November 2007

LIZ SHERWOOD AND SHAN FOSTER LIZ SHERWOOD AND SHAN FOSTER LEAD THE COMMODORESLEAD THE COMMODORES

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table of contents4 National Commodore Club

6 In My Words Meredith Kohn

7 Commodores Cubed Know your Commodores

8 Point of View Marcus Buggs

9 Coaches’ Corner Steve Keith

11 Commodore Tidbits By the Numbers

12 My First Job - with Tim Corbin The Final 4 with Chris Williams

15 Men’s Basketball Preview VU aims for second straight Sweet 16

17 Women’s Basketball Preview Commodores count on youthful team

20 Quick Hits A look at Vanderbilt sports

21 Commodores In The Pros

22 Jimmy Holt Supporting Vanderbilt athletics

23 It’s My Turn - Rod Williamson Plans for VU Hall of Fame revealed

24 Sports Calendar

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Editorial

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

Editor-in-Chief: Ryan Schulz

Director of Media Relations: Rod Williamson

Designers: Ryan Schulz

Jeremy Teaford

Digital Image Specialist: Julie Luckett Turner

Photographers: Neil Brake

Daniel Dubois

Steve Green

Paul J. Levy

Josh Spaulding

Contributors: Andy Boggs

Marcus Buggs

Chad Crunk

John Erck

Larry Leathers

Nick Petrone

Thomas Samuel

Chris Weinman

Administrative

Interim 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 Values

Vanderbilt 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 experimenta-tion 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.

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 HallGeneral Manager615/322-4468shall@ispsports.com

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.

VUCOMMODORES.COM

Connect with

Commodore Nation All-AccessYour ticket to free multimedia con-tent is Commodore Nation All Ac-cess. The page includes live audio, live video, Gametracker, postgame highlights and interviews.

Vanderbilt MerchandiseThe latest Vanderbilt merchandise is available for purchase on VU-Commodores.com. The online store features more than 20 pages of offi cial Vanderbilt merchandise.

Gameday CentralEverything you want to know about an upcoming Vanderbilt basket-ball or football game is located in Gameday Central. In addition to the information regarding Vanderbilt and its opponent, the page also includes valuable links such as parking, driv-ing directions, ticket information, live stats and audio.

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.

Purchase TicketsInterested in attending an upcoming Vanderbilt athletic event? Fans can purchase tickets and view seating charts on VUCommodores.com.

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NCC Versus Endowment

By Jeff UlmerNCC Executive Director

I am often asked to explain the difference between gifts to the National Commodore Club and gifts to support the athletics endowment campaign. Gifts to the National Commodore Club are spent in the year they are received to offset the annual costs of pro-viding scholarships for our student-athletes. The NCC is really the lifeblood of our athletic programs and crucial to Vanderbilt’s ability to cover the rising cost of student financial aid.

Endowment gifts are, in the simplest terms, invested by the University for long-term growth. A portion of the endowment’s annual interest earnings are spent for scholarships while the corpus, or the endowment’s princi-pal, remains invested. Because endowments are long-term investments, donors who make an endowment gift to athletics ($300,000 minimum) can name a partial scholarship endowment for themselves or for a loved one, and that endowed scholarship will remain in perpetuity.

Both NCC gifts and endowment gifts help to fund scholarships and both are extremely important to the long term financial health of Vanderbilt athletics. This is why we ask our donors to support both. For further informa-tion about establishing a named scholarship or making a gift to the National Commodore Club, contact us at 615/322-4114 or go to www.vucommodores.com. You can also email us at ncc.supportdores@vanderbilt.edu.

Dr. Winston Caine made a lead gift toward an endowed scholarship.

Dr. Winston Caine is honored by Jeff Ulmer of the NCC for making a lead gift toward an endowed scholarship. Caine is joined by his wife, Priscilla, and sons Stephen and Matthew. Caine played football at Vanderbilt, and his son, Matthew, is also a graduate.

The 2020 Society has one tailgate remaining this year.

Paul Steele, Cal Cook, Matt Hancock, Hi Lewis and Lisa Uiberall-Noble pose under the 2020 Society’s Vandyville tent before the win over Ole Miss. The 2020 Society has one tailgate remaining this year – before the Kentucky game on Nov. 10.

Call (615/322-4114), click http://vucommodores.com or stop by the office in the McGugin Center to make your gift to the National Commodore Club. Every gift is allocated toward the goal of funding student-athlete scholarships. Your Membership Matters!

CORNERCOMMODORE CLUB

PHONE: 615/322-4114 vucommodores.com

JOIN THE NCC OR RENEW TODAY!

OLE MISS GAME

Letter Winners Day and National Commodore Club Day will be celebrated on Nov. 10 during the Kentucky football game. Mark your calendar and check vucommo-dores.com for more details.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Vanderbilt Athletics and the National Commodore Club endeavor to endow all athlet-ics scholarships. To help in that task, the NCC has created 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 commitment.

For more information on the Black and Gold Society and Athletic Scholarship Endowments, please contact John Erck at john.erck@vander-bilt.edu or 615/322-7922.

Mrs. Dudley White (center) is honored during the Eastern Michigan game for her continued support of Vanderbilt Athletics.

JOIN THE BLACK AND GOLD ENDOWMENT SOCIETY

EASTERN MICHIGAN GAME

Tailgate parties for away games are in the planning process, so check vucommodores.com for updates on times and locations.

Tailgate parties are scheduled for games at Florida (Nov. 3) and Tennessee (Nov. 17).

ROAD GAME TAILGATES

Caroline and Billy Hamburg Jeff and Sarah Moats

National Commodore Club members gear up for victory over Eastern Michigan.

Mrs. Dudley White is joined by son William Morgan, grandson Carver Morgan, son Dr. Walter Morgan, and Interim Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. Mrs. White and both of her sons have degrees from Vanderbilt, and Carver is a current student.

2020 SOCIETY

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 are automatically in the 2020 Society. The Society is a creation of the 2020 Advisory Committee, a group of young alumni committed to increas-

ing 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 noti-fied, please contact Cal Cook at cal.cook@vanderbilt.edu or 615/343-4878.

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On being known as the comedian

on the team

It is fun. When things are going bad, I try to stay upbeat and crack a joke when everyone is tense. For me, I’d rather be laughing even when things are hard because it is so much easier if you are at least having fun.

On describing her personality

I’d say I am pretty outgoing and easygoing. I just don’t let a lot bother me.

On how she came to be known as

the comedian on the team

The more comfortable I got with the team, the more I opened up. That is just the way my personality is.

On her favorite comedy

“Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” is my favorite comedy. It is pretty cheesy, but I think it is hilarious.

On her favorite comedian

I love Will Ferrell. I probably quote “Anchor-man” more than any other movie. It is the movie our team quotes all the time, and I feel like we quote the entire movie.

On the importance of keeping an upbeat

personality

I think it is extremely important because a lot of times when games are tough and practices are tough, there’s really not much else that is going to get you through except trying to stay positive and upbeat. Sometimes you have to laugh about it or make jokes about it to kind of keep things in perspective.

On being a leader on the team

I love it. I feel like our team is so close and there is no difference between the freshmen and the seniors. We all hang out together and there is really no division in age, so it makes it

In My Words

Meredith Kohn

Known as the team comedian, senior midfi elder Meredith Kohn has a knack for keeping the Commodores loose during the season. In ad-dition to having an upbeat and colorful personality, the Alpharetta,

Ga., native has provided the Commodores with much more than just a laugh in her career. After recording six points in 2006, Kohn is well on her way to surpassing that mark this season. A staple of Vanderbilt’s starting lineup, she will graduate in May, 2008 with a degree in psychology.

