March 2010

with DAVID WILLIAMSATHLETICSTHE STATE OF

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table of contents10

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2 Compliance Corner

4 National Commodore Club

6 In My Words Hudson Johnson

10 Vanderbilt’s Sister Act Bowlers Josie and Jessica Earnest

12 Hawkins Makes it to the Bigs Carter Hawkins is a scout for Cleveland

13 It’s My Turn—Rod Williamson And the Survey Says ...

14 State of Athletics David Williams discusses VU athletics

16 Commodore Fans Assist Haiti Commodore Flashback: 1990 MBB

17 Local Star Returns Home Bamigboye completes eligibility at VU

18 Ezeli Continues Growth Festus Ezeli is still new to the sport

20 Quick Hits A look at Vanderbilt’s sports teams

23 What to Watch for The month ahead14

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Baseball on the HorizonFew things can make a below-freezing day feel ... well ... not so freezing than reading about the prospects for the 2010 base-ball season. Although we are a long way away from feeling spring-like temperatures in Michigan, the thought of baseball season warms me up and makes me wish I were sit-ting on the third-base line at Hawkins Field. Rick, Detroit

Life on the Practice SquadIt was interesting to read about Reshard Langford’s experience on the practice squad this fall. Talk about living each day in uncer-tainty? I couldn’t imagine going through each day not knowing if you would have a job the next or not. Reshard’s ability to stick with the Eagles through the year and then get signed by the Chiefs on Christmas is a testament to the type of competitive drive he must have. Congratulations to Reshard and best of luck next season. Craig, Nashville

Shooting for Nothing But Net(s)Like Joe Duffy, I was moved by Rick Reilly’s column about the ongoing battle against malaria in Africa. To read about what Duffy is doing to raise money got me thinking about ways that I may be able to help with Nothing But Nets. What he is doing reminds me of why I appreciate Vanderbilt’s student-athletes so much. Kelly, Dickson, Tenn.

To submit a letter, e-mail CN at: commodorenation@vanderbilt.edu. Letters should include the writer’s name and address and may be edited for clarity and space.

Letters

Commodore Nation Online Joe Fisher’s Mailbag

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Editorial

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

Editor-in-Chief: Ryan Schulz

Director of External Relations: Rod Williamson

Designers: Jeremy Teaford

Ryan Schulz

Digital Image Specialist: Julie Luckett Turner

Photographers: Neil Brake

Daniel Dubois

Steve Green

Joe Howell

Jenny Mandeville

John Russell

Contributors: Andy Boggs

Sterling Frierson

Larry Leathers

Thomas Samuel

Chris Weinman

Travis Young

Administrative

Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos

Vice Chancellor for University Affairs: David Williams II

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs: Beth Fortune

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, compassion and excellence in all endeavors.

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university.

ON THE COVER: Vice Chancellor David WilliamsPHOTO: John Russell

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

SUBSCRIPTION: To subscribe to Commodore Nation, please contact Ryan Schulz by phone at 615/343-4396 or by e-mail at commodorenation@vanderbilt.edu

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Compliance questions? Please contact:Candice Lee George Midgett John PeachDirector of Compliance Compliance Coordinator Compliance Coordinator615/322-7992 615/322-2083 615/343-1060candice.lee@vanderbilt.edu george.d.midgett@vanderbilt.edu john.w.peach@vanderbilt.edu

CORNERC O M P L I A N C E

Q:

A:

Money Bags is a representative of athletics interest (booster) for Vanderbilt University. He is a huge fan of the track and field team and wants to reward the team for a successful season by giving them dinner. Is this permissible?

Yes. According to Bylaw 16.11.1.5, a representative of athletics interest may host a meal on an occasional basis provided it is served in that individual’s home. This meal may be catered, and reasonable local transportation may be provided for this meal.

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CORNERCOMMODORE CLUB

PHONE: 615/322-4114 • ONLINE: vanderbilt.edu/ncc

AUBURN MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME • JANUARY 23, 2010

MISSISSIPPI STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME • FEBRUARY 3, 2010

GEORGIA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME • JANUARY 14, 2010

David and Grace Johnson with their children: Lucy, Nathan, George and Caroline.

Jimmy Bradford with his wife, Tooty Bradford (’63), and Ronnie Scott.

Left to right: Rev. Kim Maphis Early (’81) with her husband Executive Associate Vice Chancellor Robert Early (’71) and Dr. Chris Fletcher.

Left to right: Dr. Carl Zimmerman (’69) with mother-in-law Charlene Brady and son Phil Zimmerman (’01).

Marshall Cranford, left, with son-in-law Dr. Kevin Hamilton (’89) and Hamilton’s children Hunter and Lady Frances.

Betsy Buri, left, with Associate Director of Student-Athletics Candice Lee (’00). Buri won the opportunity to sit on the bench at the game.

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You recently should have received your membership renewal for the National Commodore Club. Please mail it in, call 615/322-4114, click vucommodores.com or stop by the office in the McGugin Center to make your gift. Your gift will help support scholarships for our student-athletes. This year’s membership deadline is May 31. Thank you for your continued support of Vanderbilt athletics. Your Membership Matters!

Below are the names of new NCC members who joined in January. We welcome you and look forward to seeing you along the Commodore trail! Encourage your friends and family to join the NCC if they have not already.

Scott Hayduk, Nashville Louie Johnston, Nashville Jeffrey and Denise Kerlan, Germantown, Tenn. Frank and Lisa Kolinsky, Knoxville, Tenn. Craig and Deborah Linthicum, Church Creek, Md. Ronald and Cathy Marston, Franklin, Tenn. Paul and Frances Murphy, Shaker Heights, Ohio Terry Rains, Lebanon, Tenn. Richard Schneider, Nashville

RENEW TODAY!

WELCOME JANUARY NCC MEMBERS

New NCC member Capt. Terry Rains

Vanderbilt alumni and friends can become a permanent part of Vanderbilt Stadium with the “Pave the Way” program, which allows fans the opportunity to purchase commemo-rative bricks that will be the centerpiece of VU’s new walkways outside the stadium. Bricks are available to purchase at a cost of $250. Bricks can be ordered through vucom-modores.com or by calling the NCC at 615/322-4114.

PAVE THE WAY

Jeff Love’s (’71) business associates presented him with a framed Vanderbilt baseball jersey in recognition of his earning the Phi Delta Theta Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Show us your Commodore spirit. Have you attended a recent Vanderbilt sporting event at home or on the road? Have you decked yourself out in Black and Gold to watch the big game? Have you had your photo taken wearing Vanderbilt gear on a vacation? Have you spotted some-one else wearing Vanderbilt gear in a tropical locale? If you have, Commodore Nation would love to see your photos. If you are interested in having any of your photos appear in a future issue of Commodore Nation, please e-mail your images to commodorenation@vanderbilt.edu.

