March 2014 Commodore Nation

March 2014

ALSO INSIDE: Lipman battles back Wiel brings father’s lessons to diamond Three and done

COMMITTED AND TRAINED

A multitude of experiences has led Derek Mason to VU

Time drives change.

People drive success.

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CONTENTS

JOE HOWELL

P.8

P.24

P.16

My Game

Three and done

Sophomore Hannah Martin balances swimming and a biomedical engineering major.

Men’s basketball forward Shelby Moats is on track to graduate in three years.

P.18

Bouncing back

Fast lane

All-American Ryan Lipman has battled injury, himself to set up a strong final season.

Just three months in, Vanderbilt’s indoor track already boasts lightning-quick times.

P.19

P.11 Setting his own course First baseman Zander Wiel soaked in his father’s lessons despite picking a different sport.

P.12 Good to great Derek Mason marks a new era in Vanderbilt football.

P.2 Compliance Corner

P.3 National Commodore Club

New bowling center provides ’Dores with topnotch facility right on campus.

P.7 Inside McGugin

P.23 It’s my turn Rod Williamson’s monthly column

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Kingpin

P.21 Coach’s Handbook Assistant men’s basketball coach Tom Richardson talks about nearly 40 years of coaching hoops.

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

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COMPLIANCE

CORNER

A:

Billy Bunts is a supporter of Vanderbilt Athletics, as well as a member of the baseball booster group. Members tailgate before each game and have other family activities throughout the school year (all of which are open to the general public, as well). They recently welcomed the parents of an incoming fall prospective student-athlete (PSA) to their tailgate. Was this permissible?

No. It is not permissible. A PSA is still considered a prospect until he or she enrolls at the institution or begins pre-season camp in August.

According to NCAA Bylaw 13.02.14, representatives of an institution’s athletics interests are prohibited from making in-person, on- or offcampus recruiting contacts, or written or telephone communications with a prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete’s relatives or legal guardians.

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Editor-in-Chief: Jerome Boettcher

Q:

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

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Daniel Dubois Steve Green Lauren Holland Joe Howell Anne Rayner John Russell Susan Urmy Bob Stowell

Contributors: Josh Kipnis

Brandon Barca Andy Boggs Larry Leathers David Dawson George Midgett Kyle Parkinson Emily Sane Ryan Schulz

Administrative

Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos

Director of Athletics: David Williams II

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Compliance questions? Please contact: Candice Lee George Midgett Director of Compliance Compliance Coordinator 615/322-7992 615/322-2083 candice.lee@vanderbilt.edu george.d.midgett@vanderbilt.edu John Peach Andrew Turner Compliance Coordinator Recruiting/Compliance Coordinator 615/343-1060 615/322-4543 john.w.peach@vanderbilt.edu andrew.turner@vanderbilt.edu

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March 2014

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ANCHOR DOWN Dear National Commodore Club member, The most important words I can say in introducing myself are thank you. Thank you for your continued support of Vanderbilt student-athletes and athletic programs, and thank you for your growing support of Vanderbilt Football.

I’m excited to be here. I wanted this job, and with your support, this football program will continue to aspire to greatness. We will be champions, and I want you to continue to be a part of this journey. Your commitment is important to me and our team.

Thank you for your warm welcome. It’s been a great beginning, and our future is bright. I hope to see you in the fall at Vanderbilt Stadium–if not before then.

Anchor Down!

Derek Mason Head Football Coach

ANCHOR

DOWN best

for the football parking on game days

National Commodore Club members receive the best parking at Vanderbilt home football games. Come enjoy the fun tailgating atmosphere and then take a short walk to Vanderbilt Stadium. Your NCC annual donation applies to both your priority seating and parking benefits. If you have questions regarding priority parking, please contact the NCC office at (615) 322-4114 or ncc@vanderbilt.edu. We will be happy to assist you.

An annual donation to the NCC is required at the following levels for priority football parking during the 2014 season. Due to the overwhelming demand for priority parking last season, the minimum annual donation required to receive a parking pass for lot 3, 4 or 71 has increased for the 2014 season.

Lot 1 (reserved)

$3,000+

Lot 3

$400-$499

Lot 1A

$1,500-$2,999

Lot 4

$250-$399

Lot 2

$500-$1,499

Lot 71 (disabled) $250

GET GAME IN THE

JOIN BULLPEN CLUB/CHAMPIONS’ CIRCL E The Vanderbilt Baseball Bullpen Club/Champions’ Circle gives Commodore fans the opportunity to play a pivotal role in continuing to build a top-tier college baseball program. With a restricted gift to the Bullpen Club/Champions’ Circle, you can gain up-close access to the Vanderbilt Baseball program and are eligible to receive benefits.* Your benefits could include a Vanderbilt Baseball T-shirt, an event at Coach Corbin’s home and more. Join today, and get in the game!

Bullpen Club

Bullpen Club

Champions’ Circle

Champions’ Circle

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Champions’ Circle

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$2,500

$5,000

$10,000

*Bullpen Club/Champions’ Circle benefits vary based on membership level.

GET IN THE GAME

CALL: (615) 322-4114

CLICK: ncc@vanderbilt.edu

VISIT: NationalCommodoreClub.com

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By The Numbers

Inside McGugin

Notes from the athletic department

3.68

T

l Former Commodore defensive coordinator Norm Parker died at the age of 72 in January.

Parker coached at Vanderbilt from 1995 to 1998 and was named the SEC’s Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 1997. He coached All-Americans Jamie Duncan and Jamie Winborn. His 1997 team led the SEC and ranked ninth in the nation in total defense. He left in 1999 to become

Combined GPA of women’s golf team during the 2013 fall semester. The team GPA is the highest in program history and one of the best marks by a Vanderbilt team. Freshmen Simin Feng, Lauren Johnson, Kate Sborov and Antonia Scherer each had at least a 3.4 GPA.

JOE HOWELL

he Vanderbilt lacrosse team is teaming up with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation to raise donations for children and families fighting pediatric brain tumors.

Through March 22, the team is taking donations and will hold a Friends of Jaclyn Day on March 23 in conjunction with its home game against Penn. Those interested can visit vucommodores.com for more information and to donate. The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation was started in 2005 and provides children affected by the insidious disease with love, support and friendship from sports teams. This past fall the Vanderbilt soccer team partnered with the foundation and adopted Krystal Adams as a friend and teammate for the season.

