November 2014 Commodore Nation

November 2014

Military salute

ALSO INSIDE: Junior full of heart on and off tennis court Meet the freshmen A look inside book on SEC trailblazer

JOe howell

CONTENTS

P.8

P.16

Full of heart

Meet the freshmen

Junior Frances Altick plays tennis with a ton of heart and is inspired by her late brother, Trey.

Get to know Vanderbilt’s men’s and women’s basketball rookies.

P.18 Coach’s Handbook Nashville native Clark Humphreys is in his 10th year as an assistant track and field coach at Vanderbilt.

P.11 Documenting Perry Vanderbilt grad Andrew Maraniss spent eight years and talked to more than 80 people for his book on Commodore legend Perry Wallace.

P.2 Compliance Corner

P.3

Raising awarness

National Commodore Club

Alison Wenzel of Vanderbilt Life Skills recently held a seminar for all VU studentathletes about the dangers of anabolic steroids and dietary supplements.

P.7 Inside McGugin

P.20 P.12 Military salute In honor of Veteran’s Day, Vanderbilt coaches and student-athletes with military connections pay tribute.

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P.20

VU From Here

Commodore fan Wallace Holleman

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

P.23 Heading up the search Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos leads the search for the new SEC commissioner as Mike Slive is retiring.

P.24 My Game Marqu’es Webb returns to the basketball court after a promising freshman season for the Commodores.

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

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November 2014

Editor-in-Chief: Jerome Boettcher

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By The Numbers

Notes from the athletic department

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daniel dubois

Inside McGugin

L-R: Claire Benjamin, Becca Chandler and Amira Joseph helped VU place second at the SEC Championships .

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he women’s cross country team placed second at the SEC Championships in October. Katherine Delaney finished ninth, Claire Benjamin was 13th and Sara Barron was right behind in 14th. The trio earned All-SEC honors as Vanderbilt posted its second-highest finish at the SEC meet in program history. VU, ranked 14th in the country, will try to make its fourth straight NCAA Championship.

l The McGugin Center Training Room project was approved in October by the Board of Trust and Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos. Renovation and expansion should begin in early 2015. The project is expected to take 12 to 14 months and a grand opening could come as early as 2016. The expanded center will include dietary, examination and treatment rooms, a conference room, two team doctor offices, new office space for Vanderbilt’s 13 athletic trainers and a welcoming student-athlete entrance and lobby. It will also include three hydrotherapy pools and modernized equipment as well as more treatment tables, taping stations and cardio equipment. l Former Vanderbilt All-American Jon Curran got his PGA Tour career off to a great start. Curran finished tied for eighth last month in his first PGA Tour event — the Frys.com Open in Napa, Calif. He finished with an 11-under 277, including a 70 in the final round as the only rookie to finish in the top 10. The Hopkinton, Mass., native played at Vanderbilt from 2005-09. n

Calendar

November Events November 16 ‘Dores tip off season The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team begins its season at home against Trevecca Nazarene for a Sunday matinee. The Commodores, led by All-SEC Freshman center Damian Jones and welcoming five freshmen, will be playing crosstown rival Trevecca (in its first year in Division II) for the first time.

Order of finish at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational by Hunter Stewart and Carson Jacobs on Oct. 21.

The Vanderbilt duo claimed the top two spots as the Commodores finished second as a team. Stewart finished one stroke better than Jacobs. Stewart, a senior, won his second tournament of the year and third of his career.

Christiana Ogunsami

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Saves by freshman goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami against No. 10 Texas A&M on Oct. 10, 2014. Ogunsami tied a school record with the 15 saves — the most since Christy Barringer made 15 stops on Oct. 17, 1992.

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Strokes by which VU women’s golf team won the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu on Oct. 23. Freshman Cindy Ha earned medalist honors for the first time by finishing two strokes ahead of teammate Kendall Martindale.

November 14–16 Black and Gold Series The defending national champs wrap up fall ball with the annual Black and Gold Series. The intrasquad scrimmage is open to the public and will be the first time fans will get a chance to see the Commodores on the baseball field since they won the national championship in June.

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November 29 Regular season ends with Vols The Vanderbilt football team wraps up the regular season slate against in-state rival Tennessee. The Commodores have won the last two meetings against the Vols, marking the program’s first-two game winning streak in the series in nearly 90 years.

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Last year, as a sophomore, Frances Altick joined teammate Marie Casares as the first Vanderbilt players to notch at least 30 wins in a single season en route to making the NCAA Tournament.