SUBMIT YOUR SNAPSHOTS

To retain parking and ticket benefits, your NCC renewal must be received by May 31. If you do not receive parking or ticket benefits, renew by June 30 to continue your sup-port of Vanderbilt’s student-athletes. Call 615/322-4114, click vucommodores.com or come by the office in the McGugin Center to make your gift. Thank you for your contin-ued support of Vanderbilt athletics. Your Membership Matters!

KEEP YOUR MEMBERSHIP CURRENT

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In My Words

On his goals for his final semester of college golf

Brandt Snedeker has the school record with three wins, and I’ve got two, so in the back of my mind, I’d like to either tie or beat that. Also, I’d like to help get the team to NCAA Championships. We went there my fresh-man year, and that whole experience ranks at the top of my college golf career.

On how he started playing golf

My dad just suggested playing the sport. I grew up about 1 1/2 miles from a driving range that was lit, and he would let me drive illegally there before I turned 16 to practice. That was definitely one of the perks to playing the sport. Also, as much of a social person as I am, I like the solitude of it. It is good for someone like me who is independent.

On how much the experience he has gained at the U.S. Amateur has helped him in college golf

It definitely gives me that calming influence. I missed the cut both years by a stroke or two, and this year was most painful because I had the cut made with two holes to go and then I made a seven. I fought back all day long that second day, and I was almost there, but the wheels fell off and I didn’t have enough holes to recover. I came off that experience with some hunger to get back out there because I knew I could have done so much better. Also, you go from the U.S. Amateur where every-one is there to a college golf tournament that is still a big deal, but you kind of think that you might be one of the top guys there just because you just got done competing with guys that are on tour.

On how much he has improved the mental part of his game

I’ve just become calmer and a lot more level headed. It’s not that it doesn’t mean as much to you, but you realize that it’s going to be OK. Freshman year, I’d go out and have a bad round and it was the end of the world. Now it is just a bad round, and I move on. You just learned to move on and shrug it off. That is the biggest part of golf—learning how to deal with pressure and not add any more to it.

On his best memory as a collegiate golfer

The best memory was that last day of region-als my freshman year when we made it to the NCAA Championship. Since high school, I’ve always liked it better when the team does well just because you have someone there to cele-brate with and share the moment. It was really cool to experience that moment together. n

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Hudson Johnson has a flair for the dramatic. The senior golfer from Longview,

Texas, has won two tournaments at Vanderbilt, which ranks second in

school history behind Brandt Snedeker’s three. While his rank on the list is

impressive, it is not nearly as impressive as how he won each tournament. In John-

son’s first victory he overcame a seven-stroke deficit in the third round by shooting a

9-under 63 at the Kauai Collegiate Cup. In his second victory, he followed a hole-in-

one on the 16th hole by making a 30-foot birdie putt on 18 to win the Hummingbird

Intercollegiate. Now in the final season of his career, Johnson hopes he can add at

least one more victory to his list, no matter how dramatic.

HudsonJohnson

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The last time Josie and Jessica Ear-nest dueled each other for a tour-nament title was in 2006. If the two have their way, it also may have

been the last time the two will ever face each other with the stakes so high.

Like any two siblings, Vanderbilt bowlers Josie, a senior, and Jessica, a freshman, are extremely competitive with one another. But no matter how competitive they are, they would rather go head-to-head against some-one other than each other in a tournament.

That tournament in 2006 was the Illinois USBC Pepsi Youth Championships. Josie, a senior in high school at the time, was the qualifying leader, while Jessica, a freshman in high school, was the third-place qualifier. Jessica won her two stepladder matches as the third qualifier and had to face her older sister for the state championship.

“Our mom actually almost yanked us from having to go against each other,” Jessica said. “It wasn’t something either of us really wanted to do to win the state title.”

Josie prevailed in the head-to-head matchup by the slightest of margins, 208-204, to win the state title.

“It came down to the last two shots,” Josie said. “It was pretty close the whole way, and we had the entire center watching. Our par-ents were a nervous wreck.”

That meeting may have been the last time the two competed against each other with a title on the line, but it was far from the first time the two went head-to-head.

Raised in Vandalia, Ill., a town of 6,500 in south central Illinois, the Earnest sisters were never far from the sport of bowling.

When Josie was 3 and Jessica wasn’t yet even 1, their parents, Larry and Lisa, bought a bowling center in their hometown, a 12-lane center they still operate today. Since it was a family business, the two sisters spent a lot of time at the center growing up.

“We had a pretty set schedule,” Josie said. “We would come home from school, we would practice, and we would go home and do our homework and do it all again the next day.”

Since the two could walk, they could bowl. “I think I was 2 1/2 the first game I ever

bowled, and I think I shot a 64 without bum-pers, so it was kind of destiny,” Josie said.

The same can be said for younger sister Jessica.

“I remember when Josie was first bowl-ing, my exact words to my mom were, ‘Josie do, I do.’ I haven’t known anything differ-ent,” Jessica said.

Bowling was in their blood, and they wouldn’t want it any other way. Stop by the bowling center any given night of the week and there was a very good chance one or both of the Earnest sisters were practicing.

“My parents sat me down when I was 11 or 12 and said, ‘You can practice and do your schoolwork and get a scholarship or you can go and work and actually pay for school your-self,’” Josie said.

The decision was pretty easy for Josie. She worked harder at her craft and even

gave up pitching in softball after two years of high school to ensure she didn’t injure her arm for bowling.

All the extra time on the lanes paid off. After winning multiple accolades as a junior bowler, Josie chose to come to Vanderbilt. Her impact was felt immediately. As a fresh-man in 2007, she helped the Commodores to the school’s first NCAA Championship, while earning Tournament MVP honors. As a sophomore, she won the first of back-to-back NCAA Bowler of the Year honors.

Seeing firsthand what Josie earned through hard work and dedication to the sport was something Jessica believes pushed her to that next level, as well.

“I feel like I was so lucky to have an older sister as competitive and driven as Josie is,” Jessica said. “I don’t think I would have been on Team USA, and I don’t think I would have had the drive to want to win so many tourna-ments without her. I guess it gave me the fire to do it.”

Like Josie, Jessica filled her trophy case with award after award as a junior bowler. But when it came time for her to decide where to attend college, the choice wasn’t easy.

“At one point I didn’t know if I was going to come to school here,” Jessica said. “I wanted to keep my options open when I was picking a school. Beyond Vanderbilt being a top aca-demic school, some of it came down to me knowing deep down that if I was on another team and we were in the national cham-pionship and I had to shut her out, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

By coming to Vanderbilt, it gave Josie and Jessica an opportunity to be on the same team for the first time since they played on the tennis team together as a senior and fresh-man in high school.