Sophomore midfielder Alexa Kunowsky

Iowa’s defensive coordinator and held that position until retiring in 2011. l Jasmine Lister enjoyed quite the week in early January. The senior point guard garnered national attention after averaging 22.5 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds over two games against Auburn and then-No. 8 Tennessee.

She was not only named the Southeastern Conference’s player of the week, but she also was dubbed espnW’s player of the week and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s player of the week. n

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Total wins the senior class on the football team accumulated in four years with a 26-25 record. It marked the first time a Vanderbilt senior class left with a winning record over four years since the 1975 class went 22-21-2.

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Career starts — and counting — by senior Alyssa Dunlap, who is a two-year captain on the lacrosse team. The defender from Villanova, Pa. has started every game of her career and leads active players on the Commodores’ roster.

Calendar

March Events March 12-16

March 15

SEC men’s basketball tournament The Commodores head to Atlanta and the cavernous Georgia Dome for the annual conference tournament. Vanderbilt has reached the semifinals each of the past four years.

Lacrosse opens four-game homestand The lacrosse team also jumps into conference action against visiting Penn State. This marks the last year of the American Lacrosse Conference. After opening the homestand against the Nittany Lions, the Commodores stay on West End through March 29 to play Louisville, Penn and Johns Hopkins.

March 7 Making a racket Tennis fans will be plenty entertained during the month of March, beginning on March 7 when the men’s team hosts Ball State. The men play at home five times in March, including four straight matches against SEC foes Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Tennessee. The women begin a stretch of five straight home conference matches, as well, with Tennessee on March 21.

vucommodores.com

March 14 SEC baseball begins The Commodores, the reigning regular-season conference champs, open SEC play at home with a three-game series against perennial power LSU. Vanderbilt entered the preseason ranked No. 9 by Collegiate Baseball.

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

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Battle from within challenges, motivates Lipman All-American rebounds from injury, internal struggle to close out career

by Josh Kipnis

B

“Down the line, please!” Lipman begs himself in the first set of his first match in the 2014 spring season. Playing the No. 2 position for the Commodores, Lipman faces off against Marquette University’s Dan Mamalat, a senior from Philadelphia. But even more than his opponent today, Lipman seems to struggle with a tougher enemy—an inner antagonist— a mud-colored rust that has oxidized in his mind, racket and swing. It has been more than three months since his last competitive match, and the signs are beginning to grow more and more evident for Lipman, a Nashville native.

“Come on,” he tells himself after winning a long rally, pumping his fist as he retreats to find another ball. The words serve as self-encouragement; an attempt to win another point and start playing the higher-caliber tennis that he has grown so accustom to. But, just moments later, his momentum is halted by a lapse in serve—an uncharacteristic double fault. A few more points go by, and Lipman whiffs on an overhead just barely outlasting his reach. He’s out of position.

His footwork is off. And alone on the court, Lipman’s contagious smile begins to hide amongst feelings of anguish and frustration.

“What is that?” Lipman screams as a flimsy, sliced attempt at a backhand hardly reaches the bottom of the net. He has grown confused as to what is occurring before him. His game is unrecognizable, hardly reminiscent of the All-American honors he earned last year. With a set of rolling eyes and long, dispirited breaths, Lipman’s unforced errors continue to pile up—a forehand pushed too far past the baseline, a volley that slips out beyond the doubles alley.

Yet, as rough as his game may look, somehow

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March 2014

JOE HOWELL

ack in early January, before classes were underway or dorms were even opened, the best place to find Vanderbilt tennis standout Ryan Lipman was in the Commodores’ Currey Tennis Center on the corner of 25th Avenue. Rallying with his younger brother Maxx (who also competes in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Florida), Lipman could be seen stroking tennis balls for hours this winter break, remastering a craft that he once spent more than 20 years perfecting. Yes, that’s right, remastering—because for Lipman, ever since the pop he heard in his leg his sophomore season, the game of tennis just hasn’t been the same.

Nashville native and redshirt senior Ryan Lipman bounced back from surgeries on his leg and a torn labrum to earn All-American honors from the ITA in 2013.

or another the scoreboard tells an entirely different story— a 3-3 tie in an 11th game tiebreaker.

Could that be? Has Mamalat never broken serve? Could Lipman actually steal this first set?

But, the sudden glimpse of hope comes quickly crashing down as Lipman loses the following three points. Forced into defending a triple-setpoint, Lipman clenches his teeth—a face full of grit—and pounds a heavy serve down the middle of the court for an ace.

“He can’t hit your fastball!” Lipman’s best friend, Carey Spear, who is the kicker on the football team, calls out, lightening the mood

in the building. The gallery of fans around him join in on the laughter, but Lipman maintains his focus, winning the next point, and the next point—tying the tiebreak at six points apiece.

Once again, he’s defied all odds and silenced any thoughts of doubt.

“Wow, that’s sick,” his teammate exclaims.

“Are you kidding me?” another one remarks.

The crowd surrounding the match has doubled with the excitement. But, as has become the common theme in the match— and Lipman’s entire career—one moment of destiny is followed by a moment of despair.

He loses the set.

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JOE HOWELL

“You know, like every tennis player—every athlete—the perfect one doesn’t exist,” Vanderbilt men’s tennis coach Ian Duvenhage explained a few days earlier in his office. “We all have our stuff and our issues that we have to overcome.”

But for some athletes the obstacles seem more daunting.

“I don’t think he’s been completely healthy in two years,” Duvenhage continued. “But, he has handled [his injury] as well as anybody could be expected to. He works very hard at rehab. He’ll play hurt. I think there’s been one time in four and a half years where he came in and said, ‘I’m sorry. I can’t go.’”

That time was at the close of Lipman’s sophomore season, when a pop in his hip forced him to retire mid-match. The injury required surgery to repair a torn labrum, as well as a few other procedures to mend his femur. For the first time in his life, suddenly it was unclear whether the two-time All-SEC First Team member would ever return a serve again.

“There have been a lot of tennis players who’ve had his surgery who weren’t able to come back,” Duvenhage said. “I’m sure — I know, because I talked to him about it — in (Lipman’s) mind he was sometimes wondering whether he was going to make it back, also.”