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ryanFLAHERTY

Baseball

curtisGATEWOOD

Football

amandaTAYLOR

Tennis

anjaraeWASHINGTON

Track & Field

Favorite Sports Movie Rocky

Remember the Titans

The ProgramRemember the Titans

Childhood Sports Idol Derek Jeter

MichaelJordan

People that were nice and

still won

Dominique Dawes

Rather Drive a Car, Truck

or SUVCar

SUV — I’m a big guy

Black Truck SUV

Favorite Food Mexican Fish and Rice

Chips and Salsa

Mac and Cheese

Dream Vacation

DestinationBahamas Paris Italy Greece

Actor/Actress

Who Would Play Me in a

Movie

Chris Farley Rob Brown Tina Fey Halle Berry

I Know I Shouldn’t,

But I Still EatWendy’s Chips Blizzards

Lots and lots of cheese

Freezing Cold or

Burning HotBurning Hot Freezing Cold

In a warm bed when

it’s freezing outside

Burning Hot

Commodores Cubedreally easy because I look up to everyone on our team for different reasons.

On playing for coach Coveleskie

It has been good. She is very intense and she wants the team to do well, and I think we all work very hard because we all want to ultimately achieve the same goal.

On her career aspirations after soccer

I’d really like to work in the pro sports world either doing public relations or broadcast-ing. I’m not exactly sure what, but I love sports, so I’d defi nitely really love to work for a sports team.

On her favorite off day activity

I love to go shopping and I like to go out to eat and hang out with my friends.

On how she got into playing soccer

I joined a local recreational league when I was young and just really liked it. I liked working on it and going out and practic-ing and working hard, so it kind of evolved from there.

On living with fellow senior teammates

Amy Baumann and Sarah Dennis for

the past three years

It is awesome. After living with each other for so long, we just know each other’s little quirks and funny things that no one else would know unless you live with somebody for so long. We all have such different per-sonalities, but for some reason everything works for us. We balance each other out.

On the hardest part about living

with roommates

It is funny because even sometimes when we are like, ‘I just want to be alone,’ we will go somewhere together. There are very few people that I feel like I can spend that much time with and they are defi nitely two of the top ones.

On growing up in Alpharetta, Ga.

I love it, and I love living in the South. Everyone is a lot nicer, and I just love the Southern culture. I’d defi nitely like to stay in the South once I graduate.

On going to school at Vanderbilt

I love Vanderbilt and having a smaller cam-pus. It is tough being an athlete at Vander-bilt because of our workload. The courses are diffi cult and we still have to balance playing, practice and traveling. It is tough, but I think it is defi nitely worth it.

On going to school in a big city

like Nashville

If I had to do it over again, I would defi -nitely pick a school in a big city because there is just so much to do. There is always something going on. ■

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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 inter-est. A native of Madison, Tenn., Buggs is a senior linebacker on the Vander-bilt football team. He led the team with 10.5 tackles for loss in 2006.

D uring the Spring of 2007, I worked at the Campus for Human Development for my internship class. This is an organization aimed at aiding the homeless of Nashville

and its surrounding areas. On a daily basis, I would help indi-viduals gain access to such necessities as food, clothing and transportation, amongst other things. I also helped with the al-cohol and drug education courses at the Campus.

While working at the Campus, I learned many life lessons. I would say the most im-portant thing I learned there was that home-lessness and hard-ships can happen to anyone regardless of race, culture, or back-ground. While there, I crossed countless individuals who had college degrees and came from good fam-ily backgrounds, but a few bad situations turned their worlds upside down. After working there, I have a whole new respect for those who face these types of challenges each day. Some people stereotype this population and make references to them just getting up and getting a job, but life is not that easy.

My experience at the Campus has created a greater appre-ciation for the things I may look over in my life. Many of the individuals I worked with had no family to turn to either be-cause they were dead or they had disassociated themselves

from their family. I now take bigger pride in little things like telling my sis-ter, “I love you.” Also, most of us with roofs over our heads and clothes on our backs don’t really think about what it would be like to not have those things.

I feel that it is important to give back to the com-

munity because both sides gain something from it. Dedicating your time and effort can mean a world of difference to those who receive it. People would be amazed at the effect that is caused by something as simple as talking with someone. Be-ing a shoulder to lean on costs nothing and is very effortless. Volunteering gave me a sense of pride and appreciation. I feel I learned a lot from those I worked with even though they may not feel that they taught me anything. ■

Point of View

By Marcus Buggs

The Campus for Human Development provides services to the homeless such as food, shelter and water.

Recreation room at the Campus.

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Steve KeithHead Cross Country CoachA member of the Vanderbilt cross country and track and fi eld teams from 1977-81, Steve Keith returned to his alma mater in 2006.

You went to school at Vanderbilt, how did you get into running cross country and track while in school?When I came down to school at Vanderbilt, I saw a sign walking down to the post offi ce in Sarratt (Student Center) that said, “Come out and run track,” and I did. I ran track and a couple of years of cross country here, and that kind of got my interest going in that spe-cifi c area of athletics.

What type of student-athletes usually compete in cross country?I think the sport is kind of like swimming where the sport is so repetitive. It is not for everyone, but it seems to attract a certain kind of per-sonality and fortunately for me, that personal-ity usually includes kids that do well in school and manage their time well.

How did you get into coaching?When I graduated, while all my friends went on to business school and law school, I was still trying to fi gure out what I wanted to do. Teaching was something that I wanted to look into, so I went to grad school at Emory University with that in mind. I inquired with the track coach at Emory whether they need-ed any help. The coach told me that they needed some graduate students to coach, so I started coaching.

What is the best advice a coach ever gave you?“What you do in practice is what you will do in a game.”—former soccer coach Ray Beckman, who is in the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame and St. Louis Fire Fighters Hall of Fame.

What is one of the challenges with coaching cross country?One of my main concerns is holding back. I don’t have to motivate these kids because they are driven in the classroom, and they are driven in running. I just have to know when to hold back in order to get them rested and make sure that their legs are good for the big competition. If I asked them to run through a wall, they would do it. My punishment to them is to not let them run. ■

CORNERC O A C H E S ’

Q: Double Dribble is a basketball student-athlete at Vanderbilt. He is on a full athletic scholarship and lives at home with his parents. Can Vanderbilt provide Double the “room” portion of his scholar-ship since he lives at home with his parents?

A: Yes, as long as the amount provided is in accordance with institutional policy. NCAA Offi cial Interpretation- [8/2/07]- Room Stipend for Student-Athlete Residing with Parents (I)- states that the committee confi rmed that when a student-athlete resides with his or her parents or legal guardians the institution may only award the room fi gure specifi cally established for a student-athlete residing with his or her parents or legal guardians as mandated by federal fi nancial aid guidelines or institutional policy. [References: NCAA Bylaws 15.2.2 (room and board) and 15.2.2.1 (off-campus room and board stipend)]

Compliance Questions? Please contact:Candice Storey George MidgettDirector of Compliance Compliance Coordinator615/322-7992 615/322-2083candice.storey@vanderbilt.edu george.d.midgett@vanderbilt.edu

CORNERC O M P L I A N C E

By Candice Storey

Frame by Frame

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$50,894 Amount raised for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital through the Vanderbilt-Ole Miss ticket promotion.