“It is a very unique experience, and it is something that we are really excited about,” Josie said. “It’s an opportunity that a lot of people don’t get to have. We think it is really important that we take advantage of it.”

With Jessica at Vanderbilt it also ensured that the two wouldn’t have to face each other again when a tournament title is on the line.

“There were some bloodbaths when we bowled together when we were younger,” Jes-sica said. “Now we are on the same team and are working toward the same goal. Not one person can be a national champion. You have to have the whole team to compete with.”

Now together, the two would like nothing more than to finish their one season together on top at the NCAA Championship in April.

“I think it would be unreal because at this point it seems like it has been so long ago that we actually won, and I want to know what it feels like again,” Josie said. “We lost that feeling of what it actually felt like when it hap-pened. You remember it, but what did it actu-ally feel like. To be able to do it with my sister on the team would be great.” n

Vanderbilt’s Sister Act

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Sisters Josie, left, and Jessica Earnest are bowling on the same team for the first time.

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For most, the realization that they will never play professional baseball happens sometime before or during high school. For the few fortunate ones who get to continue their careers into college, the realization comes later. For Carter Hawkins, the

realization came near the end of his junior season at Vanderbilt in 2006 when he played 14 games as a backup catcher.

“I kind of read the writing on the wall that I wasn’t going to play professionally. Instead of playing summer baseball, I decided to take an internship in real estate, which is what my dad does,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins had played baseball every summer, and without it he didn’t feel the same.

“I was pretty miserable throughout that summer because I was kicking myself for not being out there on a baseball field when I had an opportunity to,” Hawkins said. “I pretty much realized that I wanted to stay involved in the game somehow.”

Knowing that his playing days were numbered to one final sea-son, Hawkins began exploring ways to stay involved in the game outside of the white lines. He thought about coaching, he talked to professional players and Major League Baseball teams for ideas, but it was Vanderbilt pitching coach Derek Johnson who pointed him in the right direction.

“Derek Johnson was the first guy to tell me that I should look at getting into a front office,” Hawkins said. “For whatever reason, I hadn’t thought about it before, but it made a whole lot of sense to explore that avenue.”

The more he explored, the more he liked the idea of working in the front office. In January of 2008, he received an offer to join the Cleveland Indians, where he did advance video scouting of upcom-ing opponents.

After one season, Hawkins was moved to professional scouting, where he is beginning his second season as an assistant.

“I’m in Cleveland helping out our director of baseball operations in managing our professional scouting staff,” Hawkins said. “In addi-tion to that I go out and scout minor league games and subjectively scout players. I also do some major league work, as well. If we are going to trade for a player, sign a guy in free agency or sign someone off waivers, those reports are part of the puzzle to make that deci-sion of whether we want a player or not.”

Scouts all have different backgrounds. Some played, others didn’t. Although playing the game is not essential to the profession, Hawk-ins believes his time spent behind the plate has helped him develop that scout’s eye.

“I think anytime you watch a game it makes you a better scout,” Hawkins said. “A lot of scouting is drawing on past experiences and different players you’ve seen. From the catcher’s standpoint, you are always in the game and you are always thinking about the game, so I think that helps.”

From spending time with Vanderbilt’s coaching staff to playing with top talent, Hawkins believes his time at Vanderbilt helped pre-pare him for his current job.

“I still have a ton to learn,” Hawkins said. “The fact that I didn’t play at lot at Vanderbilt helps just because I was watching a lot of games as a scout would. Also, having played with four top 10 picks, you kind of get a feel for who the guys are that will succeed.”

Hawkins is no longer playing the game he loves, just like that sum-mer of 2006. Unlike then, he still remains involved in the game, and that’s exactly what he wants.

“Clearly any baseball players love playing baseball, and that is what they want to do,” Hawkins said. “Even when I was at Vanderbilt and I wasn’t playing, it was tough not being out on the field. I’m very happy with what I’m doing now, and I’m very lucky to be doing what I’m doing now.” n

Hawkins Scouts His Route to the Bigs

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Former Commodore Carter Hawkins is in his third season working in the scouting department with the Cleveland Indians.

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It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson

And the Survey Says ...

Many of you participated in a series of surveys as season ticket hold-ers to football, men’s and women’s

basketball and baseball. Your response was excellent with well over 1,000 replies for both football and men’s basketball and an equally strong percentage for women’s basketball and baseball. (If you didn’t see a survey, you don’t have e-mail or haven’t shared your address with our ticket office).

We confirmed things we have long suspected and gained new insights as a result of these questionnaires that will help us improve our service and attract new fans. Some findings went against stereo-types: 54% of football season ticket holders have held tickets for less than four years and 44% are younger than 45. Just 30% of the foot-ball season ticket holders attended Vanderbilt. Three quarters of our fans get most of their Vanderbilt news from vucommodores.com.

Basketball fans have more gray hair; 50% of our women’s season ticket holders were alive when Eisenhower was president. Memorial Gym’s poor acoustics are the most common annoyance. All but 5% of our baseball season ticket holders have come on board since Tim Corbin became our coach.

We like to win but are strongly attracted to character and the ideals of the true student-athlete, fair play and sportsmanship. We’re not a win-at-all-costs bunch. More than 80% of us believe that season tickets are a good value.

There were many findings, too numerous to mention here. The surveys pinpointed your concerns about our game operations and evaluation of our teams and staff; there were 69 pages of responses to the open-ended football survey questions! Here are two reoccur-ring themes.

Game Times“Who thought that playing on Halloween NIGHT was a good idea?” one fan wrote.

Obviously we have not done an adequate job in communicating that Southeastern Conference members no longer control the start-ing times of our games. The decision on start times was ceded to ESPN and CBS television in exchange for mucho dinero. In the case of our Georgia Tech football game, we knew immediately that a Hal-loween night kickoff was unfavorable. But there are prime time net-work slots to be filled by SEC teams every week.

We realize it is an inconvenience for our fans to be forced into a “wait and see” planning posture. It is an inconvenience for our staff, too. However, there is no denying that the added revenue is essential.

ParkingWhile fans generally feel OK about their basketball and baseball park-ing options, it was no surprise to us that lack of tailgate parking is often a source of frustration. We have been working since December to increase the number of parking spots we have to offer our fans. It isn’t easy; we expect to grow the number of places to place cars, but tailgate buffs groan when “parking garages” are mentioned. We get this and are investigating access to area parking as you read this— both on and off campus. We make no promises other than our best efforts to make everyone’s trip to campus as pleasant as possible.

We also realized that we have not done a good job communicat-ing football parking options to our fans. It seems apparent that some aren’t aware of their choices—there are more than some realize. We will do a much better job conveying this important information this summer.