Doubt, more so than any ounce of pain, was Lipman’s most venomous opposition.

“I remember in the fall of (2012) I had a tough conversation with my team because I didn’t feel like I was going to get back to where I was,” he said.

Spending 11 months in the athletic training room brought about the unstable fear of never returning to the game he had played as long as he can remember. While “being on your own and problem solving” had long been one of Lipman’s favorite aspects of tennis, the same could not be said about the isolation and darkness he felt on the sidelines, watching his lifelong dream of turning pro slip through his fingers. He lacked control over his own destiny, and the possibility of “not making it…having [his] career derailed from injury” turned into a legitimate trepidation.

But, remarkably, Lipman overcame his greatest obstacle yet, earning All-American honors in the process, a feat that only two other Vanderbilt tennis players have done in the program’s 34-year existence.

“Ian told me that I could do it, and he said, ‘We all believe in you.’ Yeah, that really helped me to have a great season,” Lipman said with a

Men’s tennis coach Ian Duvenhage talks to redshirt senior Ryan Lipman during a match in January. Lipman is a three-time First Team All-SEC selection and was named an ITA All-American in 2013.

look of gratitude in his eyes.

“I honestly never really doubted it,” Duvenhage said. “I didn’t know to what extent he’d be back, but I knew he’d be back. What allows him to play with injuries is he’s got such a high tennis IQ. He understands the game so well. He’s so smart on the court…he’s so versatile.”

But this past fall, even Lipman’s superior knowledge of the game wouldn’t allow his body to carry on playing at an elite level.

Sidelined for a second time, Lipman’s hip once again removed the racket from his hands. Three months later, however, he’s back at it—this time with an NCAA title in his view.

“I mean, I think my team and Ian all know that I could be hurt, but I’m still going to find a way to get the job done out there,” said Lipman, the president of VU’s student-athlete advisory committee. “That’s something I take great pride in. Ian always tells me that he thinks my biggest strength is my mind, my attitude…I can usually find a way to get out of a bad situation.”

“Kids like him don’t come around often,” Duvenhage said. “This is my 30th year of doing this, and honestly, he’s a dream.”

Similar to the injuries he has faced over the previous two years, Lipman’s struggles from the first set seem to disappear as he trots out to center court for the second set of his match. His emotions begin to run higher than ever, but as opposed to the frustration we saw before, now Lipman seems to be winning his internal struggle. He begins with a grace-

ful feign of a put-away, a ball that, at the last minute, he decides to delicately guide over the net for a drop-shot winner. A fan in the crowd whistles involuntarily. She can’t help but admire the beautiful execution of such a complex tennis maneuver.

“Artistic!” Spear shouts, bringing a smile, once again, to every fan sitting in the area.

But the shot is nothing in comparison to the bending backhand Lipman later pulls out of his repertoire: a banana-like bow that swoops around the net and tucks itself neatly into the opposite corner of the court.

“Yeah!!!” Lipman screams, his chest puffed out, arms to his sides. As he looks up toward the 50 or so people now on their feet applauding, he finally feels what it’s like to hit that professional-worthy shot again.

“He can’t hit your curveball, either,” Spear blurts out once the crowd quiets down.

No, he can’t hit much of anything Lipman throws his way. It is a different player out there—a confidence about him despite a past that would surely leave other athletes exposed.

With the momentum shifting, and a comeback on the rise, Lipman begins to display a talent that is rare throughout the realm of college athletics. Lipman would go on to win his match in typical fashion that day—5-5 (6-8), 5-5 (7-2), 10-7—a tiebreaker in every set.

But, after all, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It was never easy for Lipman before, and it will never be easy again. But see if that will stop him. It is a lifelong battle, and he begins it by fighting his struggle from within. n

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N

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March 2014

Second Wiel: Dad’s lessons provide boost on diamond

JOHN RUSSELL

by Jerome Boettcher

Murfreesboro native Zander Wiel returns for the Commodores after an All-SEC Freshman season in which he hit .305, smacked five home runs and drove in 27 runs in just 82 at-bats.

In his first collegiate start, he went 3-for-3, homered twice and drove in five runs against Georgia.

Z

ander Wiel might not have followed in his father’s footsteps, but he never stopped looking up to him.

Zander was only 3 years old when his dad, Randy, became the men’s basketball coach at Middle Tennessee State University. Randy held that position for the next six years until 2002.

Zander naturally gravitated to basketball, which was his favorite sport.

He beamed with pride that his dad was the head coach of the Blue Raiders.

And Randy loved showing off his son, often holding him on his lap during postgame news conferences.

“Him being a college coach has helped me a lot as far as being a player,” Zander, now 21, says. “I know how players should treat coaches, and I know how coaches should treat players. He has shown me that respect is something that should be mutual. I think those lessons have been very, very beneficial to me.”

In any sport.

When he got to Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Zander began to find a new love—the diamond. He had always played baseball, too, and realized he was better as a 6-foot-3 first baseman than a 6-3 small forward.

He decided his ticket to college athletics was a bat and glove.

“I miss basketball a lot to this day…but I realized in high school baseball was more my avenue,” he said. “My dad was encouraging of whatever I did.”

Randy made sure Zander knew he wanted him to be happy, regardless of which sport he played.

After a summer basketball camp at MTSU early in Zander’s high school career, Randy remembers a conversation on the drive home. Zander was thinking about quitting basketball to focus more on baseball, and he was worried his father would be disappointed.

Quite the contrary.

“I told him then, you should play what you want to play,” said Randy, who played and coached at North Carolina before head coaching jobs at UNCAsheville and MTSU. “To me it doesn’t matter. Of course, I would have loved for him to play basketball because he was good at it. But I never wanted

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him to play because I wanted him to play. Obviously, he was pretty decent at (baseball).”

Better than decent, in fact.

Zander Wiel began his redshirt sophomore season at Vanderbilt in February after enjoying a stellar 2013 in which he was named an AllSEC Freshman.

The right-handed first baseman belted five home runs, drove in 27 runs and batted .305 in just 82 at bats and 15 starts.

Zander and his teammates won’t forget his first career start, either.