19 Ranking Vanderbilt received from U.S. News & World Report in its 2008 list of top national universities.

$49,834 Estimated total cost to attend Vanderbilt in 2007-08.

2,400 The number of corporate tailgaters the Vanderbilt Athletic Group Sales Department can host on a football game day.

1993 The last year Vanderbilt had three home wins in a single season until this year. The Commodores defeated Eastern Michigan on Sept. 29 for their third home win in 2007.

$2,803,000 Amount raised by the National Commodore Club during the 2006-07 school year.

200 The previous school record for career receptions that Earl Bennett broke on Oct. 6. The record had been held since 1983 by Keith Edwards.

• Vanderbilt’s bowling team received its national championship rings on Sept. 29. The following day, the team was honored on the fi eld during the Eastern Michigan game.

• Vanderbilt’s football team collected three home wins in the month of Sep-tember, the fastest the Commodores have ever earned three home wins in a season. The three wins in September also marked the fi rst time VU had three home wins in the same month since winning all three home games in Novem-ber of 1982.

• Freshman forward Molly Kinsella was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 8. Kinsella scored the game-winning goal for VU in the second overtime at South Carolina on Oct. 6.

• Junior wide receiver George Smith was featured during the Auburn game on Oct. 6 as the SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week. A native of Pembroke Hills, Fla., Smith nearly died three years ago from spinal cord infl am-mation resulting from acute transverse myelitis. Smith frequently shares his experiences with young patients suffering from the illness at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Smith also mentors to students at St. Ber-nard’s School and has volunteered as a camp counselor with the Backfi eld in Motion effort that aids Nashville inner-city children.

• Vanderbilt’s seven sacks against Ole Miss on Sept. 15 matched a school re-cord. Since becoming an offi cial statistic in 1984, Vanderbilt had previously only registered seven sacks on two occasions. The other two came against Alabama on Sept. 10, 1994, and Virginia Tech on Nov. 4, 1989.

NUMBERST I D B I T SC O M M O D O R E By TheBy The

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CHRISWILLIAMS• Football• Senior• Offensive Tackle

Chris Williams is a senior from Glynn, La., who is majoring in human orga-nizational development.

When did you start playing football, and how did you get into it?I started playing in seventh grade and continued playing in eighth grade, but I sat out in ninth grade because I didn’t like it. I went to all of our high school games my fresh-man year and I just had to get back into it, so I started playing again my 10th-grade year.

What is the hardest part of playing offensive line?It is a consistency thing. It is one of those positions where you have to be extremely consistent and nobody notices how well you play, they just notice how terrible you do. If you gave up two sacks, everyone is go-ing to know.

What is the biggest difference between run blocking and pass blocking?Pass blocking is what I feel requires the most skill. Run blocking comes down to mainly effort, especially in our system. It is one of those things where you have to give the effort and do what you are taught and you will be where you need to be. Pass blocking is a little trickier.

Once you fi nish playing foot-ball at Vanderbilt, what do you want to do next?I want to play in the NFL for as long as I can and then I want to open up a small business. I am not into much corporate stuff. My fi ancée (Marissa) wants to open a pet resort, but per-sonally, I haven’t really decided what kind of business. I will fi eld opportu-nities when they come to me and see how the market is.

#74

The Final

O ftentimes a first job can be very memorable. For many, it was their fi rst sniff of what the real world was like.

The job usually paid very little, was very labor intensive and had very little reward. With every day on the job growing longer and longer, the anticipation that was built up for the fi rst pay-check grew by the day until it was boiling over. Although the money wasn’t much in reality, it seemed like a lot as a kid.

Vanderbilt Baseball Coach Tim Corbin remem-bers to this day what his fi rst job was like.

Growing up in Wolfeboro, N.H., Corbin’s fi rst job was as a bus boy at Bailey’s Restaurant, now known as Morrissey’s Front Porch.

Corbin began working at the restaurant, which was a local favorite, when he was in seventh grade and worked his way up from bus boy to dishwasher and ultimately to the grill.

“It was a good job, and I actually worked there until my 12th-grade year,” Corbin said. “The owners were sports fans, and they allowed me to play summer ball while I was working, so it was very convenient.”

Although his family didn’t make him get a job, Corbin knew his family wanted him to gain the experience of having a real job.

“I think they wanted me to work, and they wanted me to understand the value of a dollar,” Corbin said. “I didn’t really consider it work. Back then — yard work was more work than working at Bailey’s Restaurant.”

A town of about 7,000 residents on the east-ern side of the state, Wolfeboro had additional places for a kid to work, but Bailey’s Restaurant was the place that caught Corbin’s eye.

“I worked there because there were a lot of ath-letes that worked there, and it was just kind of a fun place to work,” Corbin said.

Like most fi rst jobs, Corbin wasn’t going to break the bank when he cashed his paycheck for working 30-hour weeks.

“The pay wasn’t enough to pay off my student loans,” Corbin said with a laugh. “I don’t know what the child labor laws were back then, but they used them pretty well.”

Corbin eventually moved his way up to work-ing the grill. Working the grill also introduced Corbin to what turned out to be his least favor-ite part about working at Bailey’s.

“The worst part was scraping the grill at the end of the night,” Corbin said. “It was just such a hassle every night.”

Despite there being a few negatives, Corbin also remembers the perks of working there.

“One of the perks was that we got to eat free food,” Corbin said. “The other good part about working there was that it was just a fun atmosphere.” ■

My First Job - with Tim Corbin 44

Formerly known as Bailey’s Restaurant, the establishment is now under new ownership and is called Morrissey’s Front Porch.

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Commodores Look For Repeat Trip To Sweet 16

ROSTER

0 Jermaine Beal So. G 6-3/210 DeSoto, Texas 34 16.8 3.8 1.8 1.8 33.7 80.034 George Drake So. G 6-4/210 Calera, Ala. 33 10.3 2.7 1.4 0.6 42.4 34.832 Shan Foster Sr. G/F 6-6/205 Kenner, La. 34 32.4 15.6 4.6 2.3 44.9 84.33 Alex Gordon Sr. G 6-0/170 Pensacola, Fla. 34 24.0 7.8 2.4 3.3 39.6 73.611 Alan Metcalfe Sr. F 6-9/265 St. Helens, England 21 7.5 2.6 1.9 0.1 44.2 78.941 Ross Neltner Sr. F 6-9/238 Fort Thomas, Ky. 34 25.0 9.2 5.7 2.2 52.9 70.4

NEWCOMERS

13 Keegan Bell Fr. G 6-1/180 Hazel Green, Ala./Hazel Green HS15 Elliot Cole Fr. G 5-11/175 Memphis, Tenn./Memphis U. School50 Joe Duffy Fr. F 6-8/225 Charlotte, N.C./Phillips Exter Academy (N.H.)/Charlotte Catholic1 Festus Ezeli Fr. C 6-11/245 Benin City, Nigeria/Igbinedion Education Center2 Charles Hinkle Fr. G/F 6-5/200 Los Alamitos, Calif./Hebron Academy (Maine)/Los Alamitos HS21 Darshawn McClellan Fr. F 6-7/220 Fresno, Calif./Edison HS4 Andrew Ogilvy Fr. C 6-11/250 Canberra, Australia/Australian Institute of Sports24 Andre Walker Fr. F 6-8/214 Flossmoor, Ill./Brewster Academy (N.H.)/Homewood-Flossmoor HS

COACHING STAFFHead Coach: Kevin StallingsAssistant Coaches: Dan Muller, King Rice, Tom RichardsonDirector of Operations: Brad Frederick

No. Player Cl. Pos. Ht./Wt. Hometown G MPG PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

No. Player Cl. Pos. Ht./Wt. Hometown/Previous Schools

C oming off a season where Vanderbilt was just 2.5 seconds from advancing to the Elite 8 for the second time in the history

of the program and fi rst since 1965, Head Coach Kevin Stallings and the Commodores enter the 2007-08 season with two Sweet 16 appearances in the past four seasons.