There were observations—pro and con—about a myriad of other topics: standardizing our gold color, support for Vandyville, reducing the concession prices, Star Walk, Spirit of Gold marching band, com-mercialism during the game, pre-game music and more. Why, some even suggested scoring more points!

Your opinions matter. Thank you for your help. n

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Commodore Nation: It’s been 6 1/2 years since the restructur-ing of Vanderbilt’s athletic department, how satisfied are you with the results?

David Williams: We’ve moved forward and had a real good run at it. Like any organization, I think we’ve hit that point where to a large degree, you’ve got to step back and reevaluate and, one, maintain where you are, but at the same time look at how you move forward.

You have to guard against just saying things look really good or you get complacent, and that is when you start to lose ground.

CN: Where is the athletic department financially, given the difficult economic times?

DW: We actually came through the recession really well. We’ve been under budget every year, and starting this year the inherent deficit we had has been removed. As long as people understand that there is a subsidy or investment that the university gives to athletics, I think we’ve done real well.

We probably watch pennies a lot more than other places. There are things that we do that other schools don’t do. For example, it is very rare that a coach will reward a scholarship to an existing player in December. If we have a kid that graduates in December, we don’t give another kid a scholarship in the spring. We don’t do that because that is money that we can then pay to use for the cost of summer school.

CN: How much has the economy affected

Vanderbilt’s facility plan?

DW: All of what is needed for the facility plan has to be raised money. While we’ve been able to continue to get pledges, when we set that plan we were expecting that we would get money faster, but the reces-sion has slowed us down. Pledges are still coming in, and we’ve been able to do something every year.

Part of the reason the facility plan slowed down wasn’t only the fundraising aspect, but also because of the problems that went on in higher ed. We as a university have decided that we won’t take on any debt. In the past, maybe you’d get a pledge that we’d borrow money to pay over the next three years or so. Now, we are at a point where we can’t do that. We’ve got to have the money in hand.

CN: Is the goal for Vanderbilt to get to the point where it does not need a subsidy from the university?

DW: That is not the goal. I don’t think in modern times that we will get to the point where the university doesn’t provide that investment. We needed to get to the point where the university understood that to run a Division I program in the SEC—based on the facilities we have and what we are planning—this is a program that needs to receive an investment every year. Other parts of the university receive an invest-ment, and the university needs to see it just as that.

Our return on investment won’t be monetary, it will be returned in other ways. There are alumni that tell me that the only times that they hear about Vanderbilt is in the sports page. Another thing that helps is that we do a very good job of graduating our student-athletes, and we are also sending our share of players to the pros. Any time you can get your name out there in a positive way, that is a return on investment.

CN: What facility work is planned to take place in the coming year?

DW: There will be some work this year in the McGugin Center to expand the academic center. You will also see some expansion as it relates to football. We will expand some position rooms and coaches offices. Over the next couple of years, the football locker room and training rooms will be enhanced. In doing that, it will also create an opportunity to build some dedicated team rooms not only for football but for all the Olympic sports in the McGugin Center.

This will begin this year, but it will be a two-year process to get it completed. We’ve already gone to the board and gotten the first part approved. We had to manipulate temporary locations, so we are going to have to move the football staff to the stadium after spring practice. As soon as the semester is over, we will move academic support out so we don’t inconvenience that operation.

CN: What is the status of the Athletic Hall of Fame addition?

DW: I would say that unless someone comes up with a large donation, you probably won’t see the Hall of Fame taking shape for about three years. In that third year we will get to that, but that can change if the economy really blossoms or somebody wants to come in and make it happen sooner. We had hoped that it would be a part of what we would do now, but in reality it is going to have to move back.

The State of Athletics with David Williams

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Regarded as one of the most influential leaders on Vanderbilt’s campus, Vice Chancellor David Williams has overseen Vanderbilt’s athletics efforts since 2003. Since taking over the role, Vander-bilt has experienced unparalleled success on and off the field. Commodore Nation recently sat down with Williams to discuss a wide range of topics regarding the state of Vanderbilt athletics.

“...We need to be the best that we can and that is to be winners and champions

in all that we do.”

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CN: The Big Ten has been vocal about looking for a 12th team, if Vanderbilt was approachedwould you listen?

DW: No. I wouldn’t listen because we are a charter member of the SEC. I spent 14 years in the Big Ten at Ohio State and know the Big Ten well. From an athletic point of view, the SEC is it.

When Chancellor (Gordon) Gee was here, he very well might have received that phone call. There were times when at least one president in the Big Ten was very interested in talking to us about it. I remember telling him: “If you so much as entertain the notion of moving to the Big Ten, you would have to leave. It would be one thing to move this school from the SEC to the ACC, but if you move this school to a northern conference, the fans and alumni wouldn’t stand for it.”

I don’t think we will ever look to go to another conference. I think the Big Ten has the money that can rival what we get in the SEC, but I don’t ever see us being the 12th school.

CN: How much does the new contract with ESPN benefit Vanderbilt?

DW: It allows us to do some things that we probably couldn’t do, and it allows us to do other things a little better. The university so far has been consistent in the fact that just because we are getting $4 million more from the SEC, they have not said they will reduce their invest-ment in us. As long as that stays the same, it gives us that cushion.

I’ve always said to be competitive, we need to understand that at a minimum we need a $45 million budget. If the university is willing to contribute 1/3 of that $45 million, our growth really has to come from our share of SEC revenue and what we are able to earn ourselves. Will we still have the smallest budget in the SEC? Yes, it will be a race between us, Mississippi and Mississippi State.

It will help us with salaries for staff and for coaches. Our staff is probably pound-for-pound the least paid in the SEC. Every compa-rable position at another school probably makes more. I would say that while our coaches are paid well, I don’t think we have any coach that is at the top of the level, although some of them are at that point in their coaching.

CN: What should Vanderbilt fans reasonably expect from the football program?

DW: Trips to bowls. What we have to reasonably say is that success has a lot of different levels and non-success is when we are not going to a bowl game. We can be different degrees of successful, but if we aren’t going to a bowl game, I think we have to say that we were unsuccessful.

CN: How disappointing was last season for you?

DW: It was disappointing for all of us. I think that the expectation was greater after we had gotten to that level. The people on the team and in athletics, and the whole university experienced something they had not experienced in 2008. That thrill was not all that it could have been in some aspects because it was a bowl game played locally. I went to about 12 bowl games at Ohio State, so I know what it is like to go to a bowl game in New Orleans, go to the Rose Bowl; as exciting as it was to make that bowl, traveling to a bowl is a whole different thing. I was sort of primed for that.

