Sweet 16 in the last 19 years with a 64-46 win over West Virginia.

CORNERC O A C H E S ’

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11 Wins recorded by Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team in SEC play — the most in school history.

25 The number of regular season wins recorded by Vander-bilt’s men’s basketball team, tying the 1992-93 team for the most in school history.

114 The previous record for the most singles wins in VU women’s tennis history until Taka Bertrand broke Julie Ditty’s record on March 21.

67.3 The fi eld-goal percentage for Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball team in the fi rst round of the SEC Tournament — just one percentage point off the tournament record of 68.3.

50 The number of NFL scouts and executives in atten-dance at Vanderbilt’s NFL Pro Day on March 21.

42 The number of points scored by Shan Foster against Mississippi State in his fi nal home game — two shy of the school record set by Tom Hagan in 1969.

9 The number of consecutive three-pointers Foster hit to end the Mississippi State game — a school record for the most three-pointers in a game.

• Vanderbilt’s Building `Dores program has almost doubled in size this year with almost 130 schools and tens of thousands of students participating. The pro-gram challenges local elementary school students to participate in 30 min-utes of physical activity every day for two weeks. The program rewards these students with a free ticket to a football or women’s basketball game. Win-ning students and their families often end up coming out to several additional games after they experience one. This program has been extremely successful in building the next generation of Vanderbilt fans.

• Shan Foster joined Dan Langhi as the only Vanderbilt players to win the Associ-ated Press and Coaches Player of the Year honors in the SEC.

• Vanderbilt’s win over top-ranked Tennessee on Feb. 26 marked the fourth con-secutive time that a No. 1 ranked team has visited Memorial Gym and come away with a loss. Vanderbilt fi nished the season undefeated at home for the fi rst time since the 1992-93 season.

• Vanderbilt track and fi eld Coach D’Andre Hill was honored at halftime of LSU’s fi rst game at the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament as LSU’s SEC Great. Hill was a 15-time All-America sprinter at LSU and was a 1996 Olympian.

• Some may have noticed an increase in the number of local youth sporting teams at Vanderbilt sporting events. The group sales department has attended league meetings and developed partnerships with several local youth sports organiza-tions. Vanderbilt Athletics has put an emphasis on getting out in the community this year by using these meetings as a platform to grow the fan base.

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W hile economists debate whether we are in recession, let’s chat about financial matters much

closer to our hearts – those of our beloved Vanderbilt Commodores.

This awkward topic has long been one of the hardest for Vanderbilt administra-tors to discuss. There is widespread urban legend that athletic budgetary challenges are a Trojan Horse.

“Vanderbilt has a $3.5 billion endowment, it can fund anything it darn well chooses,” goes the incorrect reasoning. It’s faulty because each endowment gift comes with an earmark, and only a small fraction is designated for sports use. Athletics could not utilize this endowment money under any circumstance.

Once upon a time, not long ago, coaching positions at Vander-bilt were a stepping stone. There was a painful list of successful Commodore coaches that defected to supposedly greener pas-tures; Steve Sloan and Eddie Fogler are among those coming to mind for veteran fans.

However, over the past few years, Vanderbilt leadership has successfully fended off attempts by other institutions to hire away our top talent. At last, coaching at Vanderbilt might have become a destination, not that stepping stone.

But the hard facts of the matter are that keeping these high-profile aces comes with a price. As much as they care about the Commodores, none stayed for love alone. Could anyone blame them? Would any of us pass up a massive raise or a dream set of sparkling facilities without something in return?

At the start of this decade, the university built new athletic fa-cilities without passing the hat beyond a small corps of generous alumni. As a result, Commodore fans have enjoyed nationally rat-ed basketball teams, a baseball program that is one of America’s elite, an improving football team along with some Southeastern Conference titles and even an NCAA Championship.

The administration has made many tickets available at amaz-ingly low prices. Can you imagine watching our men’s basketball team produce a 19-0 home record along with several of the great-est games in school history, for $75? That’s $75 for the SEASON, not a game!

Discounted tickets helped build our base by introducing fans to our programs. Baseball season tickets are still priced at $99, about three bucks a game. We have a $25 season ticket for our quality women’s team, not much more than a dollar a game. There are deals in Vanderbilt Stadium, too.

Ah, life is great. As one of my first bosses used to say “people want to get to heaven without dying.”

We are now deep into plans for renovation and some new con-struction that will benefit all of our revenue sports. I need not mention this will be expensive, but it also is necessary.

There has been a facilities “arms race” in major college athlet-ics for years. Vanderbilt has chosen not to be a ringleader in that spending, but the reality is that we simply must upgrade certain facilities if we are to continue attracting blue-chip student-ath-letes and keep our outstanding coaches.