The Commodores’ recent success places them among the elite programs in the SEC. In addition to Vanderbilt, two-time defending national cham-pion Florida is the only other school in the league to advance to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 twice in the past four years.

“It makes a statement that we are certainly in the mix as a program that has to be reckoned with,” said Stallings, who is entering his ninth season in Nashville. “Success can be very fl eeting, how-ever, if you don’t follow that up with more success and continued work.”

With the return of three starters from last year’s team that compiled a 22-12 overall record and fi n-ished second in the SEC Eastern Division at 10-6, the Commodores are primed for consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the fi rst time since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.

Starting guards Shan Foster and Alex “Red” Gor-don return in the backcourt, while forward Ross Neltner is the lone returning starter in VU’s front-court. A senior from Kenner, La., Foster enters the season as the league’s third-leading returning scorer after averaging 15.6 points per game as a junior. One of four seniors on the Commodores’ roster, Foster prepared for the upcoming season by competing on the 12-member USA Basketball team that competed at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this past summer.

“Shan’s productivity over the course of his ca-reer necessitates that people give him a lot of re-spect,” Stallings said. “There’s no question that early on Shan will be our go-to guy. But he’s also a great scorer who is willing to give his very best effort on the defensive end day-in and day-out and do whatever it takes to help his team win. That’s what separates him at times from other guys who score a lot of points.“

FRONTCOURTJoining Neltner in the frontcourt will be fellow se-nior Alan Metcalfe and freshmen Darshawn Mc-Clellan, Andrew Ogilvy and Andre Walker. Fellow true freshman Festus Ezeli will redshirt after sign-ing in August.

After transferring from LSU following the 2004-05 season, the 6-foot-9 Neltner provided consistent interior play last season by averaging 9.2 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds per contest.

“A guy that can step out and make shots and can pass the ball like Ross has always made teams that I coach a lot better,” Stallings said. “His

emergence last year was critical to the team, and he should have a similar impact this season.”

Metcalfe started the fi rst two games of last sea-son before a foot injury sidelined him for much of the non-conference slate. The native of St. Hel-ens, England, averaged 7.5 minutes, 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds a year ago.

Ogilvy heads the eight-member freshman class having established himself in international com-petition this past summer for Australia at the FIBA U19 World Championships.

BACKCOURTPlaying in the backcourt with Foster and Gordon will be sophomore Jermaine Beal, redshirt soph-omore George Drake and freshmen Keegan Bell and Charles Hinkle.

Gordon proved himself as one of the league’s top point guards last season after fi nishing fourth in the conference with a 2.22-to-1 assist-to-turn-over ratio. Gordon averaged 7.8 points and 3.3 assists last year, while leading all starting SEC point guards with just 51 turnovers.

“Alex’s willingness to sacrifi ce some parts of his game last year was a very key component to our success,” Stallings said. “He understood where the ball needed to be and at some times that meant somewhere other than his hands. Maybe you’ll see him be more of a scoring option for us this season.”

Beal averaged 3.8 points in 16.8 minutes a game in 2006-07. He also ranked fourth among SEC freshmen in steals with an average of 1.08.

Drake averaged 2.7 points and 10.3 minutes while playing in 33 games last season. ■

11.5 Tusculum (Exhibition) 8pm11.10 Austin Peay TBA11.13 at Toledo 6pm11.20 Valparaiso 7pm11.23 vs. Utah State (South Padre Island) 9pm11.24 vs. Iowa or Bradley (South Padre Island) TBA11.29 South Alabama 7pm12.1 Georgia Tech 12pm12.5 Wake Forest 7pm12.8 Lipscomb 7pm12.12 at DePaul 7:30pm12.22 Tennessee State 8pm12.29 Tennessee-Martin 12pm12.31 Iona 7pm1.3 Rice 7pm1.5 UMASS 3pm1.9 South Carolina 7pm1.12 at Kentucky 12:30pm1.17 at Tennessee 6pm1.19 LSU 12pm1.27 at Florida 12pm1.30 at Ole Miss 7pm2.2 Auburn 4pm2.6 at Georgia 6:30pm2.9 at South Carolina 4pm2.12 Kentucky 8pm2.16 Florida 2pm2.23 Georgia 3pm2.26 Tennessee 8pm3.1 at Arkansas 3pm3.5 Mississippi State 7pm3.8 at Alabama 6pm3.13-16 at SEC Tournament (Atlanta) TBA

Date Opponent Time

SHAN

FOSTER

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 716

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 17vucommodores.com

Young Team Aims For Ninth Straight NCAA Tournament Bid

L osing three senior starters, including two that were drafted into the WNBA is a chal-lenge for any program. But when you throw

in the fact that Vanderbilt’s 2007-08 roster is com-prised of just one senior and a total of three up-perclassmen, the task of returning to the NCAA Tournament for a ninth straight season becomes even more diffi cult.

As one of just 11 programs in the country to have advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of the last eight seasons, the Commodores will look to continue their success by getting big seasons from senior center Liz Sherwood, junior guard Jennifer Risper and junior forward/guard Chris-tina Wirth.

Vanderbilt’s top three returnees and only upper-classmen, Sherwood, Risper and Wirth, each fi n-ished in the top six on the team in scoring and rebounding in 2006-07.

With such a young team, Head Coach Melanie Bal-comb believes that the Commodores will have to rely on their defense while the offense develops.

“With a young, athletic team, I expect our defense to be one of our strengths,” Balcomb said. “Of-fensive philosophies can take time to install and understand, but defense is based on desire and physical ability. We’re going to be more aggres-sive this year and will look to spark our offense through defensive pressure and causing turn-overs that become points.”

Helping to fi ll the void left by departed seniors Dee Davis, Carla Thomas and Caroline Williams will be a sophomore class that had four players average at least eight minutes per game as fresh-men last season. The Commodores also welcome a four-member freshman class into the mix.

In preparation for this season, Vanderbilt em-barked on an eight-day, seven-night trip to Spain in August. With such a young team, the trip to Spain, where the Commodores fi nished 3-0, may have been just what the Commodores needed to develop chemistry heading into the season.

FRONTCOURTAlong with Sherwood and Wirth, Vanderbilt’s frontcourt will be comprised of sophomores Ash-lee Bridge, Amy Malo and Amber Norton, and freshmen Rebecca Silinski and Hannah Tuomi.

A 6-foot-4 center from Castle Rock, Colo., Sher-wood is Vanderbilt’s second-leading returning scorer and rebounder after averaging 8.8 points and 3.6 rebounds last season.

“We have a well-established fi ve in Liz Sherwood,” Balcomb said. “The chemistry she’s developed with (Christina Wirth) is going to give us another dangerous high-low duo.”