Full of heart: Altick inspires teammates, coaches

by Jerome Boettcher

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ecently, Vanderbilt women’s tennis coach Geoff Macdonald stood in the Olympic sports weight room flanked by two men who know a thing or two about pumping iron.

With strength and conditioning coaches Garry Christopher (men’s basketball) and Teddy Thompson (football) listening, Macdonald made a bold proclamation about one of the university’s smallest student-athletes.

“I said if Vanderbilt athletes had the heart Frances Altick has we would win national championships in every sport,” Macdonald said. “She is just driven to excel. I say she may work harder than anybody on campus at her sport. She is just an inspiration to me.”

Frances Altick measures in at 5-feet, 2-inches. But Macdonald sticks to the old expression that you can’t measure heart. If

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November 2014

you could, Macdonald says, the size of Altick’s heart would be off the charts.

The junior from Monroe, La., currently is sidelined with wrist tendonitis. But even an injury can’t really keep Altick sidelined.

She has been working out with new tennis strength coach Emil Iankov six days a week.

She often is the first person on the team to arrive to the court and the last one to head home. If Macdonald suggests in passing to the team that it might be good to get in a bike ride or two during the week, Altick kicks up the kickstand and is on our way.

Her drive has spread throughout the team, too.

Macdonald likened Altick’s impact to that of Peyton Manning. Throughout his Hall of Fame career, the quarterback has made the equipment managers, video staff and coaches better

because they’re inspired by his work ethic.

“I feel that way about Frances,” Macdonald said. “Those of us who coach her will go the extra mile because we see her going the extra mile. I think Emil (Iankov) is inspired by her drive. When you’re around that in athletics it is infectious. She has lifted up our whole team with her passion and work ethic.”

While her teammates and coaches draw inspiration from her, Altick’s motivation hits home.

On May 21, 2008, Frances lost her best friend, practice partner and only brother. Trey Altick died tragically in a jet ski accident near their home a week before his 16th birthday.

Frances was only 14.

She took his death hard but vowed to honor her brother with how she lived her life.

“I’m trying to make him proud every day,”

Frances Altick and her brother, Trey, when the siblings were six and eight years old, respectively. Trey was killed in a jet ski accident in 2008.

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in something or someone. Having a relationship with Jesus and God. It definitely helped my whole family. My mom has a really strong faith. Getting through those tough times would haven’t been possible without that.”

Frances’ mother, Helena, came up with the brilliant idea to raise funds in Trey’s honor for one of his favorite charities. Trey volunteered his time and money to Water For Life, a nonprofit organization that not only provides safe water to underprivileged countries such as Uganda, Kosovo and Cambodia.

About four years ago, Helena, Frances and her two younger sisters, Hannah and Abi, began making bead necklaces with freshwater pearls. They sold them to family, friends, at their dad’s office, at school and the proceeds went to Water for Life. In the last four years, they have raised more than $350,000 for the organization, with a generous donation of $75,000 from an anonymous donor.

In addition, the family began a baseball tournament in Trey’s name and started the Trey Altick Scholarship Foundation for students at Trey’s school, Neville High School.

Six years later, Frances continues to honor Trey by living every day to the fullest, not falling into a complacent trap.

In fact, Macdonald said her resilience and fight were qualities that caught his eye, along with assistant coach Aleke Tsoubanos, during the high school recruiting process.

They remember watching a tournament where she lost in the round of 64 and fell into the consolation round. Instead of giving in and bowing out early, Frances kept battling through the back draw and finishing fifth overall.

“That’s character,” Macdonald said. “It is a real red flag for us (in recruiting) when we see somebody who doesn’t do well in the back draw, defaults in the back draw, pulls out with an injury which may or may not be that bad. Then we saw Frances Altick winning the back draw. So we knew we were getting a great character kid and competitor. But what has been fantastic is her desire to improve herself and polish it. Get more aggressive and learn how to win points.”

As a freshman, she won 18 matches for a promising start. Last year, with a season under her belt, she began to really adjust to the college game and take more risks.

She played at the No. 1 position in several matches, helping lead the Commodores to vic-

tories over ranked South Carolina and Kentucky.

She went 30-9, joining teammate Marie Casares as the first two players with 30-plus wins in a season in school history. She also made the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Singles Championships and earned All-SEC First Team honors.