Besides not going to a bowl, I didn’t think we were a 2-10 team. Even if you are not going to a bowl, 2-10 certainly is not what we thought. I really think the low point was when we lost at Army, although I give Army all the credit In the world.

Bobby has done a great job to get us to 7-6, but maybe we col-lectively thought the job was done and it wasn’t. To a large degree, after going to a bowl game, we kind of breathed a sigh that we’ve done it, but the truth of the matter is that when you think about it, we were 7-6.

CN: Did you feel like something within the program needed to be changed after the season?

DW: I got a lot of e-mails and calls. Bobby recognizes what needs to be done, and my view of it is that I would not want someone to come in here and tell me, “You need to change your secretary.” I’m not a

person who is going to go into a head coach and say, “You need to change assistant coaches.” If I’m not happy and we are not happy with the direction, and we don’t have the confidence, I have to deal with the head coach. I believe in Bobby Johnson. He’s our football coach. I try to remind people that we hadn’t been to a bowl in 26 years and remember who was the head coach who got us there.

CN: There was disappointment among some Vanderbilt fans about the attendance at the men’s basketball Western Kentucky game at the Sommet Center, why was the attendance low?

DW: People need to realize that one of the hardest things to do is play a road game in your own town. It was Western Kentucky’s home game, so we couldn’t put it on our season ticket package. We didn’t have any control over tickets. We had a real debate about that, and we’ve learned something from it. From the ticket point of view, we would never do that again unless we get a bigger ticket allotment.

There is something about our campus environment that people like and are comfortable with. They know where their seat is. They know where the closest restroom is and what concession to go to, where to park and who sits next to them. It is that comfort level that I’m at home. People sometimes don’t understand that just because we go down the street to Sommet, we are not at home any more. We saw this last year when we played South Florida.

The game was also in December when people are still into football, especially in the SEC. Another point is that it was a Friday, and Friday night is still either a big football or in this case a big high school bas-ketball night. I was late getting to the game because I was at Ensworth watching my son play.

CN: Have you explored the idea of adding another sport at Vanderbilt?

DW: I really hope that we will be able to show the financial growth and get the go ahead to add a sport. I think from a measurement of success, one of the things you always look at in our business is the Director’s Cup. We need to be a program that is consistently in the top 50 and really should be in the top 25. One of the problems we have is that the Director’s Cup measures success in 20 different sports. We are giving away four slots by only having 16 sports.

I would hope that over the next decade, we’d be able to add four sports. I’d like to see us add softball and women’s volleyball. I don’t know if we can add both of those, but it would be great. I think we can be very successful with softball, and the SEC has a good reputation in softball. The problem it presents is that we need a softball stadium, whereas women’s volleyball is not as difficult to do because all you need is a gym. People will call after they read this and ask about men’s lacrosse. People need to understand that we have a hard challenge. We have a few key factors to look at: we need to always be conscious of Title IX. We also need to be conscious of the conference we are in. We also need to be conscious of the type of students that we have here and that we want to win.

I think fencing would be a perfect sport for us. It has high profile, and it is an Olympic sport. There are enough people to play. It is a sport that has done very well in schools with high academics. It is low cost, and I think we can win at it.

I also believe men’s track would help our football program. It would be low cost to add it with no facility need. Then, I think you think about men’s lacrosse, men’s soccer and women’s rowing.

CN: There is a limited number of tickets Vanderbilt fans can get to the SEC Tournament. Why is the allotment smaller than in past years?

DW: It has something to do with being in a smaller venue, but another problem we face is that we don’t pick an allotment for each year. The SEC makes schools pick an allotment for a number of years, so what-ever you take, you are going to take for the next four years.

You try to get to that happy medium where you try to figure out what you can sell the next year when you are in Atlanta and the following year when we are in New Orleans.

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CN: You have a daughter who is a student-athlete at Brown, have you been able to learn a lot from her that has helped you in your job?

DW: I think the thing that I’ve learned the most after talking to her and my son, who is a good high school athlete, is that I daresay we don’t do a good enough job understanding all of the different elements of our student-athletes’ lives. We need to recognize that there is a gap that exists just because of who we are and who they are. We can do more to understand.

What we are trying to do is develop a more personal relationship and also a much more information-based relationship. I think we have to do a better job of knowing these kids and trying to help them reach their different goals. We need to understand the aspect of the two dreams: dream the athletic one, but help us help you dream the other one, and let us help you get there.

CN: What can Vanderbilt fans expect in this new decade?

DW: The general philosophy would be that we need to be the best that we can be, and that is to be winners and champions in all that we do. We need to continue to graduate our kids. People say that you graduate most of your student-athletes; yeah, but we don’t graduate them all with the grade point to get into grad school. We balanced the budget, but we need to find new sources of revenue. We do pretty good, but pretty good is not good enough.

I read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. One of its points that I’ve always taken to heart says, “The greatest hurdle to greatness is being good because when you are good, you get complacent.” I would say our goal is to be great. We may measure greatness a little different then some other places, but that is our goal. That means ser-vicing our university, our fans and our student-athletes in a way where we can be the best that we can be, but never, ever lose the level of integrity and reputation that we inherited. We are entrusted with run-ning a prideful program the way this university has always done it. n

Twenty years ago, Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball team went on an improbable postseason run that took them to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Final Four, where

the Commodores defeated Penn State in the semifinals and Saint Louis in the finals to win the 1990 NIT. It remains the only postseason championship by the Commodores.

Coached by first-year Head Coach Eddie Fogler, the Com-modores finished the season 21-14 overall and 7-11 in the SEC. After suffering through a seven-game losing streak in the middle of conference play, Vanderbilt sat at 12-12 overall and in danger of missing the postseason all together. With their backs against the wall, the team rallied together to win two of three regular season games and even advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

The 1990 team was led by junior Scott Draud, who aver-aged 15.6 points and was named MVP of the NIT. n

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Commodore Flashback

20 Years: 1990 NIT Champions

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many people and organizations reached out to provide aid to the country. Vanderbilt University was at the forefront

of many efforts to assist the citizens of Haiti. One initiative Vanderbilt took was through Soles 4 Souls. At Vanderbilt’s basketball games on Jan. 23 and 24, the university collected shoes to send those in need. Over the two days, approxi-mately 3,000 shoes were donated by fans. n

VU Fans Provide Aid to Haiti

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Buky Bamigboye is not your typical trans-fer. Transfers come in at all different levels of talent, but they don’t usually arrive with the resume of Bamigboye.

It’s a resume that includes multiple school records, Big East Championships and NCAA Championship and Olympic Trial experience. It’s a resume that is now at Vanderbilt.