Coach Tim Corbin called his number for the second game of a doubleheader against Georgia on the road, and Wiel delivered mightily. He went 3-for-3, hit his first two collegiate home runs and drove in five runs.

In his first at-bat of the game, he recalls just trying to get the “barrel on the ball” on a 3-2 pitch.

“I was able to get the barrel to the ball in a big way,” he said with a smile.

“It was cool to hit a home run, hit my first-ever collegiate home run. But it was even better when I went back into the dugout and all the guys were going crazy for me.”

Two weeks later, it was Zander who had a special guest in the crowd.

After his coaching career at MTSU ended, Randy headed overseas. Randy, who is from the Dutch colony of Curacao, an island in the Caribbean Sea, coached nine years in the Netherlands and won four championships. He spent last season coaching a basketball academy in China.

He lived overseas during the season, and his offseason often failed to coincide with baseball season. He had never seen Zander play in high school. So it was a special treat to have Randy in the stands during the South Carolina series last May. Zander singled three times and drove in two runs to help the Commodores clinch the SEC East title.

“It was pretty cool to have him there,” Zander said. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons from him. He wasn’t (home in Murfreesboro) so much when he was coaching overseas, but we still kept in contact a lot. He has still been a very strong influence. Whenever he was back home, it is just like he never left.” n

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Derek Mason greets fans as he walks up Star Walk and into his new home just hours after he was named Vanderbilt’s 28 th head football coach on Jan. 17. Mason, 44, comes to West End after four years as Stanford’s defensive coordinator and more than 20 years of coaching football.

Mason pulls from past to build Vanderbilt

by Jerome Boettcher

R

ain pounds on the roof of the McGugin Center. Inside, Derek Mason hardly notices.

The 44-year-old leans back in his chair and reflects on more than 20 years of coaching. Other than rubbing his eyes, Mason shows no signs of exhaustion or symptoms of consecutive 18-hour days. The excitement and energy oozes out of him as sits in his spacious office.

In 12 hours, the first fax will roll in and Mason and his staff will see the rewards of recruiting efforts thrown together in less than three weeks. He flashes an infectious smile as he thinks about what led him to this moment as Vanderbilt’s head football coach.

“Coaching was something that really came about by chance,” he says.

When he graduated from Northern Arizona with a degree in criminal justice in 1992, Mason planned on returning to his native city of Phoenix to work as a corrections officer.

One of his assistant high school coaches, Gary Somo, had other ideas. He implored Mason to help him mentor inner-city youth. Back in Phoenix Mason reconnected with head high school football coach Moody Jackson, who had once recruited him and coached him at Northern Arizona. Jackson had since become assistant superintendent of athletics for the Phoenix Union High School district and he urged Mason to earn an emergency teaching certificate.

After a year, Mason moved across town with Somo to Carl Hayden High School, where he worked in a self-contained classroom, teaching history and government part-time. There he also took his first coaching job on Somo’s staff.

Mason estimated that nearly 85 percent of the student body was Hispanic.

“Not a real dominant football culture,” Mason says.

Carl Hayden went 0-10 in his first year as a football coach. But Mason was far from discouraged.

“Those kids worked hard for us. They fought,” he says. “They weren’t skilled at all but the one thing they did was always compete.”

He still keeps in touch with many of them, who defied odds and earned college degrees or joined the military and started families. Helping set them

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March 2014

on that path spoke to Mason.

“In my own mind, I won, even though it didn’t read on the scoreboard,” Mason says. “The winning was in the process.”

Mason joined another former coach at Mesa Community College in 1994 as a wide receivers coach. It was the first of nine college assistant coaching jobs for Mason, who also coached defensive backs for the Minnesota Vikings for three years.

“Coaching football and having that opportunity at Carl Hayden High School really opened my eyes as to what my passion was and eventually what I would actually grow to love and follow,” he says.

Every stop proved valuable.

At Mesa Community College, he coached receivers and mentored two All-Americans. He was there only one year but working at a junior college showed him how important academics were in getting his players to the next level of college football.

“That’s when I really started to understand that academics and athletics could really coexist in terms of helping those guys reach their goals of trying to get to Division I schools,” he says.

At Bucknell, he moved over to the defensive side of the ball for the first time as a college coach (he played cornerback for four years at Northern Arizona). Here he learned the 3-4 defense under David Kotulski. The duo reunited at Stanford two years ago and Kotulski now has joined Mason at Vanderbilt as his defensive coordinator.

“Leaders are not necessarily born,” says Kotulski, who tried to hire Mason when he was Utah State’s defensive coordinator. “They are people work who hard at it, take in the information and learn from it. I think that is the thing Derek has done more so than anything else. He has learned from every experience he has been in—good or bad—and continued to develop.”

He showed resilience when faced with attrition. He was at three schools in three years: At Utah and New Mexico State, the head coaches were fired and St. Mary’s disbanded its football program after the 2003 season.

Most of the staff at New Mexico State had Nebraska ties, which helped

The day Mason flew from Palo Alto, Calif., to Atlanta to meet with Williams and Vanderbilt officials, he celebrated his 21st wedding anniversary with his wife, LeighAnne.

JOE HOWELL

JOHN RUSSELL

JOE HOWELL

when former Cornhusker coach Frank Solich took over at Ohio in 2005. Mason did not but when Solich asked for staff suggestions former Nebraska player and New Mexico State coach Tony Samuel brought up Mason’s name first.

In three years at Ohio, Mason helped turn around a dormant program into a perennial power in the Mid-American Conference.

“Coach Solich was about all the things that make football great,” Mason says. “The hard work, the grit, the blue-collar mentality—all those things were incorporated in his philosophy. I’ve been around some good coaches and tried to take bits and pieces of ... their strengths ... to tie those into my own philosophy and what I believe Derek Mason receives a warm welcome from his new team at a team meeting on Jan. 17. are my strengths.”

And Mason had believers. His first glimpse of the father, as well as the relationships and presence he had with coaches, NFL came in 1995 when Willie Shaw, the father of current Stanford coach student athletes and staff.”

David Shaw, offered him a NFL minority internship with the St. Louis Rams.

Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams hadn’t met Mason until he “Willie Shaw has always been my mentor,” Mason says. “He showed a lot of walked into an interview in Atlanta on Jan. 16. belief in me. He gave me the confidence to some day aspire to be a coordinaWilliams didn’t have prior connections to Mason. He was just an admirer of tor or head coach.” his work.