Why do I bring all this up? In the weeks and months ahead, you are going to be hearing Vanderbilt officials speaking of the need to generate new areas of revenue to help defray some of these expenses.

The university’s leadership has not just talked the talk; it has walked the walk by investing its own time, money and energy to transform our athletic program into one that we can all be proud to call our own. In time, it will become important for each one of us to realize we might need to do a little more than we have been if we are to continue these happy, golden days of glory. ■

It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson


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He remembers the day vividly. It is like a reoccurring bad dream. The day was Dec. 14, 1996 – the day that

would change Jamie Graham’s life forever. It is gameday now as Graham laces up

his sneakers to take the floor against top-ranked Tennessee. However, before he can take the floor, his mind flashes back to that December day. It is the picture in his locker of his mother, Jamie Denise, that takes him back. As he does before each game, Graham kisses the picture and heads to the court.

He’d much rather be able to kiss her.On that day in 1996, Graham was at

basketball practice one minute and being rushed to the hospital the next.

His mother had been stabbed 13 times with a knife while trying to break up a spat between two others.

Graham was just 8 years old at the time. He was terrified and befuddled. He didn’t have a father figure at the time, and his mom had just passed.

“After hearing that she’d been stabbed, I just broke down,” Graham said. “Even going back to school was tough. It was around Christmas, which made it even tougher having a Christmas without her.”

After his mother’s death, Graham and his younger brother Jamonte, now 12,

moved in with his grandmother, Hattie. Hattie would work until 7 p.m., so his un-cle, Odell Bradley, and his aunt, Coman-eci Graham, watched Jamie and Jamonte until Hattie got home from work. Despite being so young, an additional amount of responsibility was placed on Jamie to watch over Jamonte.

“As I grew up, the responsibility fell upon me to take care of my little brother and make sure he was going to school on time and make sure he was up and ready,” Graham said. “It all came down on me.”

Instead of taking the easy way out and straying the wrong direction after the trag-edy, Graham has stayed on course. That extra responsibility has helped him grow into the person he is today.

“It will make you grow up quickly,” said Anthony Law, Graham’s football coach at Whites Creek High School. “He handled the whole situation so well, that it had to work out for him.”

Even now as a freshman at Vanderbilt, Graham maintains his father-like watch over Jamonte.

“He is the only one staying in the house with my grandma right now, so I tell him to take care of her and make sure he is taking care of his business at school,” Graham said. “I gave the school my number, so if

he gets in trouble at school, they can call me. If I have to leave from my class, then I’ll leave just to make sure that he’s doing all right because in the long run he’s going to have to take care of me one day.”

That type of maturity and responsi-bility is one of the reasons why Graham has been able to accomplish something during the 2007-08 school year that no other student-athlete in the Southeastern Conference has: play both basketball and football.

“It is very special,” said Graham, who is on a football scholarship and is a walk-on on the basketball team. “I give thanks to God for giving me the ability to do both.”

Just how rare is Graham’s ability to play both sports at Vanderbilt? You have to go back to Fred Baker during the 1994-95 season to find the last Commodore to play both.

As impressive as it is for Graham to be able to balance two sports in the SEC while being actively involved in raising Jamonte, it may be even more impressive how he has been able to maintain his academics.

“Grades are actually the most impor-tant thing that allow me to do both,” said the secondary education major. “As long as I keep my grades up I’ll always be able to do both and keep my mind right.”

Overcoming Tragedy To Tackle Two Sports

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Graham admits that it isn’t easy to bal-ance everything, but credits the support he has received from Vanderbilt for help-ing him juggle multiple tasks.

“It’s tough, but you have so many sources, especially going to Vander-bilt and being an athlete,” Graham said. “When it comes to class work and home-work, I rarely think about it because it is just natural to do it. I do it and then I go to

practice so it’s not as hard as most people would think. It is definitely tough, but I just get through it some way, somehow.”

The fact that Graham has been able to balance everything doesn’t come as a surprise to Law.

“I think Jamie made up his mind a long time ago that he was going to do what-ever it took to get whatever it was when he wanted, and he was going to do it the right way,” Law said. “I believe that it is paying off for him now. He is one of those kids that are relentless, and he will not settle for just finishing, he wants to finish on top.”

Paying off it is, but reaching his goal of being a mult-sport athlete in college was not always as clear for Graham, who grew up idolizing former professional football and baseball player Deion Sanders.

“My mind frame in high school was to always try to go somewhere where I could play two sports,” Graham said.