“I think she loves the game of tennis as much as anyone I’ve coached in 27 years,” Macdonald said. “She just digs into an opponent and doesn’t let go. I just have utter faith in her.” n

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she said. “The way he lived his life is something I want to emulate. He lived it to the fullest. I know it is a cliché. But he really enjoyed life and worked as hard as he could. Every opportunity, he would always be going to the gym or going to run and trying to get better. I just want to try to do that.”

Frances picked up a tennis racquet when she was 5 years old. For long as she can remember, she always had a practice partner.

Older brother Trey and Frances would hit the courts often. Separated by two years, a sibling rivalry was born on the tennis court and ping pong table.

Actually, any sport Trey tried, Frances wouldn’t be far behind.

“We were best friends growing up. Anything he did I would do,” Frances said. “We were practice partners always. We were really competitive.”

Trey’s death shook the Altick family, especially Frances. She was upset. She was at a loss for why this could happen. The grieving was painful and long.

But she found comfort in tennis.

On the courts – the place where she and Trey spent so many honors competing – she could lose herself. A week after his death, Frances played in a big summer tournament.

Though her parents thought maybe she needed a break, tennis served as a diversion.

“I think it was a way to cope,” she said. “It was really nice to be on the court and not thinking about anything. Tennis was very helpful.”

The Altick family also grew closer after Trey’s death. His passing helped the family realize they couldn’t take each day for granted.

“I remember my mom saying, ‘We are somehow going to use this to be better somehow,’” Frances said. “There has to be some reason. God didn’t just let this happen. We’ll bring some good out of it.’ I wouldn’t have come out of all that with the same mind — without believing

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November 2014

VU grad documents Wallace’s journey

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eally, this is a book 25 years in the making – even if Andrew Maraniss didn’t know it at the time.

In 1989, as a sophomore at Vanderbilt, he read a student magazine article about Perry Wallace.

This was Maraniss’ introduction to Wallace — who played basketball at Vanderbilt from 196870 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and was the first African-American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference.

A history major and recipient of Vanderbilt’s Fred Russell-Grantland Rice sportswriting scholarship, Maraniss saw both of his loves – history and sports – colliding. He was so intrigued by the article that he wrote a paper on Wallace for his black history class.

“Being someone who really cared about Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt basketball and that this person made history at our school, it was something that really grabbed me,” Maraniss said. “I didn’t really comprehend the full story until I began doing the research for this book.

But I always knew it would be an interesting story.”

In 2006, Maraniss conducted his first interview for a book on Wallace with former Vanderbilt men’s basketball coach, the late Roy Skinner. Since then, Maraniss has gotten married, had two children and moved. And, he has also interviewed more than 80 people, traveled to numerous SEC towns and spent more than four years researching, including scouring the Vanderbilt Archives and the National Library.

The end result? His first book, “Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South,” which hit bookstores this month.

“I didn’t write the book just for a Vanderbilt audience, but obviously Vanderbilt people are an important audience for this book,” Maraniss said. “I hope they’ll really come to understand better somebody that is such an important person in the history of the university and athletic department. My personal opinion, Perry’s story is the most interesting story in the history of the school. To be lucky enough to write about that means a lot to me.”

Wallace is one of just two VU men’s basketball players to have his jersey retired in Memorial Gymnasium.

Now a law professor at American University Washington College of Law, Wallace witnessed racism throughout his childhood. He grew up in segregated Nashville and as Maraniss points out key moments in the Civil Rights Moment

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lined unfolded in Wallace’s early years.

He was a kindergartener the same year as Brown v. Board of Education. He was a young kid when 14-year-old Emmett Till was tortured and killed by two white men after Till reportedly whistled at a white cashier in Mississippi.

At 12 years old, he went into downtown Nashville to watch sit-ins at lunch counters. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech was a week before he began his freshman year at Pearl High School.

“He felt like the country was changing and doors were opening at just the right time for him and for his generation,” Maraniss said.

“When he visited Vanderbilt on his recruiting trip he was impressed by the basketball program and the fact that the student-athletes were going to class. He was a very serious student. He was a valedictorian of his high school class. He was an engineering double major at Vanderbilt. He actually decided to go to Vanderbilt despite what he knew were going to be the difficulties, despite the fact he would be this trailblazer – not because of it.”

Traveling on the road, Wallace faced threats on his life and heard racist chants in and out of the gym. Ole Miss cancelled both games with Vanderbilt’s freshman team during Wallace’s first year with the Commodores due to “schedule conflicts,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Maraniss actually traveled to Oxford, Miss., and dug up newspaper articles about Wallace’s first game at Ole Miss.