Wirth returns as Vanderbilt’s leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago after averaging 11.4 points and 4.4 rebounds. An extremely versatile player who can play guard and forward, Wirth is the only returning player to have started all 34 games last season.

After Sherwood and Wirth, Vanderbilt’s frontline is thin on experience with Norton and Malo av-eraging just 8.3 and 4.3 minutes, respectively, as freshmen.

Along with Norton, who averaged 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds last year, Balcomb expects a good season from Tuomi.

“I see both Amber Norton and Hannah Tuomi as important contributors in the post as small for-wards,” Balcomb said. “They both have the phys-ical presence to bang around on the inside.”

BACKCOURTJoining Risper in the backcourt will be sopho-mores Ashlee Bridge, Lauren Lueders, Merideth Marsh and Jessica Mooney, and freshmen Chanel Chisholm and Jence Rhoads.

Risper is a 5-foot-9 guard from Moreno Valley, Ca-lif., who made 17 starts and averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds last season.

“At the two guard, Jenn Risper is as healthy as she’s ever been for us after injuring her knee prior to her freshman year and suffering a minor set-back last season,” Balcomb said.

Marsh and Mooney will battle for the point guard slot that Davis held.

“We’re replacing the school’s all-time assists leader, so there’s obviously a challenge there, but I have liked what I’ve seen from Merideth (Marsh) and Jess (Mooney),” Balcomb said. ■

10.31 Cumberland (Exhibition) 7pm11.5 Anderson College (Exhibition) 5:30pm11.9 UAB 7pm11.11 Furman 2pm11.14 at Indiana State 6pm11.20 at Clemson 6pm11.23 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. 2pm (Belmont, Iowa State, Michigan)11.25 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. Consolation Game 12pm11.25 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. Championship Game 2pm11.28 Duke 7pm12.1 vs. St. Mary’s (Berkeley, Calif.) 6pm12.2 at California 4pm12.6 Western Kentucky 7pm12.9 Colorado 2pm12.22 Lipscomb 5:30pm12.30 Old Dominion 2pm1.2 South Florida 7pm1.5 at Princeton 1pm1.10 Mississippi State 7pm1.13 at LSU 4pm1.17 Georgia 7pm1.20 at Tennessee 2pm1.27 Ole Miss 2pm1.31 at Florida 6pm2.3 at Georgia 1:30pm2.7 South Carolina 7pm2.10 at Alabama 2pm2.14 Kentucky 7pm2.17 Tennessee 3:30pm2.21 at Arkansas 7pm2.28 at Auburn 8pm3.2 Alabama 2pm3.6-9 at SEC Tournament (Nashville) TBA

Date Opponent Time

LIZ

SHERWOOD

ROSTER

11 Ashlee Bridge So. G/F 5-11 Cincinnati, Ohio 18 4.3 1.8 0.6 0.4 70.0 60.05 Lauren Lueders So. G 5-8 Jackson, Mo. 29 10.8 3.2 1.5 0.7 45.8 81.843 Amy Malo So. F 6-3 Fairmont, Minn. 18 5.1 1.7 1.1 0.1 61.9 71.423 Merideth Marsh So. G 5-9 Louisville, Ky. 31 12.7 4.5 1.0 2.0 46.8 83.920 Jessica Mooney So. G 5-8 Nashville, Tenn. 34 12.5 3.9 1.1 0.9 42.7 58.825 Amber Norton So. F 6-1 Louisville, Ky. 32 8.3 2.6 1.9 0.2 44.4 45.52 Jennifer Risper Jr. G 5-9 Moreno Valley, Calif. 32 19.6 5.4 3.3 1.9 46.0 79.232 Liz Sherwood Sr. C 6-4 Castle Rock, Colo. 34 15.0 8.8 3.6 0.6 66.2 58.034 Christina Wirth Jr. G/F 6-1 Mesa, Ariz. 34 29.1 11.4 4.4 2.3 50.2 87.1

NEWCOMERS

3 Chanel Chisholm Fr. G 5-11 Long Island, N.Y./North Babylon HS22 Jence Rhoads Fr. G 5-11 Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock HS33 Rebecca Silinski Fr. F 6-3 Birmingham, Ala./Shades Mountain Christian HS15 Hannah Tuomi Fr. F 6-0 Thornton, Colo./Horizon HS

COACHING STAFFHead Coach: Melanie BalcombAssistant Coaches: Lisa Cermignano, Vicky Picott, Kim RosamondDirector of Operations: Justin VanOrman

No. Player Cl. Pos. Ht. Hometown G MPG PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

No. Player Cl. Pos. Ht. Hometown/Previous Schools

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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 19vucommodores.com

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MEN’S SPORTSBaseball

The 2007-2008 baseball recruit-ing class was ranked No. 12 by Baseball America and No. 15 by Collegiate Baseball. Former Commodore hurler Jen-sen Lewis participated in the MLB playoffs with the Cleve-land Indians. Former Commodore All-American David Price will receive the Dick Howser Trophy in a pre-sentation at the Kentucky football game on Nov. 10. Tim Corbin was named the American Baseball Coaches Association South Region Coach of the Year. The Commodores concluded their fall prac-tice season with the Black and Gold Series Oct. 25-26, 27. Pedro Alvarez topped the list of Rivals.com Positional Power Rankings at third base. Shortstop Ryan Flaherty and outfi elder Dominic de la Osa ranked No. 2 at their posi-tions respectively.

Basketball Practice started on October 12th in preparation for the 2007-08 season. The team’s fi rst exhibition game is at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 at Memorial Gym against Tusculum. The Commodores, who fi n-ished 22-12 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in four years, return three starters and six letterwinners. Two-time All-SEC performer Shan Foster leads the way for Vanderbilt in 2007-08. The senior guard/forward averaged 15.6 points per game in 2006-07 and fi nished eighth in the league in scoring. The Commodores are slated to appear on CBS one time and on the ESPN family of networks three times. Both games of the Ten-nessee series in 2007-08 will appear on either ESPN or ESPN2. 2007 SEC Coach of the Year Kevin Stallings returns for his ninth season with the Com-modores. Stallings, with a career record of 267-171 in 14 seasons as a head coach and a 144-108 record as the Vanderbilt mentor, became only the second Vanderbilt coach in school history to have three 20-win seasons (Roy Skinner) after the 2006-07 season.

Men’s Cross Country• Austin Williamson led VU at the

Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 13 by fi nishing 35th out of 259 runners.

• Thomas Davis improved his time by 39 seconds compared with 2006 at the Greater Louis-ville Classic.

• Like Davis, Michael Nordlund bettered his 2006 time by 39 seconds. Nordlund, who fi n-ished fourth for the Commodores with a time of 26:43.63, beat his 2006 time of 27:22.

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• Chris Noel, who fi nished second for the men’s team in a time of 26:09.23, beat his 2006 time of 26:18 by nine seconds.

• Rick Semones has fi nished as the third runner in all races this season.

Football Wide receiver Earl Bennett set a school record with his 201st career reception against Auburn on Oct. 6. The previ-ous school record was 200 by Keith Edwards, who lettered at VU in the ‘80s. With the win over Eastern Michigan, the Commodores earned their third win at home for the fi rst time since 1993. The third win also marked the fi rst time since 1984 that VU has won three of its fi rst four home games. The three wins in the month of September are the quickest Vanderbilt has reached three home wins in school history. The three wins in September also mark the fi rst time VU has had three home wins in the same month since winning all three home games in the month of November in 1982. The ‘Dores won all four games played during that month. Among those in attendance at the homecom-ing game against Georgia were Jay Cutler, Shelton Quarles and Brandt Snedeker.