Former Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress was the offensive coor“I knew he was in charge of the defense at Stanford,” Williams says. “If you dinator at Northern Arizona during Mason’s freshman year. Nearly 20 years watch the high-powered offenses that come out of the University of Oregon later, Childress hired Mason as his defensive backs coach for the Vikings. in the last few years, Oregon has had trouble when they play an SEC team In three years, the Vikings won two NFC North titles and reached the NFC and when they play Stanford. So I watched Stanford’s defense and been very Championship Game. impressed with it. I always wanted to know who was in charge of it.”

Then Jim Harbaugh wouldn’t take no for answer—even though Mason Mason spent the past four years at Stanford, where he coached future tried to say no.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, among others. Under Mason turned down Harbaugh when he called in 2010 offering him a Mason’s direction as defensive coordinator, the Cardinal finished in the top job as Stanford’s secondary coach. But Harbaugh called back, this time with 15 in the country in defensive efficiency three straight years. defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on the phone to sell the job.

Williams had picked the brains of Mason’s coaching peers, Stanford “Jim is persistent,” Mason says laughing. athletic director Bernard Muir—even ESPN announcers and analysts. They Mason only worked with Harbaugh one year before Harbaugh left to reassured Williams of Mason’s character. become the San Francisco 49ers head coach. But, like he had done throughThen Williams saw for himself. out his career, Mason left an impression.

Mason was confident, yet humble. He was well prepared while laying out “The body of work stands as a testament to the kind of football coach his recruiting plan to debunk any concerns of inexperience recruiting in the Derek Mason is—away from the numbers and recognizable statistics Southeast. And, he really wanted the job. he was responsible for as defensive coordinator,” Harbaugh wrote in an This struck Williams, who doesn’t want to make a habit of hiring a new email. “I truly respect Derek for the qualities he showed as a husband and football coach every three years. And he strongly believes he won’t with Mason.

Other opportunities had emerged in the weeks leading up to Stanford’s second straight appearance in the Rose Bowl. But Mason wasn’t interested. He relished his position at Stanford and what the university stood for. He wasn’t going to leave for just any job; he was selective. Vanderbilt was on his list.

“Within 30 seconds in the room, you kind of new this was a special guy,” Williams says. “A number of people have told me if you like him as a coach you’ll be more impressed with him as a person. …

Just infectious.”

Derek Mason talks to quarterback Josh Grady, center, and wide receiver Jordan Cunningham after a team meeting just hours after he was named Vanderbilt’s new coach on Jan. 17.

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JOHN RUSSELL

Derek Mason, flanked by Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and athletic director David Williams, heads to an introductory press conference on Jan. 18.

The two have been together since meeting at Northern Arizona. LeighAnne, a cheerleader, told herself she wasn’t going to date football players.

“When we first started dating, I did not like football players. He was very persistent,” LeighAnne says, laughing. “He was different. There was something a little bit deeper to him that might not have always come out.”

Over the next two decades, LeighAnne witnessed a transformation in Derek as he moved around the country.

“It has been remarkable to see him grow,” says LeighAnne, who will move from California at the end of the school year with the couple’s two teenage daughters, Makenzie and Sydney. “He has always been one with a lot of ambition and always worked hard. He hasn’t had all the tools and all the things in place to be successful right away like some people. But he never gave up.

Every place he went he worked hard. So it was a learning process for him in order to reach where he has today.”

With his first head coaching job—at any level—Mason aims to keep Vanderbilt on an upward trajectory. He has already set a goal of winning the SEC East title. He plans to incorporate a “Good to Great” mentality, gleaned from a 35-page booklet written by Stanford professor Jim Collins. Mason wants to implement the same successful ideologies used by Fortune 500 companies as he tries to build on the recent success of the Commodores.

That’s fitting, because in molding Vanderbilt’s future, Mason will pull from the experiences that led him to this moment.

“I think what I learned through it all, was you are only as good as the players and the guys around you,” he says. “I have been fortunate enough to coach with great mentors, great coaches. I have tried to rely on the experience of where I’ve been and the forethought of knowing exactly who I am and what needs to be done in order to get the job done. I can’t be anybody I’m not but what I can be is good about what we do.” n

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Moats juggles school, basketball well ahead of schedule

by Jerome Boettcher

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March 2014

JOE HOWELL

S

tudent-athletes tend to look at their lives as a triangle.

They juggle academic responsibilities, athletic demands and social lives.

Often, one of those three gets lost in the Bermuda triangle.

Shelby Moats, a junior on the men’s basketball team, has made sure to prioritize his triangle. As a result, he appears to be on the track to a bright future.

“The triangle is not realistic—you get to pick two,” he said. “I decided to choose school and basketball. My social life has been lacking a little bit…

Obviously I still have friends. I like to step out and see them when I can.

But it has become less of a priority because I have long-term goals that I know I can accomplish if I can do this.”

His accomplishment shouldn’t be overlooked.

In May, Moats will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in economics—in just three years at Vanderbilt. In 15 years at Vanderbilt, coach Kevin Stallings can’t recall one of his players graduating in three years.

“He is an outstanding student and a great kid. He might leave here in four years with two degrees as smart as he is,” Stallings said. “He is just one of those guys that, a, he’s gifted with his intelligence and, b, he is a very hard worker.”

Indeed, Moats hopes to have two degrees in hand in a couple of years.

He has applied to Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt. If accepted, he would start graduate school in the fall and have one year of eligibility left. By Spring 2016, he plans to be wrapping up a master’s degree in business administration.

“My parents always taught me to do your best,” he said. “My best was A’s. I was valedictorian, and it came pretty easy. Here, it has definitely gotten harder.

I’m not going to say college is easy, but I’ve gotten better with my process with planning and going through classes. I guess I’ve gotten smarter, too.”

The Moats family places a strong emphasis on education. Shelby and his older sister, Scotti, both graduated from Waconia High School in Minnesota as the valedictorians of their classes. Scotti, after a four-year basketball career at Bethel University in Minnesota, is in her first year of graduate school at the University of Minnesota.