However, after redshirting as a defen-sive back on the football team this past fall, Graham was not sure he should try to play basketball.

“After the football season was over, (Coach Bobby Johnson) talked with me and wanted to see if I wanted to play (basketball),” Graham said. “I was hav-ing mixed emotions about it because af-ter being redshirted I wasn’t sure if I was

feeling like making the switch to basketball.”

Graham eventually got over those initial worries and joined the basketball team on Dec. 4. He made his first game ap-pearance against UT-Martin on Dec. 29.

The transition from football to basket-ball actually was not as hard as Graham imagined it would be.

“It was actually better than I thought,” Graham said of the transition. “It was a hard transition as far as physical wise, but everybody is close, so it was as perfect as you can get. They invited me with open arms.”

Especially helpful during Graham’s transition were seniors Shan Foster and Alex “Red” Gordon.

“Whenever I needed to learn a play, (Shan) told me I could just come to his room, and that I could come there any-time,” said Graham of Foster, whose lock-er is beside his. “For anything I needed, I could call Shan or Red.”

Being able to pick the brain of two of Vanderbilt’s leaders certainly helped Gra-ham develop into a solid contributor off the bench at the end of the season.

“It’s not fair for a guy to disrupt our entire first-team offense by himself and not play,” basketball Coach Kevin Stall-ings said after Graham played six minutes against Tennessee on Feb. 26. “You have to reward the guys that are productive on a consistent basis in practice.”

Playing that type of ball-hawking de-fense, much like a defensive back, is one of Graham’s signatures.

“I take pride in it,” said Graham of his defense. “I don’t want anyone on the other team to get by me. Even Shan (Fos-ter) and I laugh about it if I guard him (in practice) because he’ll tell me about how much I wear him out. After a practice he’ll come to me and say, ‘Thank you, you are getting me ready for what I’m going to see in the game.’”

That type of energy that he exudes, in addition to him being a local product, made Graham a fan favorite at basketball games. Every time he would sub in or out of a game, he would get the loudest ap-plause of any of the reserves.

“It is a great feeling,” Graham said. “The fans actually pump me up to play harder.”

Despite his commitment to basket-ball in the winter, Graham continued to lift weights with football, and although

he missed the start of spring football practice because of the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, Graham slid right back into football when basketball was finished.

This summer he hopes to work out with the football and basketball teams, and he has his sights set on playing both sports throughout college.

“I definitely want to (play both sports) all four years, especially with the fans, teammates and coaches, there is a bond there,” Graham said. “That is something I’d love to do since I already started it.”

Even though he still has many bright years ahead of him at Vanderbilt, it hasn’t stopped Graham from setting his sights on his future plan of being a coach.

And his reason for wanting to be a coach shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

“I enjoy being a mentor,” Graham said. “There are not a lot of mentors in high school right now being an influence to a lot of younger children. I want to be able to help people out. When I was there, it was basically my high school coaches who were my mentors.”

For as much of an impact his coaches have had on him throughout his life, he has had even more of an impact on them and any others that know him.

“I tell you what, if he goes off and does his thing and still wants to get into coach-ing, and he wants to coach for me, he’ll be my No. 1 hire,” Law said. ■

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Graham redshirted at defensive back for Vanderbilt in 2007.

Graham fires up the crowd in Vanderbilt’s 41-point rout of Kentucky.

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2007-08 Season In Review

A Test of Will Although the Commodores’ home season will most be remembered for their triumphs over Kentucky and Tennessee, Vanderbilt’s most difficult challenge came from South Alabama. The Jaguars battled Vanderbilt toe-to-toe at Memorial Gym for two over-times before the Commodores were able to escape with a 91-88 win.

The streak beginsVanderbilt dominated a very strong Austin Peay team with an 81-67 win. The win was Vanderbilt’s first of its school-record 16 straight wins to start the season. The 16-0 start topped the previous mark of 12-0 set by the 2003-04 team.

Double Overtime At RuppBidding to become the first team to ever win three straight games at Kentucky, Vanderbilt came from 16 points back in the second half to force overtime. However, the Commodores were not able to seize the momentum, and Kentucky prevailed 79-73 in the first double overtime game in the his-tory of Rupp Arena.

11/29/07

11/10/07

Memorial Madness/SEC OpenerBefore opening SEC play against South Carolina, Vanderbilt held Memorial Madness at the gym before the game. Emceed by Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Jensen Lewis, the pep rally featured a No. 32 jersey giveaway, free pizza and performances by the band and cheerleaders to name a few. With the crowd revved from the pep rally, the Commodores came out and moved their record to 16-0 with an 80-73 win over South Carolina. A.J. Ogilvy dominated the Gamecocks, scoring a team-high 25 points.