But the “gold mine” moment for Maraniss and his book came when he was sifting through papers in the Vanderbilt University Archives. He discovered a transcript of Wallace’s speech he gave to Vanderbilt’s Human Relations Committee at Kirkland Hall. The emotional Wallace addressed his experiences of integrating the SEC and being one of the few black students on campus.

“Perry is such a brilliant person that even as a young student you could see it in the words that he gave that day,” Maraniss said. “… Really that experience sticks with you the rest of your life and it hasn’t always been an easy thing for Perry to have to deal with. But he’s dealt with it as well anyone possibly could.”

He first interviewed Wallace back in 1989 for his black history class paper. Maraniss, a 1992 VU grad, kept in touch while working as Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball sports information director for five years. And, eight years ago, when he decided he wanted to write his

file photo

by Jerome Boettcher

Perry Wallace was the first African-American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference.

first book it was his future father-in-law who suggested his subject be Wallace.

“I always feel better about the world and myself and human nature after I get off the phone with Perry,” Maraniss said. “Even as much hard times he has been through, he is such a smart, thoughtful person that he always puts things in perspective and has a way at looking at the world that is really honest and refreshing.”

The entire process has been satisfying and challenging for Maraniss, who is a partner at local public relations firm McNeely Pigott & Fox and stays busy at home with two young children. He has followed in the footsteps of his father, David Maraniss, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author. Maraniss cried when he received a complimentary email along with a review for the back cover of the book from legendary Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford.

The book is on sale now and more information can be found at andrewmaraniss.com.

On Dec. 3, Wallace and Maraniss will be at the downtown Nashville Public Library at 6 p.m. to speak about the book and sign copies. They’ll also be on hand to speak the next day, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Library. Later that night they’ll be at Memorial Gym signing copies of the book before and after the Commodores’ game against Baylor. n

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’Dores pay tribute to those who serve country

by Jerome Boettcher

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uckily for Vanderbilt fans, coaching panned out in a huge way for Tim Corbin.

If it hadn’t, though, the national championship winning baseball coach knows what profession he would have chased – military officer.

The son of an Army soldier, he grew up with a respect for the armed forces.

“It has always been ingrained in me and instilled in me personally about our country and what it represents,” said Corbin, who begins his 13th season at Vanderbilt. “I’ve always made it very important in our teachings with the kids regarding the opportunities we have. I think the basic premise is explaining to them that before they’re from any state in our country and before they represent Vanderbilt University, they’re always representing our flag, our country and what we stand for as people. I think that is very important.”

Corbin is not alone.

With Veterans Day this month, Vanderbilt student-athletes, coaches and staff salute those who have served in the military and

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died while defending their country. For several Commodores, the holiday stirs up personal connections and hits close to home – especially for several members of the football team.

Redshirt freshman kicker Tommy Openshaw’s paternal grandfather served in the Army and his mother, father, uncle and maternal grandfather all graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Will Holden’s father is retired from the Navy. Redshirt junior safety Andrew Williamson has lived in Germany and the Netherlands as both parents served in the Army.

Fellow offensive lineman Sean Dowling aspires to follow in his parents’ footsteps and make his living out of the military. His dad is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and his mom is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines.

Defensive lineman Nigel Bowden’s father is retired from the Army and both his brothers served in the Air Force.

In the Olympic sports weight room, strength and conditioning coach Darren Edgington and his intern, Josh Willhite, have direct ties to the

military. Edgington served six years in the Navy and Willhite fought as an infantry solider in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marine Corps.

“My respect is absolute,” Sean Dowling said.

“I don’t know how, if I can put into words, how much I respect those who have served and those who are serving. All my heroes come from the military. If I could say one thing it would be thank you.”

Two of the first movies Jack Corbin took his son to watch in theatres were “Patton” and “Tora! Tora! Tora!”

Having served in the Army for five years, Jack wanted to his sons to understand their country’s history, build a sense of respect for what it meant to be an American and realize the sacrifice many made to protect their freedom.

“It was important to him,” Tim Corbin said.

“It was important in our home. Our country was important in our home. He made that very apparent by how we spoke and how we were raised. I just felt it was a good thing. It was not

It was hard for Nigel Bowden to get away with anything when he was growing up. Not only was he the youngest of four children but he had two older brothers – 10 years and 13 years his senior.