Their father, Scott Moats, is the vice president for academic affairs and provost at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. A former senior pastor, Scott received his Ph.D. in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota.

“He’s got degrees on degrees. I don’t even know what for sometimes,” Shelby said. “Both he and my mom have really pushed academics as being in the forefront. Honestly, they didn’t want me to get let down by basketball when I was younger. My dad was a college athlete, as well (playing football at Division II Nebraska-Kearney). He was like: ‘It is rough.

If you don’t get where you want to go, I want academics to take you where you want to go.’”

Basketball has proven to aid him in his educational pursuits.

Summer vacation is a foreign concept to Moats and his teammates.

Throughout June and July, the team is on campus for individual workouts and summer practices. Thus, most also attend class.

Moats took two classes in June and then another in July. This came after he spent the month of May studying abroad in London as a part of Vanderbilt’s Maymester program. Moats, who has been to every continent except for Antarctica and Australia, kept busy with classes on war and plunder, trips to war and history museums, a tribute to Winston Churchill and stops at Big Ben and The London Eye. Just as rewarding as seeing the sights, though, was for Moats to break out of his comfort zone and bond with other Vanderbilt students.

Junior Shelby Moats will graduate this May with a bachelor’s degree in economics in just three years at Vanderbilt. He has applied to Owen Graduate School of Management and hopes to begin graduate school in the fall.

“That was the best trip I’ve ever taken,” he said. “To just be in an environment with kids that weren’t necessarily athletes—they see the world differently. I was able to see their perspective, see their view of how they act. I was able to break out of that athletic mode where, ‘Oh, he is just the dumb jock.’ Well, not really. Not anymore.”

Anything but.

His transcript isn’t perfect—“Let’s be honest, this is Vanderbilt—I don’t have straight A’s,’” he said—but Moats proudly boasts a 3.6 GPA and has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll the past two seasons. With graduation just months away, Moats isn’t slowing down. He took 16 credit hours during the fall semester and has the full load of 18 this semester.

Though he has sacrificed some of his social life, Moats believes his ability to balance basketball and school, and graduate ahead of schedule, prepares him for the professional world.

“It is a huge selling point for me, especially as I’m starting to look at internships and interviews and things like that,” Moats said. “If I can pitch to (future employers) that I can multi-task while playing a sport and graduating in three years, I think that is something people look for.” n

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Indoor track puts VU student-athletes in the fast lane

by Jerome Boettcher

“I knew that it had the potential to be really successful right off the bat.”

— Women’s track coach Steve Keith

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JOHN RUSSELL

S

teve Keith witnessed the speedy times, the jaw-dropping jumps and the boisterous crowds.

It was early, but Vanderbilt’s track coach felt confident enough to crack a smile.

“Just off that first Friday night, I could tell we had something pretty special,” Keith said. “It is definitely one of the better venues around.”

At the epicenter of Vanderbilt’s new $31 million multipurpose indoor facility, circling the pristine football practice field, is the Mondo Super X 720 300-meter track.

It is one of few in the nation—when Sacramento State finishes installation of its track in April, only four universities in the country will boast that surface: Arkansas, Sacramento State, UCLA and Vanderbilt.

Of those, Vanderbilt is the only indoor track with the Super X 720—one of the fastest surfaces for indoor and outdoor track competitions.

“Mondo is an Italian-based company, and you have a 2014 Lamborghini,” said Doug Hill, sports consultant for Mondo. “Vanderbilt has built the premier track in the United States right now for indoor competition.”

Sophomore Jennifer Cannon has already seen improvement in her performances.

At the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational in January she set personal records, while placing fourth in the high jump and third in the 60-meter hurdles.

Cannon, who competes in the hurdles and pentathlon, says having a home track to defend motivates her.

“It is definitely a great surface,” Cannon said. “It is good for racing, and it always produces fast speeds. The biggest deal is it’s our home track. We get really excited, and it turns out good times.”

Modern technology plays a part in faster times and higher jumps.

A springy rubber surface with hexagon-style backing provides a higher energy return when runners accelerate down the stretch.

“The hexagon backing is an improved shock absorbency layer, as well as provides better energy return,” Hill said. “When the foot hits the track, it doesn’t go left and right. It goes forward more. It provides a little mechanical advantage.”

The Commodores aren’t the only ones excited about the track. At the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational, former Olympic two-time silver medalist Terrence Trammell ran unattached in the 60-meter hurdles. After winning with a blistering time of 7.65, he told Keith he’d like to come back.

“I knew that it had the potential to be really successful right off the bat,” he said. “I kept telling (senior administrator) Steve Walsh, whether we like it or not, we’re getting into the indoor track business.”

Already, the Commodores are reaping some rewards.

They have been practicing indoors these frigid winter months, and they’ve hosted two college meets and a high school invitational.

After the initial Music City Challenge in December, the Commodores welcomed 21 college teams—12 men’s and nine women’s—and more than 550 athletes to the Vanderbilt Indoor Invitational. The very next weekend,

TOP: The multipurpose indoor facility offers a glimpse of the state-of-the-art Super Mondo X 720 track Vanderbilt has at its disposal. BOTTOM: Sophomore Jennifer Cannon runs in the 60-meter hurdles during the Vanderbilt Invitational in January.

nearly 600 high school athletes from nine states and approximately 900 spectators were on hand for the Vanderbilt High School Indoor Invitational.

“These first two (larger) meets showed us the potential,” Keith said.

“There are a lot of things we can do in there. Almost 900 spectators, and it didn’t feel overwhelming.”

Plenty of room for growth remains.

Keith hopes to tinker with managing the space, possibly adding secondlevel seating and bringing the public closer to the horizontal jumps. A stateof-the-art video board also lets spectators see portions of races that would otherwise be obstructed.

He wants to bring larger invitationals to campus, possibly hosting the unofficial Tennessee high school indoor state championships and the Ohio Valley Conference indoor championships.

By the time the Commodores host the 2017 SEC Indoor Championships, Keith wants to see crowds of 2,000 and 3,000 fill the facility.

“Indoors, you are allowed more access to be right on top of it,” Keith said.