After spending the past four years as a member of Georgetown’s track team, Bam-igboye graduated with a degree in sociology last May. Although her time as an undergrad was finished, Bamigboye still had one out-door track season of eligibility remaining after redshirting during her junior season to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the heptathlon, where she placed 13th.

“I qualified for the Olympic trials my sopho-more year at Georgetown, and that same year I also tore ligaments in my hamstring,” Bam-igboye said. “Between the two, if I wanted to be in any type of shape for Olympic trials, I needed to rehab pretty well. That’s where my eligibility came from. I still competed in the Olympic trials (in 2008), but I didn’t compete as a part of the team in any meets, instead I competed unattached.”

With one season of eligibility remaining, Bamigboye turned her attention to finding

the right place to go to graduate school and spend her last season as a college student-athlete. A native of Brentwood, Tenn., it didn’t take Bamigboye long to realize that Vanderbilt would be the right place for her.

“I knew I wanted to come home and there are a number of schools in this area, but the school that appealed to me most was Vanderbilt,” said Bamigboye, who is get-ting her master’s at the Peabody College. “I’m really into education, and Peabody is the No. 1 education program in the coun-try. Third, Coach (D’Andre) Hill and Coach (Clark) Humphreys are great coaches to work with.”

Just as Bamigboye was interested in Van-derbilt, the coaching staff was interested in her. As the program continues to develop, someone with the resume of Bamigboye could provide just what the team needs to take that next step forward.

“When we were discussing everything in the summer, I said the biggest thing that she could do for us was be an example of what to strive for,” said Assistant Coach Clark Hum-phreys, who coaches Bamigboye in multi-events and jumps. “Her work ethic and expe-rience level is an invaluable thing that the kids can grow from.”

Although she didn’t join the Commodores as an undergrad, Vanderbilt has long been a natural fit to Bamigboye, who graduated high school from University School of Nashville, which is across the street from Vanderbilt’s campus. Bamigboye’s mother works in the psychiatric nursing department at Vander-bilt, her brother graduated from the school and Vanderbilt was one of the five schools Bamigboye made official visits to after high school.

However when it came time for Bamig-boye to choose where she would go to col-lege to pursue her undergraduate degree, Georgetown was the place for her. While at Georgetown, Bamigboye won the Big East Championship in the heptathlon and the 400-meter hurdles.

Now at Vanderbilt, Bamigboye hopes she can have similar success in the SEC—even if she has just one season. Bamigboye has spent the indoor season training with the Commodores and competing unattached at meets. Her first opportunity to compete for the Commodores will come at home March 26-27 at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold.

Although she has just one season to com-pete, Bamigboye’s experience at Vanderbilt and with the team thus far has her thinking she may want to stick around Nashville to continue her training for the 2012 Summer Olympics after she graduates in August.

“It is so bittersweet to have just one sea-son here,” Bamigboye said. “Depending on how things go with the job market, I might stick around and teach locally and work out with Coach Hill and Coach Humphreys.”

Even if she does have just one season here, Bamigboye hopes that she not only improves individually, but also helps with the progression of a developing track program.

“We talk about what it takes to get to that next level all the time,” Bamigboye said. “In some of the girls, I see myself. That mental hump that you have when you are young is really tough, but as far as talent is concerned, this team is just full of it. I think we have to get stronger mentally, and that is something the coaches are working on.”

Being mentally strong is something Bam-igboye specializes in. Her weekly schedule includes training, going to class, student teaching five days a week at Hillsboro High School and working as a hostess at a restau-rant on the weekends.

“It is just the idea that I like to stay busy,” Bamigboye said. “I’m one of those people that if I’m just sitting there not doing any-thing, I feel uncomfortable.”

One place she definitely hasn’t felt uncom-fortable is Vanderbilt.

“What I like about Vanderbilt is that I’ve built up those relationships again with my teammates just like I had at Georgetown,” Bamigboye said. “At first I was so scared to come here, but everyone is so wonderful. It is awesome and I love it here.” n

Bamigboye Returns Home for Senior Season

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Six years ago the probability of Festus Ezeli playing college basketball in the United States seemed as unlikely a scenario as there could be.

After all, Ezeli was about as far from the college basketball landscape as he could be as a youth from Benin City, Nigeria, who had never played basketball.

Even after Ezeli moved to the U.S. in 2004 in search of a better education, the likelihood of Ezeli ending up on a college basketball scholarship was not very high.

He had never shot a basket nor dribbled a ball. It was soccer, not basketball, that Ezeli was most accustomed to. It was soccer that Ezeli played on the playground growing up in Africa.

Despite not having any interest in bas-ketball, Ezeli’s height wouldn’t allow him to escape it wherever he would be — whether it was a local store or even at home, where he lived with his uncle, Chuck Ndulue.

“I told him he needed to try it out, and wher-ever he would go, people would ask him if he played basketball,” Ndulue said. “He didn’t look happy about it because he kept having to tell people, ‘No, I don’t play basketball.’”

It took a lot of needling, but eventually Ndu-lue got Ezeli to agree to try basketball. Once on the court, the results were not pretty. Ezeli was trying to play catch-up with the other kids on the court as a gangly 14-year-old, who was lacking coordination and continually growing.

“After he started playing, it was difficult to even keep him interested,” Ndulue said. “I would beg him to go to practice and beg him to go to games.”

An example Ezeli likes to reference about his introduction to the game was when he was first asked to do the three-man weave—a drill that is ingrained in basketball players when they are young, but a drill that can be challenging for someone new to the sport.

“The first time we did the three-man weave,” said Ezeli, “I had no idea what it was. Everyone was looking at me like ‘What is wrong with him?’ It is a simple three-man weave, and I couldn’t pick it up. People were getting frustrated with me. That is why some-times I wish I had played earlier. I think I had some people frustrated with me because they were like, ‘He’s not getting this.’ It just added to everything and made me just not want to play at first.”

The frustration of not knowing the game was too much for Ezeli to take. It was a sport he didn’t have interest in playing. He was liv-ing in a new country, and it was at a time in his life that he described himself as being “unath-letic.” It was embarrassing, and it was enough to make Ezeli want to quit.

“Thinking about quitting was one of the first things that crossed my mind,” Ezeli said. “It was just so frustrating to be on the court and not know what I was doing.”

Ndulue saw how frustrated Ezeli became

with the sport, but he challenged him to stick with it a little longer.

“I tried all kinds of psychology because at the start he didn’t like it, period,” Ndulue said. “He refused to go to practice, he refused to go to games. His personality is such that if you dare him not to do something, he will take all the more interest in doing it. At some point I said to him, ‘Maybe you are not strong enough to play basketball,’ and then he would go out and shoot hoops.”