“Those were my fathers when I grew up,” he said. “They would knock me upside my head and set me straight. My mom disciplined me but she really had a lot of help. Even my sister

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(helped), too. That is what helped me become the person I am today.”

Nigel admired his older brothers Joe Nathan and Jason Nathan. Both served in the Air Force and Nigel aspired to make them proud on the football field and in the classroom.

He hung on Jason’s every word. Ten years older than Nigel, Jason was athletic, smart, a devout Christian and driven. He dreamed of fighting for his country and wanted to work for the FBI. “I always looked up to him,” Nigel said. “He was very athletic, a strong guy. He always put faith in everything he did. His grades were top notch. He was one of those outstanding people. You just want to live up to your brother and his goals and what he has accomplished.”

On June 23, 2007, Jason Nathan was killed in Iraq. While on gunner duty, an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

He was only 22.

Nigel was just 12 at the time, about to begin seventh grade. He had just talked to Jason two days before.

“When he died it actually made me work harder,” Nigel said. “It hit me so hard because I wanted to show him I could do the same thing.”

The death of his brother, role model and best friend, stunned Nigel. He remembers staring at his bedroom wall hours after two soldiers came to their front door in Macon, Ga., with the tragic news. When he saw Jason’s body at the funeral, the reality of the situation sunk in. It was hard for him to stay strong every time a friend or family member came up to him and brought up his brother. He hurt to see

his mother and brother, Joe, in so much pain.

Then he remembered the joy Jason spread to everyone he met. And Nigel brought up those memories, those jokes and began to make people smile.

“That’s actually how I got over it,” he said.

“First two times I got someone to smile from it, that’s what made me feel more comfortable talking about it.”

Seven years later, Nigel continues to try to live up to his brother’s expectations. The leading tackler and a rising star on the football team, Nigel honors Jason every time he steps onto the football field.

His jersey number, No. 52, pays tribute to Jason, who always told Nigel “you can mess up 52 times and you can get things right 52 times.

Fifty-two times is going to make you a man.”

“He is that person that keeps me going,” Nigel said. “I just appreciate how much love he had for all of us.”

Just from listening to him rattle off his father’s military history with ease and precise details of location, dates and length, one can pick up how much Sean Dowling idolizes his father.

And it is easy to see why.

Christopher Dowling is a colonel in the Marine Corps and is currently on his ninth tour in Afghanistan, advising and preparing Afghani army as U.S. troops leave the country.

“Growing up I always wanted to be like my dad and do what he did,” Sean said. “He is one of the most prolific leaders I have ever been around in my life. He has control over his audience. Being a Marine Corps officer is incredibly, physically challenging. He is able to push

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neglected.”

Nor have those values been lost on the younger Corbin.

In his coaching, Tim Corbin has laced in military lessons and traditions to remind his players to be thankful of their opportunities.

“I tell them that rather than wait until a holiday occurs make it a part of your fabric, that you celebrate it every day,” Corbin said.

“We might not celebrate it through music or representation of the flag. But I do bring it up quite frequently. There is not a week that goes by where some American tradition is not inserted into our culture.”

Before every season, Corbin teaches his players how to stand at attention for the national anthem: right hand planted over their chest, heels clicked together, with toes pointed out at a 45-degree angle, left hand holding an imaginary roll of quarters down on the seem of the pants and strong posture with shoulders back. The players remain standing at attention until the last note of the “Star Spangled Banner” is played or until the end of the colors being presented.

For the last six years, the team has worn red, white and blue uniforms for Sunday games and tries to honor a member of the military before the game. Much of the verbiage for drills at practice or at the baseball facility align with military or American traditions. Corbin taught the team about Pat Tillman. He has discussed key moments and shown movie clips of World War II and the Battle of Normandy.

“I want them to understand what mental and human struggle took place in order to salvage our country, in order to protect our country,” he said. “It was difficult living for those human beings and I wanted them to see that. Those are lessons right there that point to servant behavior, point to country first, and I want those kids to know there are issues and situations that are bigger than what their personal life is all about and what baseball is all about. It goes far beyond that. “… Not to say that our kids will be war heroes. They won’t. I think there are people in their life that they need to know more about.”

Members of the Vanderbilt Navy, Army, Marine and Air Force ROTC hold the American flag for a moment of silence just days after 9-11 before Vanderbilt’s football game against Richmond on Sept. 22, 2001.

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joe howell

himself to do some incredible things. I take a lot of confidence that I come from his stock and I am able to do whatever I put my mind forth to do.”