“I think the athletes like it, and the spectators obviously enjoy it. Watching what happened the last two weekends (in January), I have complete confidence we can put on as good an SEC meet as possible.” n

’Dores relish practicing at home in new bowling center

PHOTOS BY JOE HOWELL

by Rod Williamson

Junior Nicole Mosesso bowls as assistant coach Josie Earnest watches and junior Natalie Goodman prepares for her next shot. The four lanes on campus are available to the team and Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. INSERT: The 2007 national championship trophy is prominently displayed near the entrance of the bowling center.

V

anderbilt’s bowling team has been enjoying a new practice facility since the start of the spring semester. The Commodores’ new home is in the Recreation and Wellness Center, just 150 yards south of the McGugin Center on Vanderbilt’s campus.

Gone are the 30-minute one-way drives to the Smyrna Bowling Center, which was home to the team for seven years and will continue to be the site of the Music City Classic tournament, held this year March 7-9.

The new four-lane center is modeled after the sport’s premier International Training and Research Center in Texas. In addition to the technology advances, the location of the lanes gives the team a big boost.

For example, NCAA rules allow for specified one-on-one instruction, which was not feasible before with a one-hour commute. Now the team’s practice routine has times slotted for individual and group work, a big plus.

“The new center allows us to be much more efficient,” Coach John Williamson said. “It has a very positive impact on our program with its hightech amenities and by giving our student-athletes back an hour a practice day, with no commute.”

The center is also available during non-varsity scheduled times for the campus community’s recreational bowling.

Vanderbilt hopes to be among the eight programs that qualify for this year’s NCAA Championship, April 10-12 in Cleveland. n Junior Nicole Mosesso uncorks a throw in Vanderbilt’s new bowling center inside the Recreation and Wellness Center on campus.

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March 2014

Coach’s Handbook: Men’s basketball assistant coach Tom Richardson Tom Richardson is in the middle of his 11th season alongside head coach Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt. The 59-year-old has spent nearly 40 years coaching basketball at the high school and college levels. The Chicago native spends his free time with his wife, Nancy, and visiting his three children Mary Beth, 32, Katie, 30, and Matt, 22. He also enjoys visiting his soon-to-be twoyear-old granddaughter, Brynn.

Was coaching always your goal?

I pretty much got into coaching right after college. So it was in my blood early. I coached two Chicago-area schools before going to Illinois State as an assistant coach. I think this is season 37. Sixteen years in high school, 21st in college. Season 38. I don’t really count them anymore.

We grew up a family of five boys, so we were always playing sports. We were always playing sports. My two youngest brothers both were in coaching and coached. They are in the high school level right now. It is kind of in the family.

Coaching is a career that can be short term. It can be long term. It just depends. You don’t look at it as that far out. You kind of enjoy what you’re doing. I’m sure I can do something else, but fortunately I haven’t had to do anything else yet.

What have you enjoyed the most about coaching?

By far the best thing is the relationships in coaching, both with your peers and the kids you coached. That trumps everything. Then there are a lot of unique things you get to do and travel and so forth that you probably wouldn’t have ever done. I’ve been all over the world, basketball-related. I have friends from other countries. That type of stuff is the neat part of the job.

How was the experience to coach at Illinois State (from 1999-2003 after Stallings left)?

It was good. I’m from Illinois. So to be a coach at a big university in your home state is school. It had its ups and downs. but it was a very, very rewarding experience for me. Being on the staff with Coach Stallings, I’ve been in his shoes. So I have some experiences that can help at times.

To have another guy who has been a head coach, experience can help.

What is it about Vanderbilt that has kept you here for 11 years?

I love Vanderbilt. I love the culture of the school. To me, it stands for everything that’s right with the university and with the sports program.

It is such a great culture around here. You meet so many smart and different people; it can only make you better.

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JOHN RUSSELL

Did you ever think you would be coaching for this long?

Assistant coach Tom Richardson, left, has been at Kevin Stallings’ side for the past 11 years at Vanderbilt. Richardson, 59, was formerly a head coach at Illinois State and has been coaching basketball for nearly 40 years.

Do you take a lot of pride in what you and Coach Stallings have built here?

Absolutely. Being at Vanderbilt provides a unique set of challenges in today’s NCAA climate. All universities have their challenges. We’ve been able to embrace those challenges. The great thing about Vanderbilt is the type of individual you get to coach.

Could you see yourself retiring at Vanderbilt and living in Nashville?

Yeah, sure. We’ve talked about that. This could become home, much depends on the kids and all that. But it is not a bad place to be, for sure.

Although I just came back from Ft. Lauderdale. It is nice down there too.

82 and sunny. Not bad. n

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THE VU From Here

Barbara Finneran

son-in-law, Melvin Harper and friend, Eugenia Carter. She is adding two tickets in row 15 this year to make room for her granddaughter, Stephanie Hahn, and great-granddaughter, Ansleigh.

Last year, Ansleigh, 5, caught the Commodore baseball fever pretty quickly.

“When they let her run the bases on Sunday she just thought that was wonderful,” Finneran said. “We were very amused because before she ran she laid down and did pushups to get in shape.”

Longtime Vanderbilt baseball fan Barbara Finneran, right, and her daughter, Shelly Harper, traveled with the Commodores to Oregon last year.

Barbara Finneran was all set to attend Vanderbilt University. She was enrolled and ready to leave Frankfort, Ky. But then life happened, and she got married. So she never ended up as a student at Vanderbilt.

“But I stayed a fan,” she said.

That’s a huge understatement.

For more than 30 years, Finneran has been a season-ticket holder at men’s basketball games at Memorial Gymnasium. But her true passion is on the diamond. Not only does she attend every home baseball game at Hawkins Field, she also travels with the Commodores.

For the past six years, at least, she has attended every road game.

She’s sat in LSU’s gem, Alex Box Stadium. She watched her Commodores battle South Carolina in Carolina Stadium—her favorite SEC ballpark outside of Hawkins Field. And three years ago, she scratched off a bucket item list when she went to Omaha, Neb. for the College World Series.

“This is my passion,” said Finneran, who retired nine years ago after 30 years working at a machinery company. “I think when you get older you have to have a passion. If you don’t, you ought to be really interested in something… I’ve enjoyed it. I get just as much out of it as anybody else does. It is something I really look forward to.”

Even though she turns 79 in April, she is not slowing down.