Ndulue’s concerted effort to get Ezeli to stay with the sport worked, and slowly but surely Ezeli began to enjoy the game. At 6’7” and growing, colleges began to take notice of Ezeli, who was developing into a raw physi-cal specimen. One of the schools that noticed him was Vanderbilt.

“We just thought a guy who had that type

of athleticism, strength and God-given body (was someone) we could teach a lot of what he needed to know,” Head Coach Kevin Stall-ings said. “He’s got a great temperament and a great attitude. He’s learned very well, and I think he will continue to learn and continue to get better.”

Vanderbilt was interested in Ezeli, but Ezeli wasn’t necessarily interested in the Commodores.

“I never had heard of Vanderbilt when they first started recruiting me,” said Ezeli, who was recruited by Assistant Coach Dan Muller. “I think Vanderbilt was the first school that I crossed off my list because I didn’t recognize the name. I looked more into it and realized that it was a pretty good school.”

When Ezeli arrived on campus he was 6’7” and still very new to the game. He redshirted

Everyday Remains Learning Experience for Ezeli

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his first season in 2007-08. Last year as a redshirt freshman, Ezeli played in 29 games and made six starts. Now in his third year at Vanderbilt, Ezeli has continued to grow on the court and also physically. He’s not only added muscle, but also inches to his frame. He’s up to 6’10” and is still growing.

After playing in a limited role last year, Ezeli has developed into a key contributor for the Commodores. A player who arrived as a physical presence that could rebound and block shots because of his height has now developed more of an offensive game.

“He’s grown incredibly,” Stallings said. “Maybe more than any other player I’ve ever had, but I think he’s got more growth to him left then what he’s even shown.”

From never playing the sport five years ago to developing into a prominent player on Vanderbilt’s front line is something that even blows Ezeli’s mind some times.

“I’ve gotten a little better,” Ezeli said. “It is very exciting to come from not being able to play to be able to hold your own and at times be dominant. I’ve come a long way from where I started.”

Ezeli has come a long way, but he is still reminded that he is still learning the game.

“It still kind of is frustrating sometimes because there is a lot about the game that is instinctive for everyone else that I didn’t grow up with,” Ezeli said. “Something that is instinctive for everyone else, is not for me, and I have to work harder.”

His development can be slow at times, but it is the progress, no matter how small, that keeps him going.

“It makes you work harder when you do well,” Ezeli said. “I really enjoy doing well, and it makes me want to work harder and get better.”

Ezeli continues to adjust to the game, but he also continues to adjust to living in the U.S. Ezeli is the oldest of four siblings, two of whom live in California and two who live in Nigeria, where his parents live. Since coming to the U.S. in 2004, Ezeli has not been able to go back to his native country.

“It was really tough at first (coming to the U.S.), especially not being with my family,” said Ezeli who fluently speaks English and a Nigerian language called Edo that is spoken in the region he grew up. To help bridge the distance from Nashville to Nigeria, Ezeli talks to his family on a regular basis, and they fol-low Vanderbilt’s games online.

“I have to stay in touch with my family,” said Ezeli, who is majoring in economics. “It helps me keep my sanity because everything is still new to me over here. I still need that touch of home and to touch base every so often.”

Ezeli has come a long way since he was a child in Nigeria, and he has come a long way since he first touched a basketball. What once seemed like the longest of long shots is now very much a reality.

“I never thought that he would ever earn a basketball scholarship when he first started playing,” Ndulue said. “We are very, very proud of him. From what I remember he is 100 times better than what he started out as. For him to be able to go to a great institution like Vanderbilt is hard to believe.” n

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Quick Hits

• Vanderbilt will have 11 of its games televised in 2010.

• Sophomore pitchers Sonny Gray and Jack Armstrong were named to Base-ball America’s preseason All-America teams on Feb. 5.

• For the second straight year, Sonny Gray has been invited to the USA Na-tional Collegiate team trials. Last year with the National Team, Gray went 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA in 24 innings of work.

• Jeffery Taylor was named SEC Player of the Week on Feb. 15 for the first time in his career. Taylor earned the honor after averaging 20.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in wins against Tennes-see and LSU.

• Vanderbilt concluded its first regular season sweep of Tennessee since the 2004-05 season.

• Vanderbilt’s 90-71 victory over Ten-nessee on Feb. 10 was VU’s largest victory against the Vols at Memorial Gym since a 108-68 win in 1991.

• Vanderbilt had its best start in SEC play since the 1992-93 season.

• Vanderbilt led all SEC teams with 37 players on the SEC 2009 Fall Academic Honor Roll.

• Head Coach Bobby Johnson announced the signing of 24 players to National Let-ters of Intent on Feb. 3.

• Senior offensive tackle Thomas Welch participated in the Senior Bowl in Mo-bile, Ala. He is the fourth Commodore since 2005 to play in the Senior Bowl.

• Johnson announced the elevation of quarterbacks coach and co-passing game coordinator, Jimmy Kiser, to of-fensive coordinator.

• Running backs coach Des Kitchings added the duty of running game coordi-nator to his title.

• Wide receiver coach Charlie Fisher will become passing game coordinator af-ter sharing the duties with Kiser the last four years.

• Former offensive coordinator Ted Cain will continue as tight ends coach and becomes the team’s special teams co-ordinator.

• The 1974 Peach Bowl Team was recog-nized at halftime of the LSU game for endowing a scholarship.

• Former Commodore Tim Johnson was named Head of the Upper School at

Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark. Johnson had been the athletic director at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tenn.

• Vanderbilt will play three tournaments in

March. VU will play at the Samford Inter-collegiate (March 8-9), Seminole Inter-collegiate (March 12-14) and Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational (March 19-21).

• Vanderbilt’s 2010 signing class of Blake Bazarnik and Roger Briggs was ranked No. 10 by tennisrecruiting.net on Jan. 27. It is the second-highest ranking of any SEC school.

• Vanderbilt was picked to finish fifth in the SEC Eastern Division in a vote by the league’s head coaches on Jan. 22.

• Vanderbilt won the doubles point in each of its first six wins and lost the doubles point in its first two losses.

• Ryan Lipman was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 10 after going un-defeated in singles and doubles against No. 38 Northwestern and Purdue.

• Vanderbilt will open the month of March (4th-7th) at the SEC Tournament in Du-luth, Ga.

• After missing two games due to a bro-ken hand, point guard Jence Rhoads returned to the court and led VU to a 61-60 win at Auburn on Jan. 21.

• On Jan. 14, Vanderbilt handed 16-0 Georgia its first loss of the season by defeating the Lady Bulldogs 66-44.

• VU won the McKendree Baker Chal-lenge on Feb. 7 for its third team cham-pionship of the season.

• Vanderbilt began its spring season by finishing ninth at the Kutztown Invita-tional.

• Vanderbilt announced the signing of three prep standouts to National Letters of Intent on Feb. 5.