As a high school senior, Sean Dowling not only accomplished a huge feat by playing in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in 2013 but he did so as the son of two Marine Corps officers.

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Redshirt freshman linebacker Nigel Bowden was 12 years old when his brother, Jason Nathan, was killed in Iraq while serving for the Air Force.

November 2014

His mother, Karen, is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Marines, where she was a judge advocate.

“She is another one of my heroes,” Sean said.

“Really fortunate when my dad was gone, she, and the saint she is, had to take over both roles being a Marine Corps officer and a mother and a father. Taking care of her two boys who played football and basketball and were constantly doing stuff. I looked up to her as much as I did my dad. She can and has proven she can do it all.”

The military lineage runs deep for the Dowling family. Col. Dowling’s father, Edmund, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines and was deployed five times during the Vietnam War. Two of Sean’s uncles graduated from West Point.

Not surprisingly, Sean wants to carry on the family business.

In January, he’ll join Vanderbilt’s Naval ROTC as a Marine Option student. Upon college graduation in a couple years, he hopes to complete Officer Candidates School and be commissioned as a Marine Corps officer.

“Becoming a Marine Corps officer nowadays is incredibly competitive and I would like to start by getting my foot in the door any way possible,” he said. “That has always been the plan.”

If Darren Edgington tells the bowling team or lacrosse team they need to be in the Olympic sports weight room at 7 a.m., he expects them to be there by 7 a.m. 7:01 won’t cut it.

Accountability is one of the biggest qualities Edgington preaches his to his student-athletes as one of Vanderbilt’s strength and conditioning coaches.

Personal responsibility and discipline are very important to Edgington, especially after he spent six years in the Navy and more than four years on a submarine.

“In my

instance, you have to learn to be accountable in taking care of the little things,” Edgington said.

“Because, if you don’t, people die. You don’t take care of the little things on a submarine – you’re several hundred feet under water, all that pressure is trying to get into that sub – you make a mistake and 120 guys die. The athletes, they make a mistake, we might lose a game. You might have some up-downs for being late. But it is, in the long run, to teach them to be better outside of college.”

Growing up on a farm in Norene, Tenn., a small town south of Lebanon, Edgington enlisted in the Navy’s nuclear engineering program out of high school. He volunteered to man a 120-member fast-attack submarine that, as Edgington puts it, is designed to “go out and hunt and kill other submarines.” He was a machinist mate in charge of atmospheric control equipment, refrigeration, air conditioning and hydraulic systems along with monitoring the sub’s diesel generator.

His sleeping quarters were 20 yards from a nuclear reactor. Without windows or port holes, he and his fellow Midshipmen relied on sonar to detect enemy submarines. Some stretches he’d go 45 hours without sleep. With 18-hour days and rotating six-hour shifts, it was easy to lose track of time.

“You told time by what meal was being served,” Edgington said.

After he finished his time in the Navy, he returned home and graduated Cum Laude with a degree in wellness and fitness from Middle Tennessee State University, where he also later earned his master’s degree. He has worked at MTSU and Ole Miss and is in his third season at Vanderbilt.

He admits as a 24-year-old when he exited the Navy, it was more of a relief than celebration. But as he has gotten older, he has gained perspective on his time in the military. The discipline and accountability he learned from his time in a submarine, he still carries with him today.

And Edgington, like all those brave men and women who have served our country, can’t help but reflect on Veterans Day. “No matter when you served, if you were ever in, you signed a blank check and that blank check was for your life,” he said. “In one sense, they are no different than anybody else who has served during the Cold War or peacetime because when you signed up you signed a blank check for your life, giving it to America, giving it to the people.

It just didn’t get cashed. That is a pretty neat thought to be able to sign that over.

“Now that I have gotten older, and looking back on it, Veterans Day has more meaning. I am proud I have served my country – that I have given back to the country that gave so much to me.” n

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Hoop Dreams: Meet the freshmen Shelton Mitchell Guard, 6-3, 186 pounds Waxhaw, N.C.

Riley LaChance Guard, 6-2, 194 pounds Brookfield, Wis.

About Shelton: Averaged 19.2 points and 4.5 assists in three years at Cuthbertson High School. Named NCPreps.com 2A Player of the Year as a junior.

About Riley: Left Brookfield Central High School as all-time leading scorer with 1,643 points. The unanimous first-team all-state selection averaged 23 points as a senior and tied school record for most points in conference game with 44 points.