Men’s Golf The Commodores concluded the fall by hosting the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. Jon Curran has been invited to take part in the 2007 West-ern Refi ning All-America Golf Classic at the El Paso Country Club. Former Commodore Luke List won the pres-tigious event in 2005, which features approxi-mately 30 of the nation’s premier golfers.

Tennis Freshman Alex Zotov fi nished second in his draw at the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Ga., on Sept. 23. Zotov followed his play at the Southern Intercollegiates by advancing to the semifi nals of the Georgia Tech Invitational on Oct. 6. Junior Nick Cromydas returned to the court Oct. 1 for the ITA All-American Champion-ships after being sidelined by injury since the summer.

WOMEN’S SPORTSBasketball

Melanie Balcomb’s Commo-dores opened preseason practice on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 10 a.m. on the main fl oor of Memorial Gymnasium. The three-hour workout was the team’s fi rst opportunity to blend nine returning players with four fresh-men newcomers. After playing two exhibition games at Memo-

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rial Gym, including one on Halloween, the Commodores open the 2007-08 season with home games against UAB (Nov. 9) and Fur-man (Nov. 11).

Bowling• The bowling team received

its NCAA championship rings and was introduced during the Eastern Michigan football game.

• The bowlers open their season Nov. 9-11 at Wisconsin-White-water’s Cheeseland Classic.

Women’s Cross Country• Rita Jorgensen fi nished 35th to

earn Vanderbilt’s top fi nish at the Chile Peper Festival.

• The women’s team (split squad) fi nished fi fth at the Colonial In-ter-Regional Challenge.

• Diana Sher earned her fi rst varsity letter and ran a personal-best time of 19:56.75 at the Greater Louisville Classic.

• In Val Kazmer’s fi rst race, she fi nished as the team’s fourth runner. Carmen Mims beat her 6k best time from last fall of 22:24 by 7 sec-onds with a 22:17.1 at the Colonial Inter-Re-gional Challenge.

Women’s Golf In the month of October, the Commodores had back-to-back top fi ve fi nishes at the Margaret Branch NCAA Fall Preview (5th) at the University of New Mexico and the Tar Heel Invitational (T-5th) at the Univer-sity of North Carolina. Senior Liebelei Lawrence placed fourth at the Margaret Branch Fall Preview after fi ring a nine-under par 210 (71-70-69). It was the best fi nish of her collegiate career and tied for the fourth-best tournament total in Vanderbilt history. Lawrence’s nine-under-par score was the second-lowest total in comparison to par in Commodores history. Only fellow teammate Jacqui Concolino’s 12-under-par 204 at the 2006 Arizona Wildcat Invitational is better. Jacqui Concolino had her best fi nish of the 2007-08 season at the Tar Heel Invitational, fi nishing in third place with a two-under-par 214 (70-73-71). Freshman Megan Grehan also had her best fi nish at the Tar Heel Invitational when she shot a four-over-par 220 (79-71-70), which put her in 15th position for the tournament.

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GregAllen

Steve Keith

IanDuvenhage

MelanieBalcomb

Tom Shaw

BobbyJohnson

SteveKeith

KevinStallings

TimCorbin

Quick Hits

JohnWilliamson

The bowling team was recognized on the field at the Eastern Michigan football game.

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 21vucommodores.com

Soccer Freshman forward Molly Kinsella was named SEC Fresh-man of the Week on Oct. 8 after scoring the game-winning goal at South Caro-lina on Oct. 6. The Commodores game against the Lady Vols on Oct. 14 concluded a three-game stretch against Top 25 teams. Molly Kinsella leads Vanderbilt with fi ve goals. She is fi fth in the SEC in points per game at 1.40 in league play. Vanderbilt leads the SEC in shots per game at 18.08 and is fi fth in the league in shots on goal at 7.92.

Swimming Vanderbilt began its second season of competition on Oct. 13 at Southern Illinois. Leigh-Ann Axt made history at the dual meet by earning the program’s fi rst-ever event title in dual competition. Axt won the 200-yard butterfl y with a time of 2:06.42.

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Tennis• Senior Amanda Taylor

defeated Megan Fal-con, the preseason No. 1 singles player, at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Champi-onships. Taylor won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the second round be-fore falling to Laura Vallverdu of Miami 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

• Vanderbilt opened the fall por-tion of its schedule at the Furman Fall Classic in Greenville, S.C. The Commodores enjoyed a successful weekend with Taka Bertrand and Courtney Ulery claiming singles ti-tles, while the doubles team of Ber-trand and Catherine Newman won the championship of their fl ight.

• The Commodores continued their success at their second tourna-ment of the fall, the Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Courtney Ulery again captured the championship of her fl ight in singles.

• Vanderbilt played host to the June Stewart Invitational Oct. 19-21 at the Currey Tennis Center. Teams competing included Arizona State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee Martin, Middle Tennessee State University, Kentucky and Indiana.

Commodores In The Pros

Baseball Name Pos. Level Team (Parent Club)

Mike Baxter OF A Lake Elsinore (SD)Matt Buschmann P A Lake Elsinore (SD)Cody Crowell P A Auburn (TOR) Ty Davis P R Missoula (AZ)Brian Hernandez C A Fort Wayne (SD)Matt Kata 2B MLB Pittsburgh PiratesRyan Klosterman 3B AA New Hampshire (TOR)Jensen Lewis P MLB Cleveland IndiansTony Mansolino DH A Lynchburg (PIT)Greg Moviel P R Arizona (SEA)Ryan Mullins P AA New Britain (MIN)Cesar Nicolas 3B AA Mobile (AZ)Josh Paul C MLB Tampa Bay Devil RaysDavid Price P A Columbus (TB)Robert Ransom P A Palm Beach (STL)Tyler Rhoden P R Billings (CIN)Antoan Richardson OF A San Jose (SF)Ryan Rote P A Kannapolis (CHW)Jeremy Sowers P MLB Cleveland IndiansJeff Sues P A Hickory (PIT)Casey Weathers P A Modesto (COL)

Women’s BasketballName Pos. League Team

Chantelle Anderson C WNBA San Antonio Silver StarsSheri Sam G/F WNBA Indiana FeverCarla Thomas F WNBA Chicago Sky

FootballName Pos. League Team

Corey Chavous SS NFL St. Louis RamsJay Cutler QB NFL Denver BroncosJustin Geisinger OG NFL Washington RedskinsJovan Haye DT NFL Tampa Bay BuccaneersHunter Hillenmeyer LB NFL Chicago BearsMatt Stewart LB NFL Cleveland BrownsJamie Winborn LB NFL Denver BroncosTodd Yoder TE NFL Washington Redskins

Men’s Golf Name Tour

Brandt Snedeker PGALuke List Professional Golfer

Women’s Golf Name Tour

Sarah Jacobs Graham FuturesMeredith Ward LPGAMay Wood Futures

Men’s TennisName Tour

Bobby Reynolds ATP

Women’s TennisName Tour

Julie Ditty WTA

GeoffMacdonald

RonnieCoveleskie

JeremyOrgan

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 7N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 722

J immy Holt has been supporting Vanderbilt athletics for his entire life. From attending games as a child with his father to helping build the original McGugin Center, and now as a donor and sea-

son ticket holder.A World War II Veteran and a third-genera-

tion resident of Nashville who attended Hill-sboro High School, Holt has supported Van-derbilt all of his life despite not attending the university.