1/12-30/08

Rocky ToppedAfter losing in double overtime at Kentucky, Vanderbilt had the unenviable task of trav-eling to Knoxville to play No. 6 Tennessee. Vanderbilt entered the game averaging 86 points per game, but only scored 60 in an 80-60 defeat. The Commodores shot just 3-of-21 from beyond the arc.

1/12/08

Foster Sets Career Scoring MarkHaving won seven consecutive games, including its last four at home, Vanderbilt hit a bump at Arkansas in its first road game since Feb. 9. Despite Shan Foster breaking Matt Freije’s all-time Vanderbilt scoring record with a team-high 22 points, Vanderbilt fell 78-73.

3/1/08

No. 1 And DoneFor the second straight year and for the fourth straight time, a team entered Memorial Gym with a No. 1 ranking and left with a loss. This time it was intra-state rival Tennessee, which had just earned its first No. 1 ranking in the 99-year history of the program the day before. Behind a 32-point effort by Shan Foster, Vanderbilt topped Rocky Top 72-69. The win didn’t come easy, as all three of Vanderbilt’s top scorers had at least three fouls with 14:44 to play. Most notably plagued by fouls was A.J. Ogilvy, who played just 12 minutes and scored a season-low four points.

2/26/08

Unfriendly RoadVanderbilt was dealt the unlucky hand of being the only team in the league to play six of its first nine games of the season on the road. Vanderbilt opened the difficult stretch with a double-overtime loss at Kentucky. The loss would be the first of a 1-4 start during the opening half of the stretch. Vanderbilt would then lose at Tennessee, Florida and Ole Miss. Sandwiched in between trips to Knoxville and Gainesville, Vanderbilt defeated LSU.

Gordon Sinks The GatorsTrailing by one (58-57) with 24 seconds to play, Alex Gordon stepped to the line and calmly sank two free throws to give Vanderbilt the lead. After Florida turned the ball over on the ensuing posses-sion, Gordon returned to the line and made two more free throws with 13.8 seconds to play, giving Vanderbilt a 61-58 victory.

Although the 2007-08 season came to an end sooner than expected, the year will undoubtedly be remembered as one of Vanderbilt’s finest. Finishing with a 26-8 record, the team posted the second-best record

in school history and got off to the best start in school history (16-0). The Commodores also finished with a perfect record at Memorial Gym (19-0) for the first time since the 1992-93 season.

The year will also be remembered for the play of Shan Foster and the ar-rival of freshman A.J. Ogilvy. The two formed an inside-outside duo like few in school history. Foster earned Vanderbilt’s second consecutive SEC Player of the Year honor (Derrick Byars) and became the school’s all-time scoring leader. Ogilvy earned second team All-SEC honors and scored more points than any freshman in school history.

“This team was a special team this year,” Foster said. “We got a lot accom-plished. Any time you’re able to go 26-8, that’s doing something great.”

The senior class of Foster, Alex Gordon, Alan Metcalfe, Davis Nawankwo and Ross Neltner also left Vanderbilt as the program’s all-time winningest class with 85 wins. “They’re extremely special,” head coach Kevin Stallings said. “Not only as basketball players but more importantly as human beings. They’ve been everything that we desire to have at Vanderbilt and in our bas-ketball program, from a character standpoint, from an attitude standpoint.”

Overall, the season was one of the most exciting in school history. Relive the momentous games of the 2007-08 season through the timeline below. ■

`Dores Sweep GeorgiaTrailing by one at the half, Vanderbilt went on a 21-5 run early in the second half to claim its first season sweep of Georgia since the 1999-2000 season. Shan Foster scored a game-high 29 points, and Alex Gordon chipped in 23 points, includ-ing seven three-pointers.

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Are They For Real?Entering the Georgia Tech game there were a lot question marks surrounding the legitimacy of Vanderbilt’s 6-0 start. No one knew how Vanderbilt would match up against a big, physical team from a power conference before the game, but the Commodores proved their worth with a 92-79 rout. Vanderbilt led by as many as 22 in the game. The win also moved Vanderbilt into the top 25 for the first time during the season.

Undefeated Non-ConferenceVanderbilt wrapped up its non-confer-ence slate with a perfect 15-0 mark by polishing off Massachusetts 97-88. The Commodores trailed by 13 midway through the first half before going on a 14-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Jermaine Beal finished with a career-best 19 points, while Foster paced the team with 32.