Matthew Fisher-Davis Guard/Forward, 6-5, 173 pounds Charlotte, N.C. About Matthew: Averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as a senior at Butler High School. Shot an astonishing 67.5 percent from the field. Named SW4A Player of the Year.

Jeff Roberson Wade Baldwin IV Guard, 6-3, 195 pounds Bell Mead, N.J. About Wade: Scored 1,727 points and made 104 3-pointers at St. Joseph’s High School. Averaged 15 points as a senior as St. Joseph’s went 30-2 and won state championship. Secondteam all-state selection and Middlesex County Player of the Year.

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November 2014

Forward, 6-6, 206 pounds Houston, Texas About Jeff: Left The Kinkaid School as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,743 points.

Averaged 201. Points and 9.2 rebounds as a senior and finalist for annual award given to best high school player in Houston.

Rachel Bell Guard, 5-10 Cumberland Furnace, Tenn.

About Rachel: Averaged 24.8 points and 6.2 rebounds as a senior for Creek Wood High School. Scored 38 points in state quarterfinal.

Christa Reed Guard, 5-11 Bay St. Louis, Miss.

About Christa: Averaged 26 points as a senior at Bay High School and led team to state championship game.

She went 14-for-14 from 3-point range in one game to tie the state record for 3-pointers in a game.

Paris Kea Guard, 5-8 Greensboro, N.C. About Paris: Three-time all-state selection and four-time conference player of the year averaged 24.2 points and 7.1 rebounds as a senior at Page High School. Made USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team and won gold medal this summer.

Khaléann Caron-Goudreau Forward, 6-3 Gatineau, Quebec About Khaléann: The Canadian averaged 18.8 points as a senior and shot 44 percent from 3-point range at IMG Academy in Florida. This summer earned a spot on Canada’s Senior B Women’s National Team and won a gold medal with twin sister Audrey-Ann, also a freshman at Vanderbilt.

Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau Forward, 6-3 Gatineau, Quebec About Audrey-Ann: The Canadian averaged seven points and 6.5 rebounds as a senior at IMG Academy in Florida. This summer earned a spot on Canada’s Senior B Women’s National Team and won a gold medal with twin sister Khaléann, also a freshman at Vanderbilt.

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Coach’s Handbook: Clark Humphreys Assistant track and field coach

By Jerome Boettcher

Being a Nashville guy, how nice was it to come back home?

When I initially came back 10 years ago, I thought it would be two or three years. I did not know that things would grow and things would progress like they have. The most obvious thing is that indoor facility. When I first got here, there have may been a preliminary talk but the discussions were completely different. It has come a long way in the short time I’ve been here. It has been to fun see that. There is a real fun sense of bragging, so to speak, about the school and what we do here – because it is home.

The pole vault, was that something you had done for a while?

In seventh grade, my coach Charlie Harper asked me to do it to score some points at a junior high meet. He literally said go do it and I did it.

In eighth grade, I guess in earnest, I tried to train for it and practiced it some. Then it just kind of took off. This is probably a lot of my personality, in team sports a lot of times you have to rely on your teammates.

You’re only as good as your weakest link, so to speak. I played those and I enjoyed them. And I went to pole vaulting, I would go to a competition and I didn’t have to rely on anybody to do anything other than myself. I got myself warm. I competed. It was probably some of level of ownership of my outcome. I had pretty much 100 percent control over things.

I’m sure it was empowering to me as a 13 year old. I got success with it.

And like most things you get pats on the back. That is obviously a great feeling and I just kept on with it.

What was that moment like when you won a national championship as a junior at Auburn?

Just, of course, surreal. I actually had such blinders on that day. I was just so honed in and focused. I broke the pole in warmups. I’m sure a lot of people who saw me were like, ‘That guy is done. He’s out.’ But I was just so channeled and focused like there was nothing that could get in my way the day. The rain started coming. (The height) got up to 18 foot and a half inch, 550. The official stepped on the runway because it started to come.

It was my turn up. He has a red flag on the runway, meaning we’re going to pause the competition. And I go, ‘Get out of the way!’ He goes, you want to go in the rain?’ I go, ‘Yeah, get out of the way.’ I picked the pole up, go down, jump it, clear it. First attempt. About 10, 15 seconds after I cleared the thing, the bottom just drops out. Pouring like hell. I had the

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john russell

For the past 10 years, Clark Humphreys has been a fixture with the Vanderbilt track and field program. The Nashville native and former three-time All-American enjoyed a decorated prep and college career, capturing two state championships at nearby Brentwood Academy and winning the 1997 NCAA Division I men’s pole vault national championship at Auburn. His mother and grandmother went to Peabody College and remembers coming to Memorial Gymnasium and watching Will Perdue, Barry Goheen, Barry Booker and Billy McCaffrey. His wife, Erin, was an All-American in the heptathlon at South Carolina.