“I wasn’t fortunate enough to go to Van-derbilt,” Holt said. “I’ve lived in Nashville my entire life and have supported Vanderbilt. I was fortunate enough to serve in World War II when I was 17 years old, so I didn’t have an oppor-tunity to go to college at the age when most others do.”

After his tour of duty, Holt returned to Nashville to work as a con-tractor at his family’s business, Holt-Southeast Corp., which has been a staple in the Nashville community since 1894. In addition to con-structing a landmark like the Grand Ole Opry House, Holt-Southeast has done numerous projects on the Vanderbilt campus, including the building of the original McGugin Center.

In 1962, he became the chief executive offi cer. Since then, Holt has continued to be at the forefront of the company’s ongoing sup-port of Vanderbilt athletics.

A steadfast supporter of Vanderbilt athletics and an active tennis player, Holt enjoys the two so much so that he has left $1 million in scholarship money for the tennis programs in his will.

“I saw what the tennis program did for young people,” Holt said. “The way tennis, like other Vanderbilt programs, opens up doors al-lowing young people to go to school because of scholarships was very visible to me. How the program affects people’s lives and what it has to offer is just tremendous.”

Head women’s tennis coach Geoff Macdonald appreciates what Holt has done and will continue to do for the tennis program.

“Jimmy has been an incredibly loyal supporter of Vanderbilt ten-nis,” Macdonald said. “He is a tennis player himself, and he is a won-derful supporter of our program. It makes me feel grateful that we have someone like Jimmy who cares at such a high level. His support of the program really means a lot to me.”

Unlike his love for Vanderbilt, which he developed as a youth, Holt did not pick up the game of tennis until he was 50 years old. A self-proclaimed “pee-wee,” who said he was too small to play other sports, Holt grew up playing golf. But now you can’t keep him off the tennis court.

Holt now plays tennis three days a week and enjoys the game so much that he began playing in tournaments throughout the nine-state, Southern region.

The opportunity to learn a new sport and have the chance to play with people of similar age was one of the reasons Holt became inter-ested in the sport.

“I think (tennis) is like anything else that you’d like to take up,” Holt said. “If you are good at something you want to keep doing it. One thing that really appealed to me about the sport is how it is divided into age groups.”

Having lived in Nashville and supported Vanderbilt, Holt also un-derstands how far supporting the Commodores can go toward im-proving the athletic programs.

“Seeing the sports programs (at Vanderbilt) struggle for so many years was tough,” Holt said. “Not that it is struggling now because it is head and shoulders above where it used to be, but I’ve seen how important continued support is and I want to see Vanderbilt succeed.”

With that said, Holt wants to see people continue to support the Commodores and help Vanderbilt become even more successful, giving an endorsement to the Nashville community.

“Anyone that’s got any money, come on and support Vanderbilt.” ■

Holt Maintains Strong Vanderbilt Ties

Jimmy Holt

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 23vucommodores.com

Plans for Hall of Fame Unveiled

T he great ones have dazzled us with their artistry. They have brought us to our feet; they have taken our breath

away. We have wished we could perform as they do. We’ve worn their replica jerseys and requested their autographs.

Since Vanderbilt sponsored a fi eld day back in 1886, the fl eet and the mighty have thrilled us with their athletic prowess. There were the grit-ty ones and the clutch; fi eld generals and buzzer beaters, the tall and the agile, the cunning and the dominating. We have watched these special student-athletes for a century with wonder as they showcased their fi nely honed skills and natural gifts against the best competition college athletics could offer.

And now it is time for the Commodores to more formally recognize the best of our best with the creation of the Vanderbilt Athletic Hall of Fame. Vice Chancellor David Williams, who has led our athletic pro-gram the past four years, soon will be announcing the establishment of our new honor society. The charter class will be inducted next fall.

The criteria for induction will fall into three categories:

Commodore Great: Former student-athletes having displayed ex-ceptional talent and experiencing extraordinary athletic success.

Distinguished Letterwinner: Former Commodores with exceptional post-Vanderbilt careers or who have contributed longtime service to the athletic program.

Lifetime Achievement: Coaches, staff members and others that could include faculty, donors and board members who have rendered outstanding service to intercollegiate athletics through many years of dedicated service.

Persons meeting any of the above requirements can be inducted posthumously. To be eligible for nomination, nominees must be at least six years removed from their collegiate participation.

The inaugural class is expected to be somewhat larger than subse-quent classes. Can you imagine how diffi cult it will be to determine these fi rst few classes? We can!

That is why the entire 13-member Athletic Administrative team, head-ed by Williams, will comprise the selection committee for the fi rst year. In the future, it is expected that a Hall of Fame selection board will be established.

The general timeline for this exciting endeavor is scheduled to begin in January with the solicitation of nominees. The process culminates with the induction banquet Friday, September 5, 2008, the night after the Commodores’ fi rst home football game against South Carolina (which is a Thursday night contest).

Sometime, just for fun, try picking your own Hall of Famers. Where would you begin? Who would be included in your Commodore Greats, Distinguished Letterwinners and Lifetime Achievement selections? That’s a pretty tough chore, but lots of fun and, oh, what memories! Keep in mind that not every deserving Commodore can be included in that fi rst class.

Be watching for more information in a variety of places, especially our offi cial web site, vucommodores.com, for more information. ■

It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson

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Vanderbilt Fall/Winter Sports CalendarMEN’S SPORTSBasketballDate Opponent Result

11.5 Tusculum (Exhibition) W, 80-7911.10 Austin Peay W, 81-6711.13 at Toledo 6pm11.20 Valparaiso 7pm11.23 vs. Utah State (South Padre Island) 9pm11.24 vs. Iowa or Bradley (South Padre Island) TBA11.29 South Alabama 7pm12.1 Georgia Tech 12pm12.5 Wake Forest 7pm12.8 Lipscomb 7pm12.12 at DePaul 7:30pm12.22 Tennessee State 8pm12.29 Tennessee-Martin 12pm12.31 Iona 7pm1.3 Rice 7pm1.5 UMASS 3pm1.9 South Carolina 7pm1.12 at Kentucky 12:30pm1.17 at Tennessee 6pm1.19 LSU 12pm1.27 at Florida 12pm1.30 at Ole Miss 7pm2.2 Auburn 4pm2.6 at Georgia 6:30pm2.9 at South Carolina 4pm2.12 Kentucky 8pm2.16 Florida 2pm2.23 Georgia 3pm2.26 Tennessee 8pm3.1 at Arkansas 3pm3.5 Mississippi State 7pm3.8 at Alabama 6pm3.13-16 at SEC Tournament (Atlanta) TBA

Cross CountryDate Opponent Result

8.31 Belmont/Vanderbilt Opener 3rd (99)9.15 Commodore Classic 4th (123)9.29 at Louisville Invitational 22nd (671)10.13 at Arkansas Chile Pepper Inv. 16th (452)10.27 at SEC Championships 10th (302)11.10 at NCAA Regionals 14th (384)