12/1/07

The ComebackSitting at 9-0 on the season, Vanderbilt looked dead in the water at DePaul, trailing by 18 in the second half. Nothing seemed to be falling for the Commodores until Alan Metcalfe and Keegan Bell came off the bench and poured in a career-high 18 and 12 points, respectively. Vanderbilt would force overtime and take a hard-fought 91-85 win.

12/12/07

Foster and Ogilvy ShowHaving climbed into the top 25 for the first time just two days earlier, Vanderbilt earned its second win over an ACC foe in as many games with an 83-80 victory over Wake Forest. The game may have had a much different ending had it not been for the play of A.J. Ogilvy and Shan Foster, who combined to score 49 of the team’s 83 points. No other Commodore reached double figures in the game.

Neltner returns to form After the team’s first two losses of the season at Kentucky and Tennesse where Vanderbilt committed 22 turn-overs in each game, including a total of 13 by Ross Neltner, the senior responded with a breakout game against LSU. Neltner finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and most impor-tantly zero turnovers in the 92-76 win.

Goodbye Road WoesVanderbilt ended a four-game los-ing streak on the road with a 67-59 win at Georgia. After not starting for each of the past two games, Ross Neltner returned to the start-ing lineup and led Vanderbilt to vic-tory with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

2/6/08

Kentucky FriedVanderbilt avenged its double-overtime loss at Rupp Arena exactly one month earlier by hand-ing Kentucky its worst conference loss ever. The Commodores built a 41-11 lead at the half en route to a 93-52 win. The 41-point loss was Kentucky’s worst loss since Dec. 9, 1989, and tied for the fifth-largest loss in school history. Shan Foster finished with 20 points and was single-handedly outscoring Kentucky until the 13:08 mark of the second half.

2/12/08

1/19/08

’Dores Scorch The Nets Playing in the first round of the SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt put on the second-best shooting performance in tournament history by connecting on 67.3 percent of its shots en route to a 93-82 win over Auburn. The shoot-ing percentage was just 1 percent off the tournament’s all-time mark of 68.3. The 93 points were also the most ever by a Vanderbilt team at the SEC Tournament. Individually, A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-13 shooting, and Shan Foster added 26 points.

3/13/08

Foster Scores 42 On Senior NightOn senior night, Shan Foster closed his career at Memorial Gym by put-ting on one of the most miraculous shooting performances in Vanderbilt history. Foster shot the Commodores to an 86-85 (OT) victory over Mississippi State by scoring 42 points, just two shy of Tom Hagan’s school record set in 1969. Making Foster’s numbers even more jaw-dropping was that he misfired on his first six three-pointers of the game before hitting his final nine three-point attempts. Maybe even more impressive is that his first three-pointer didn’t come until the 10:44 mark of the second half. The Commodores’ win gave them their first unde-feated record at Memorial Gym (19-0) since the 1992-93 season.

3/5/08

HogtiedVanderbilt’s bid for an SEC Tournament title came to a halt in the quarterfinals of the tournament with an 81-75 loss to Arkansas. The Commodores downfall came on the glass and in the paint where Arkansas outrebounded VU 45-24 and outscored the Commodores 50-20 in the paint. On a side note, the loss came just hours before a tornado ripped through Atlanta, forcing SEC officials to move the tournament to Georgia Tech.

3/14/08

Beal Beats Gamecocks At BuzzerTrailing by one with six seconds left, Jermaine Beal drove the length of the floor and hit a short fadeaway jumper with 0.6 seconds left to lift Vanderbilt to a 66-65 win at South Carolina. The win helped Vanderbilt (20-4) reach 20 wins faster than any previous Vanderbilt team.

2/9/08

Treacherous Tampa All great things must come to an end. For Vanderbilt, it ended sooner than expected — the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Maybe it wasn’t that shocking. After all, Vanderbilt’s first round game in the NCAA Tournament was at the site dubbed Treacherous Tampa, where all four of the lower-seeded teams pulled upsets in the first round. Seeded fourth for the first time in school history, the Commodores came out flat against 13th-seeded Siena, losing 83-62. VU made just 4-of-20 threes and allowed the Saints to shoot 56.5 percent from the floor.

3/21/08

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MEN’S SPORTSBaseball

Vanderbilt added bleacher seats beyond right fi eld of Hawkins Field on March 14. The bleachers accommodate 1,000 fans and will be open throughout SEC play. Vanderbilt opened Vandyville on March 15 against South Carolina. Van-dyville will be open for every Saturday home game the rest of the season.

• Vanderbilt fi nished a nine-game stretch (March 4-16) against four NCAA Regional teams from a year ago with a 7-2 record.