She planned to be in California for the season-opening series against Long Beach State over Valentine’s Day weekend. In fact, a contingency of five was planning on making the cross-country trip.

“I’ve made some wonderful friends, and you meet people from all over the country,” said Finneran, who now lives in downtown Nashville. “(Coach) Tim (Corbin) and (his wife) Maggie are just really, really nice people. All the other (Vanderbilt) coaches are, too. The coaching is outstanding, and Tim teaches life lessons as well as baseball. If I had a child at that age, there is nowhere else I’d rather they go.”

At Hawkins Field, she sits in Section F, row 10, and has four seats. She is often accompanied by her daughter, Shelly Harper, son, Trey Bland,

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Unfortunately, Finneran won’t be at every game this season—but for good reason. She’ll have to wait to check out Missouri’s Taylor Stadium because her granddaughter is graduating from college. She will be in Fayetteville, Ark., celebrating her 79th birthday when the Commodores take on Arkansas. She also relishes getting to know the coaches, their wives, the parents and the student-athletes.

For Finneran, the baseball team is an extension of her family.

“The fun thing is you see them come in as freshmen, and you see them and you think, ‘Boy, they’re going to be good,’” she said. “Then you watch them grow and mature. They sort of become your kids.

You hurt for them when they get hurt or if they get in a slump. You get excited when they get out of it. They just become sort of a part of you.” n

It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson

T

ime to think big.

The first time I heard it mentioned, it was one of those “say what?” experiences.

Sometime last November one of my colleagues said matter of factly that we could win football’s SEC East. The thought really hadn’t crossed my mind; my bad for thinking small.

So when Derek Mason stood before a dozen video cameras and nearly every sports journalist in the city and talked about winning the SEC East, I scanned the room for reaction. While there were no audible gasps, my suspicion is that the media’s take is similar to the publics’: “Bless his heart, but he’s naïve.”

The last time we heard naïve being tossed around was when our former football coach was claiming a turnaround on West End was coming. Halfway into the 2011 season the word naïve had been substituted for exciting.

The kids get this, but their parents—not so much. In recent weeks we’ve heard loyal fans dare to hope we can continue to be feisty, but beyond the present they can’t visualize championships. It’s understandable. We are still in history’s transition period from perennial doormat to perennial contender, and the last to grasp this are those at the adult table.

A paradigm shift takes time.

Let’s talk about this.

Is winning football’s East realistic for Vanderbilt?

Let’s talk about this. Is winning football’s East realistic for Vanderbilt?

Absolutely. Why not? Look at what we have to offer! Quality education, the SEC’s best city, the nation’s top conference—those things resonate to a select group of elite student-athletes the same way Stanford appeals to West Coast youngsters who could also choose Southern Cal or Oregon.

As our football program gains momentum under Mason and one of the most impressive staffs this school has ever employed, the chatter transitions to all the advantages Vanderbilt has at its beck and call. These fine coaches didn’t come to Nashville for breakfast at the Pancake Pantry.

If you could have been a fly on the wall in administrative meetings three years ago, you would have heard leaders predicting our fortunes to rise, regardless of whom we hired. The stars had aligned, and we felt success was imminent. We still do, and we are upping the ante.

Tired claims that the university is not supporting athletics have evaporated; even the most cynical pundit knows better. We want Vanderbilt to exude excellence on the field as it does in the classroom.

You will be hearing lots about our goal to sell 25,000 season tickets.

That’s a healthy jump, but you know what? It’s high time those folks you hear claiming to be Vanderbilt fans but doing nothing else start rowing the boat, too. Those reading this already have been, although you might consider buying another two or four tickets to help grow our tent of support. Your buddies on the sidelines need to realize that a good thought is no longer adequate if they want to enjoy a quality product. We need sports fans to match our commitment.

These are new times, and it’s going to be a wild ride. Hop in the front seat with Coach Mason, buckle your seatbelt and Anchor Down! n

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My Game

Hannah Martin

H

annah Martin, from Greensboro, N.C., competes in the freestyle and backstroke and helped the Commodores set school records last year as a member of the 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay teams. The sophomore has been swimming since she was four years old. A biomedical engineering major, she would like to work in the designing of prosthetic limbs.

Commodore Nation: What got you into biomedical engineering?

Where does that interest come from?

Hannah Martin: It is a really interdisciplinary field, so it combines chemistry, physics and calculus. I had varied interests coming into college, so I thought this was a good way to combine all of those into one field. I also think prosthetics is just fascinating—how you’re able to build something that mimics the human body.

CN: Was it the engineering that drew you to a career in prosthetics or the opportunity to help offers?

Martin: Definitely, the service aspect is cool, too. To help people with disabilities to live an active and normal lifestyle, that would be awesome. I saw a girl who had both of her legs amputated at a (high school) swim meet. That was pretty cool to see. She didn’t use them in the pool. Took them off to swim.

CN: What would be your dream job?

Martin: Probably something in the design aspect of prosthetics. I like how creativity is a part of that.

CN: What do you enjoy the most about swimming?

Martin: I guess everything. It is a really individual sport so it is very mental. You have to race against yourself and improve your own times. It has been fun here at Vanderbilt to experience the team aspect of it more. In college sports it is more about the team than the individual.

CN: Have you been happy so far with your time in the pool the past two years?

CN: Where was the training trip this year?

Martin: Last year, was Puerto Rico. This year we went to Florida —we were in Del Ray and Ft. Lauderdale for a little bit.

CN: Is that a business trip?

Martin: It is pretty much work. We went down to the beach one or two times. But then we did dry land on the beach for a little bit. We’re pretty tired of (swimming). We like to just lie in the sun for a while. Sometimes we’ll get in the waves because it is a different atmosphere than just pool swimming. It is nice to see the water in a different way.

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CN: Does this group have good team chemistry?

Martin: Definitely. Everyone gets along really well. It is a great group of girls.

CN: What has been your most memorable swimming moment?

Martin: SEC (championships in 2013) was probably the most memorable for me. The whole atmosphere there because we were competing for a week with your team. It is a good bonding experience, and we were able to get a lot of team records, so everyone was really pumped up about it. n

JOE HOWELL

Martin: I’ve been really happy here. The training is fun and lively with everyone. Training trip was fun. SEC’s was a blast, just hanging out and racing.

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