FootballDate Opponent Result

9.1 Richmond W, 41-179.8 Alabama L, 10-249.15 Ole Miss W, 31-179.29 Eastern Michigan W, 30-710.6 at Auburn L, 7-3510.13 Georgia (Homecoming) L, 17-2010.20 at South Carolina W, 17-610.27 Miami (Ohio) W, 24-1311.3 at Florida L, 22-4911.10 Kentucky L, 20-2711.17 at Tennessee 1pm11.24 Wake Forest 1pm

GolfDate Opponent Result

9.14-16 at Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic 17th (901)9.24-25 at Shoal Creek Invitational 12th (905)10.14-16 at The Ridges 15th (882)10.21-23 Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate T4th (287)11.5-6 at Western Carolina Intercollegiate 2nd (582)2.17-19 at Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Champ. Al Day3.2-4 at Seminole Intercollegiate All Day3.16-17 Kauai Collegiate Cup All Day3.28-30 at Furman Intercollegiate All Day4.6-8 at The Reunion All Day4.18-20 at SEC Championships (Sea Island, Ga.) All Day

TennisDate Opponent Result

9.14-15 Vanderbilt Invitational All Day9.21-24 at Southern Collegiates All Day10.1-7 at ITA All-American Championships All Day10.5-7 at Georgia Tech Invitational All Day10.12 Alumni Reunion All Day10.19-22 at ITA Regional All Day11.1-4 at ITA Indoors All Day1.27 Michigan State 11am2.2 Belmont 9am2.3 Memphis 1pm

2.7 New Mexico 2pm2.9 vs. North Carolina State (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 2pm2.10 at Michigan 12pm2.16 Samford 1pm2.17 Wisconsin 1pm2.23 Middle Tennessee State 1pm2.29 Florida 2pm3.2 South Carolina 1pm3.7 at Arkansas TBA3.9 at LSU TBA3.14 at Northwestern 7pm3.21 at Auburn TBA3.23 Alabama 1pm3.28 Ole Miss 2pm3.30 Mississippi State 1pm4.4 at Tennessee TBA4.6 at Georgia TBA4.12 at Kentucky 1pm4.17-20 at SEC Tournament TBA

WOMEN’S SPORTSBasketballDate Opponent Result

10.31 Cumberland (Exhibition) W, 104-4311.5 Anderson College (Exhibition) W, 76-4111.9 UAB W, 92-5111.11 Furman W, 68-5111.14 at Indiana State 6pm11.20 at Clemson 6pm11.23 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. 2pm (Belmont, Iowa State, Michigan)11.25 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. Consolation Game 12pm11.25 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tourn. Championship Game 2pm11.28 Duke 7pm12.1 vs. St. Mary’s (Berkeley, Calif.) 6pm12.2 at California 4pm12.6 Western Kentucky 7pm12.9 Colorado 2pm12.22 Lipscomb 5:30pm12.30 Old Dominion 2pm1.2 South Florida 7pm1.5 at Princeton 1pm1.10 Mississippi State 7pm1.13 at LSU 4pm1.17 Georgia 7pm1.20 at Tennessee 2pm1.27 Ole Miss 2pm1.31 at Florida 6pm2.3 at Georgia 1:30pm2.7 South Carolina 7pm2.10 at Alabama 2pm2.14 Kentucky 7pm2.17 Tennessee 3:30pm2.21 at Arkansas 7pm2.28 at Auburn 8pm3.2 Alabama 2pm3.6-9 at SEC Tournament (Nashville) TBA

BowlingDate Opponent Result

11.9-11 at Wisconsin-Whitewater All Day11.17-18 at UMES Hawk Classic 2nd1.18 at Central Region Duals All Day1.19-20 at Greater Ozark Invitational All Day2.1-3 at Lady Indian Invitational All Day2.9-10 at Capital Classic All Day2.16-17 at Morgan State Invitational All Day3.1-2 at Holiday Classic All Day3.15-16 Columbia 300 Music City Classic All Day

Cross CountryDate Opponent Result8.31 Belmont/Vanderbilt Opener 2nd (61)9.15 Commodore Classic 3rd (59)9.29 at Louisville Invitational 26th (720) at Colonial Inter-Regional Challenge 5th (115)10.13 at Arkansas Chile Pepper Inv. 16th (429)10.20 Southeastern Classic (B squad) 10th (235)10.27 at SEC Championships 8th (217)11.10 at NCAA Regionals 11th (295)

GolfDate Opponent Result

9-14-16 Mason Rudolph Championship 13th (901)9.24-26 at NCAA Fall Preview 5th (881)10.5-7 at Lady Tar Heel Invitational T5th (886)10.19-21 at Stanford Fall Intercollegiate 10th (920)11.4-6 at Collegiate Match Play Champ. All Day2.25-27 at Arizona Wildcat Invitational All Day3.9-11 at UCF Challenge All Day3.21-23 at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic All Day4.4-6 at Ping ASU Invitational All Day4.18-20 at SEC Championships (Loudon, Tenn.) All Day

SoccerDate Opponent Result

8.31 vs. Wisconsin (Georgia Bulldog Tourn.) T, 0-09.2 vs. Texas Tech (Georgia Bulldog Tourn.) W, 1-09.7 at UAB L, 1-29.9 Tennessee Tech W, 6-09.14 Gonzaga (Vanderbilt Tournament) L, 0-29.16 Saint Mary’s (Vanderbilt Tournament) L, 2-3 (OT)9.21 vs. Davidson (College of Charleston Tourn.) L, 1-2 (OT)9.23 at College of Charleston (Col. of Charles. Tourn.) W, 3-09.28 at Alabama T, 1-19.30 at Auburn L, 1-210.7 at South Carolina W, 1-0 (2OT)10.12 Georgia L, 2-3 (OT)10.14 Tennessee L, 1-3 10.19 LSU L, 0-210.21 Arkansas W, 2-010.25 at Ole Miss T, 2-210.28 Mississippi State W, 3-2 (2OT)11.2 Kentucky L, 0-111.4 at Florida L, 0-3

SwimmingDate Opponent Result

10.13 at Southern Illinois L, 75-15110.19 at North Florida L, 69-16210.20 at Georgia Southern L, 89-12011.2 at Alabama/LSU L, 49-240/L, 48-24511.10 at Marshall L, 59-17911.16-18 at Western Kentucky Inv. All Day1.11 Miami (Fla.) All Day1.19 at Arkansas All Day1.26 at Georgia Tech/Emory All Day2.20-23 at SEC Championships (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) All Day3.1 at Last Chance Meet All Day

TennisDate Opponent Result

9.28-30 at Furman Fall Classic All Day10.4-6 at ITA All-American Championships All Day10.19-21 June Stewart Invitational All Day11.1-4 at Fall SEC Championships All Day1.16 Tennessee-Martin 2:30pm1.18 at New Mexico 6pm1.20 vs. Colorado (Albuquerque, N.M.) 11am1.25 Michigan 2:30pm1.26 Notre Dame 2:30pm2.16 East Tennessee State 2:30pm2.20 Middle Tennessee State 2:30pm2.29 at Florida 12pm3.2 at South Carolina TBA3.5 at Georgia Tech 1:30pm3.7 Arkansas 2:30pm3.9 LSU 2:30pm3.11 Florida International 2:30pm3.13 Furman 2:30pm3.21 Auburn 2:30pm3.23 at Alabama 1pm3.28 at Ole Miss TBA3.30 at Mississippi State 1pm4.4 Tennessee 2:30pm4.6 Georgia 2:30pm4.12 Kentucky 2:30pm4.17-20 at SEC Tournament (Auburn, Ala.) All Day