• During the stretch Vanderbilt won its lone game against Louisville, both games against Western Carolina and won two out of three games against Illinois-Chicago and South Carolina.

• Vanderbilt’s series loss to Alabama snapped a streak of nine straight series victories over SEC foes.

Basketball Shan Foster was named the Associated Press Player of the Year in the SEC on March 17, joining Dan Langhi as the only Vanderbilt players to win the award from both the me-dia and the coaches. Shan Foster’s SEC Player of the Year honor from the league’s coaches was the sec-ond in a row by a Vanderbilt player. Derrick Byars won last year. Also earning postseason SEC accolades was freshman A.J. Ogilvy, who was named Second Team All-SEC by the coaches and honorable mention All-SEC by the media. Shan Foster was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on March 10, becoming the fi rst SEC basketball player to win the award four times in one season since the league began the honor in 1985. Vanderbilt fi nished the season with a 19-0 record at home. It was the most home wins in Memorial Gym history and fi rst perfect season at home since 1992-93. Vanderbilt earned its second consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fi rst time since 1988 and 1989.

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Men’s Cross Country• The men’s cross country

team was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associa-tion All-Academic Team.

• The team posted a GPA of 3.54 – third-highest among 98 men’s programs that received the aca-demic honor. In order to be eligible for the award, a team must have compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet and had a minimum GPA of 3.00.

Football On March 11 Bobby John-son received the Grant Te-aff “Breaking the Silence” Award from the Jason Foun-dation for his efforts toward youth suicide prevention.

• Bobby Johnson announced the hiring of running backs coach Desmond Kitchings on Feb. 22. Kitchings comes to Vanderbilt from Western Michigan, though he only joined the WMU staff in January after spending four years as an offensive assistant at Furman, his alma mater.

• The Monday Morning Quarterback Club of Birmingham honored wide receiver Earl Bennett with a Special SEC Award in Feb-ruary. The club added to its SEC Back and Lineman of the Year awards, recognizing Bennett as the conference’s All-Purpose Player of the Year.

• The team opened spring practice on March 11 and concluded it with the an-nual spring scrimmage on March 29.

• Vanderbilt will play MTSU in a four-game home and away football series beginning in 2015. Games will be played at MTSU in 2015 and 2017, and at Vanderbilt in 2016 and 2018.

Men’s Golf Junior All-American Jon Cur-ran won his fi rst collegiate tournament on March 3, earning medalist honors at the 2008 Seminole Intercol-legiate in Tallahassee, Fla. The win was the fi rst by a Commodore since Luke List won the 2005 Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate.

• Vanderbilt earned its fi rst tournament vic-tory under second-year Head Coach Tom Shaw on March 15 by winning the Kauai Collegiate Cup held at the Wailua Golf Course in Lihue, Hawaii.

• The Commodores won the event with a 54-hole score of 9-under 855, 28 strokes better than second-place Oklahoma Christian.

• Sophomore Hudson Johnson earned medalist honors at the event with a 6-un-der 210. In the third round, Johnson tied a school record and broke Wailua’s tourna-ment course record with a 9-under 63.

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Tennis In consecutive home match-es, Vanderbilt came back from a 3-1 defi cit to defeat South Carolina and Alabama. Senior Ryan Preston won six straight matches in the No. 1 positions from Feb. 10 through March 4.

• Vanderbilt’s No. 2 doubles team of Nick Cromydas and Bryant Salcedo began the spring 6-0 before losing their fi rst match at LSU on March 9.

WOMEN’S SPORTSBasketball

Vanderbilt advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight year and 21st time in school history. VU advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fi rst time since 2005. Vanderbilt fi nished SEC play with an 11-3 record, setting a school re-cord for most wins in conference play.

• Sophomore guard Merideth Marsh was named the SEC Player of the Week on March 3.

• Five members of the team earned post-season SEC honors on March 4. Christina Wirth was named fi rst team All-SEC, and Jennifer Risper was named second team All-SEC. Also earning recognition were Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi, who were named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Jessica Mooney shared the title of SEC Sixth Woman of the Year.

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Quick Hits

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Hudson Johnson earned medalist honors at the Kauai Collegiate Cup on March 15.

Jennifer Risper

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David Macias had three home runs during the week of March 17.



Bowling• The Commo-

dores hosted their lone home event of the sea-son March 15-16 in Smyrna, Tenn., called the Colum-bia Music City Classic.

• The team placed second at the event, just two pins behind Cen-tral Missouri State.

• Josie Earnest led Vanderbilt at the Holiday Classic on March 2. Earnest fi nished second with an average of 223.3.