• Signing with Vanderbilt were Elizabeth Anderson (Louisville, Ky.), Kara Slavoski (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Megan Yohe (Liberty, Mo.).

• Vanderbilt was ranked No. 11 nationally in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association preseason poll re-

leased on Feb. 9.• VU was picked to finish second in the

American Lacrosse Conference behind Northwestern.

• Ally Carey, Sarah Downing and Alex Mundy earned preseason ALC All-Con-ference honors.

• Vanderbilt had 15 players named to the 2009 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

• Freshman Chelsea Stewart was named Canadian U-20 Player of the Year for the 2009 soccer season.

• Head coach Ronnie Woodard announced the addition of assistant coach Derek Greene to the Vanderbilt program.

• Greene spent the 2009 season at Bel-mont and was the associate head coach at Ole Miss before joining the Bruins.

• Vanderbilt has been named an Academic All-American team by the College Swim-ming Coaches Association of America. Vanderbilt has been named a Scholar-Athlete All-American squad by the CSCAA every year since 2006.

• Vanderbilt earned its second victory of the season on Jan. 29 when the Commodores swam past Marshall, 120-118.

• Against Marshall, Erika Deardorf set a school record in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:14.87.

• Vanderbilt was picked to finish fourth in the SEC Eastern Division in a vote by the league’s head coaches.

• Vanderbilt will play four home matches during March.

• The Commodores will open SEC play March 3 at Ole Miss.

• Vanderbilt finished second at the ITA Kick-off Weekend after being edged, 4-3, by Tennessee on Jan. 30.

• Head Coach D’Andre Hill announced the signings of two high school seniors to Na-tional Letters of Intent on Feb. 11. Signing with Vanderbilt were Lacy Moore (Mem-phis, Tenn.) and Ellie Tidman (Batesville, Ind.)..

• Katherine Hendricks and Meagan Mar-tin set school records in the pole vault to share first-place honors at the ISU Clas-sic on Feb. 12. Hendricks and Martin each vaulted 11-11.75.

• Teegan Hill placed fifth in the 400-meter dash at the ISU Classic on Feb. 13.

• Alexa Rogers placed fifth in the 3000-me-ter run at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13.Men’s Sports

Women’s Sports

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The Month Ahead

Men’s SportsBaseball3/2 Tennessee Tech 4 p.m. 3/5 Kent State 4 p.m. 3/6 Illinois State 4 p.m.3/7 Indiana 4 p.m. 3/10 Tennessee-Martin 4 p.m. 3/12 Ohio 4 p.m.3/13 Ohio 2 p.m.3/14 Ohio 1 p.m.3/16 Western Kentucky 6 p.m. 3/17 at Western Kentucky 3 p.m.3/19 at Alabama 6:35 p.m. 3/20 at Alabama 4:05 p.m. 3/21 at Alabama 2:05 p.m. 3/23 Lipscomb 6 p.m.3/24 Wright State 6 p.m. 3/26 Kentucky 6 p.m. 3/27 Kentucky 2 p.m. 3/28 Kentucky 1 p.m.3/30 Wofford 6 p.m.3/31 Wofford 6 p.m.

Basketball3/2 at Florida 6 p.m.3/6 South Carolina 1 p.m.3/11-14 at SEC Tournament (Nashville) TBA3/18-4/4 at NCAA Tournament (Regional sites) TBA

Golf3/8-9 at Samford Intercollegiate (Oneonta, Ala.) All Day3/12-14 at Seminole Intercollegiate (Tallahassee, Fla.) All Day3/19-21 at Schenkel E-Z-Go Inv. (Statesboro, Ga.) All Day

Tennis3/5 Mississippi 2 p.m. 3/7 Mississippi State 1 p.m. 3/12 at Tennessee Noon3/14 at Georgia Noon3/21 Alabama 1 p.m.3/28 at Auburn 1 p.m.

Women’s SportsBasketball3/4-7 at SEC Tournament (Duluth, Ga.) TBA3/20-30 at NCAA Tournament (Regional sites) TBA

Bowling3/6-7 at ECAC Championship (Woodbury, N.J.) All Day3/12-14 Music City Classic All Day

Golf3/1-2 at Kinderlou Forest Challenge (Valdosta, Ga.) All Day3/12-14 at LSU Golf Classic (Baton Rouge, La.) All Day3/26-28 at Betsy Rawls Longhorn Inv. (Austin, Texas) All Day

Lacrosse3/7 at Stanford 3 p.m.3/10 Longwood 4 p.m. 3/13 Boston University 1 p.m. 3/17 Louisville 5 p.m.3/21 Penn State 1 p.m. 3/24 at Notre Dame TBA3/28 at Delaware Noon

Tennis3/5 at Mississippi 3 p.m.3/7 at Mississippi State 1 p.m.3/12 Tennessee 2:30 p.m.3/14 Georgia Noon3/19 Notre Dame 2:30 p.m.3/21 at Georgia Tech Noon

Track & Field3/5-6 at SEC Indoor Championships (Fayetteville, Ark.) All Day3/12-13 at NCAA Indoor Championships All Day3/26-27 Vanderbilt Black and Gold All Day

March 6-14 • Spring Break

Vanderbilt’s students will be on spring break March 6-14. With the students out of town, fans will have an opportunity to purchase sin-gle game tickets in the student section for VU’s men’s basketball game against South Carolina on March 6.

March 11-14 • MBB SEC Tournament

The 2010 SEC Tournament will be played in Van-derbilt’s backyard March 11-14 at the Sommet Center in Nashville. It will be the first time the event has been held in Nashville since 2006.

March 17 • Spring Practice Begins

Spring football practice will begin on March 17 for the Commodores. Among the key position battles to watch will be at quarterback where Larry Smith and Jordan Rodgers will battle.

What to Watch For

• The final day to submit a nomination for the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is Friday, March 12. The 2010 class will be the third in school history. The form can be accessed and submitted on vucommodores.com. The form also is available on-line to be printed and mailed in.

• Head Coach Bobby Johnson announced a 24-player signing class on Feb. 3. The class is regarded as Johnson’s finest at Vanderbilt with Rivals.com and Scout.com listing multiple play-ers as 3-star prospects. The class includes five defensive backs, four defensive linemen, offensive linemen and wide receivers.

• Former Commodore football player and current Eastern Michi-gan Athletic Director Derrick Gragg will be inducted into the Huntsville-Madison (Ala.) Athletic Hall of Fame on April 12.

• Vanderbilt had 52 student-athletes selected to the Fall 2009 SEC Academic Honor Roll. The soccer team had 17 players earn the honor, while the football squad led the SEC with 37 players.

T I DB I T SC O M M O D O R E

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