• On March 23, the team partici-pated in a two-hour community service bowling activity with au-tistic children.

Cross Country• Like the men, the

women’s cross country team was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associa-tion All-Academic Team.

• The 27-member team pulled down a GPA of 3.27. In order to be eligible for the award, a team must have compiled a team score at an NCAA Regional Meet and had a minimum GPA of 3.00.

Lacrosse• Seniors Margie

Curran and Sasha Cielak were named to the Tewaaraton Watch List on Feb. 21. The list in-cludes the names of early season hopefuls for the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding la-crosse player in the nation.

• Margie Curran was named Amer-ican Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 26 for her play in a trio of victories to open the season. Curran averaged four goals, more than two assists and fi ve draw controls in the vic-tories.

Women’s Golf Senior Leibelei Lawrence paced Vanderbilt at the Liz Murphy Clas-sic and UCF Chal-lenge, tying for 33rd and 27th, re-spectively. Sophomore Brooke Goodwin led

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the Commodores at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, tying for 40th with an 18-over 231.

Swimming Freshman Leigh-Ann Axt set school records in the 100-yard butterfl y, 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard but-terfl y at the SEC Championships. Axt set the record in the 100-yard butter-fl y with a time of 55.89. In the 200-yard freestyle, Axt posted a record time of 1:50.32. Last-ly, Axt broke the record in the 200-yard butterfl y with a mark of 2:02.32.

Tennis• Senior Amanda

Taylor was select-ed as SEC Player of the Week on March 18 after posting a 2-0 re-cord in singles play against Furman and Florida In-ternational.

• Senior Taka Bertrand was named SEC Player of the Week on March 12. She won the award after winning all three of her matches against Georgia Tech, Arkansas and LSU. Bertrand also fi nished the week with a 2-1 record in doubles play, teaming with Keilly Ulery.

• Vanderbilt defeated No. 2 Geor-gia Tech, 4-3, on March 5. The win came on the heels of the team’s fi rst two losses of the season.

• After starting 0-3 in SEC play, Vanderbilt earned its fi rst league win of the season on March 9 with a 7-0 win over LSU.

Track and Field• Freshman Rita Jor-

gensen won the 800 meters at the Jace LaCoste Inv. On March 23 with a time of 2:12.28.

• Jorgensen placed sixth in the one-mile run at the SEC Indoor Championships. She posted a time of 4:48.41 in the event, just off the NCAA provi-sional qualifying time of 4:48.00.

• Vanderbilt’s distance medley relay team fi nished in fourth place with a time of 11:51.61 at the SEC Indoor Champion-ships.

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The Month Ahead

Men’s SportsBaseball4.2 at Middle Tennessee State 6pm4.4 at Ole Miss 6:30pm4.5 at Ole Miss 4pm4.6 at Ole Miss 1:30pm4.8 Western Kentucky 6pm4.9 Austin Peay 6pm4.11 at Mississippi State 6:30pm4.12 at Mississippi State 2pm4.13 at Mississippi State 1:30pm4.15 at Lipscomb 6pm4.16 at Western Kentucky TBA4.18 Auburn 6pm4.19 Auburn 12pm4.20 Auburn 1pm4.22 at Austin Peay 6pm4.23 at Belmont 6pm4.25 Kentucky 6pm4.26 Kentucky 2pm4.27 Kentucky 1pm

Golf4.6-8 at The Reunion All Day4.18-20 at SEC Championships (Sea Island, Ga.) All Day

Tennis4.4 at Tennessee 3pm4.6 at Georgia 12pm4.12 at Kentucky 12pm4.17-20 at SEC Tournament (Fayetteville, Ark.) TBA

Women’s SportsBowling4.10-12 at NCAA Championships All Day

Golf4.4-6 at Ping ASU Invitational All Day4.18-20 at SEC Championships (Loudon, Tenn.) All Day

Lacrosse4.6 at Johns Hopkins 12pm4.11 Ohio State 4pm4.13 at Albany (NY) 11am4.16 at Notre Dame 3:30pm4.20 Duke 1pm

Tennis4.4 Tennessee 2:30pm4.6 Georgia 12pm4.12 Kentucky 12:00pm4.17-20 at SEC Tournament (Auburn, Ala.) All Day

Track and Field4.3-5 at Stanford Invitational All Day4.3-5 at Tiger Track Classic All Day4.10-12 at Sea Ray Relays All Day4.18-19 Vanderbilt Invitational All Day4.24-26 at Drake Relays All Day

SteveKeith


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When you spend the better portion of the fi rst 30 years of your life focusing all of your energy on playing football and putting forth the necessary hours of training it takes to continue play-

ing, the adjustment it takes to make the change to life after football can oftentimes be a rude awakening. You hear stories all the time about former players struggling to make the transition to a life without shoulder pads and helmets.

It is rare for the stories to be told of players who have made the ad-justment to life without football and are enjoying successful business careers. One of those players who has made a successful transition to the business world is former Vanderbilt linebacker and seven-year NFL veteran Jamie Duncan.

A two time All-American and the 1997 Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Duncan starred for the Commodores from 1994-97 before being selected in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After enjoying a seven-year NFL career that included stops in Tampa and St. Louis before his fi nal stop in Atlanta in 2004, Duncan has spent his time focusing on business ventures.

The Wilmington, Del., native owns a hairstyling studio in Bear, Del.; is a co-owner of a restaurant and bar in Daytona, Fla.; and has teamed up with St. Louis Rams defensive back and former Vanderbilt team-mate Corey Chavous in the real estate business.

“I’ve been putting my hand in everything I can and learning as much as I can,” Duncan said. “I’ve got more time on my hands, so I’ve got time to explore. I never envisioned myself opening a bar or a res-taurant, but the opportunity presented itself, and I said I’d give it a shot.”

Duncan’s fi rst venture into the business world, and one that he is still involved with, began in 1999 in the real estate industry with Chavous. The two purchase properties around the country, fi x them up and resell them. What began with Duncan purchasing a condo in Tampa has turned into a nationwide endeavor.

“We try to go around the country (when we make purchases) be-cause we know a lot of people and have a lot of different contacts,” Duncan said. “We have properties in Delaware, Atlanta, Tampa, St. Louis and Arizona – places that we played that we are familiar with. We defi nitely didn’t have any expertise when we started.”

Duncan’s second endeavor took him back to his home state, where he’s owned a hair styling studio called Synergy Styling Studio since 2001. His latest challenge came a little over a year ago when he part-nered with a friend to co-own a bar, Tattoo Tavern.

Since fi nishing football, Duncan has been able to fi ll the void in time by immersing himself more in his businesses and broadening his ex-periences in ways such as co-owning the bar and restaurant.

“I had started a couple of small businesses my fi rst couple of years in the league, and when I fi nished playing, it just gave me a little bit more time to dive into those and be more in-volved fi rsthand,” Duncan said. “I can now put more energy into my businesses, and I’m just trying to fi gure out what the next step is going to be.”

In getting involved with the Tattoo Tavern, Duncan hopes that his experiences will help him with his next business and the ones he has now.

“I thought it would be an interesting way to learn the service side of what I plan to do in terms of Corey and I expanding (our real estate) business and any opportunities in the future,” Duncan said.

Keeping three businesses straight can be a challenge, but Duncan believes his time spent at Vanderbilt has been benefi cial to his busi-ness career.

“It’s just a matter of organizing, and I think that is where my time at Vanderbilt comes in,” Duncan said. “Just being able to prioritize my time is the biggest challenge. It’s a lot more responsibility than I could have ever envisioned.”

Even though Duncan now makes his home in Tampa, he still keeps tabs on Vanderbilt athletics. Duncan recently got together with Cha-vous to reach out to wide receiver Earl Bennett and provide him with any support or advice he may need as he prepares for the NFL Draft.

“We just told him that this is a big moment, and we tried to give him advice,” Duncan said. “He knows the importance of (the NFL Com-bine and Pro Day), but we just tried to emphasize the overall impor-tance and the mentality that you have to have as you are preparing because this is the fi rst big step of what he is wanting to accomplish. It starts with his approach at the workouts and his mentality.”

Duncan is unsure of what his next venture will be, but he hopes it gets him back into football. If his credentials as a two-time All-Ameri-can and seven-year NFL veteran aren’t enough, than maybe his ability get messages across to current players should be.

The advice he and Chavous gave to Bennett may or may not have had an impact on Bennett’s performance at the NFL Combine, but it couldn’t have hurt. Bennett went out and performed better than most draft pundits expected, running a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash.

“I would like to get into football in some form or fashion whether it is scouting or whatever,” Duncan said. “I’m not sure I want to go the coaching route, but it is something I wouldn’t mind trying. Even though I haven’t played the last three years I defi nitely stay up with it. I’m just a fantasy football geek like everyone else.” ■

With Jamie Duncan

Where Are They Now?

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The Last Look

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MEMORIAL MAGICVanderbilt fans white out Memorial Gym for the Commodores’ 72-69 win over No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 26. This photo along with many others are now available for purchase on vucommodores.com.


commodore nation - april 2008

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