The couple has two children, London (9) and Cailey (6).

Clark Humphreys has been an assistant track and field coach at Vanderbilt for the past 10 years. Humphreys was a two-time state champion in the pole vault at nearby Brentwood Academy and won a national championship at Auburn.

lead going into that two-hour break. We warm back up (after the delay) and we get up to 18-4 ½. I jump it on my first attempt. Actually, I had won the competition at that point. I get up on the runway because I’m next. A guy came over and said, ‘Hey, congratulations.’ And I didn’t have any clue what he was talking about. I needed to keep jumping. That is all I was telling myself – go, go, go. He said, ‘Well, you won.’ And I’m like, ‘I did?’ I look over to my coach and they’re just celebrating. It was insane. It didn’t just hit me. It didn’t register… They are so hard to come by – championships.”

Do you enjoy coaching (he was also an assistant at South Alabama and Auburn)? What do you enjoy the most about it?

My favorite thing is seeing that kid come in. I remember most every kid that comes through, when they came on their visits, some of the questions they ask, how green they were, so to speak, how clueless, how naïve they are, and then to see who they are when they graduate.

Brionne Williams (an All-American in the high jump in 2013) is a perfect example. She came and finished up last year and was just a sweet unassuming, very shy, quiet girl. She just progressed through from being a top 50 girl in high school. She came and turned herself into the top 15 in the country. Just to see that four-year development of the kid and the people they’ve become… Those things are fun, the relationships. Meeting the families over time, getting to know families. That is fun. You have to enjoy people in most of these positions. I enjoy people and being around them. That is the fun stuff. I love it.

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Life Skills opens eyes of Commodores

by Jerome Boettcher

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November 2014

steve green

J

ill Doherty walked away from the lecture feeling more educated.

The sophomore on the Vanderbilt lacrosse team wasn’t leaving class. No, Doherty and VU’s 340 other student-athletes learned valuable lessons from a mandatory attendance seminar conducted by Vanderbilt’s Rising Star Program on the dangers of using anabolic steroids and dietary supplements.

“For us, it gave us more of an eye-opening experience,” Doherty said. “You could be putting so many things into your body that you really don’t know. It can be really harmful to you.”

That was the sort of reaction Alison Wenzel was hoping for.

Since 2006, Wenzel has headed up Vanderbilt’s Life Skills program out of the Stratton Foster Academic Center housed in the McGugin Center. Wenzel, one of 11 academic counselors for Vanderbilt’s student-athletes, is charged with providing a mandatory personal development seminar each semester. Recently speakers have discussed important topics such as sexual assault and drunk driving.

In September, Wenzel brought in Don Hooton, Jr., the vice president of education programs of the Taylor Hooton Foundation. On July 15, 2003, Don’s brother, Taylor, a high school athlete, committed suicide after falling into depression after using anabolic steroids. He was only 17.

A year later, Don, Jr., and his father, Don, Sr., started the Taylor Hooton Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness to end the use of appearance and performance enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids and dietary supplements.

“He mixed in a lot of humor with a very serious topic,” Wenzel said of Don, Jr. “I think that resonated more with the student-athletes as well. He was a really good speaker. He was a very dynamic speaker. His message, the takeaway is you need to be careful about what you’re putting into your body.

“That really struck a chord with a lot of the student-athletes.”

To many, the shock was that some of those dietary supplements that are sold at nutritional stores like GNC are on the NCAA banned substances list. Certain energy drinks and protein powders—or an overabundance of such—can prove harmful.

Sophomore Jill Doherty was one of Vanderbilt’s 340 student-athletes that attended the mandatory Life Skills seminar on the dangers of anabolic steroids and dietary suppplements.

Don, Jr. warned the group that many dietary supplements contain unhealthy ingredients that affect hormones and contain stimulants that invoke anxiety or irregular heartbeat.

“That was interesting,” Doherty said. “You don’t really see (dietary supplements) on a dangerous level. But if you take too many or the wrong kind it can be really detrimental to your body.”

Several myths were put to bed, including that use of anabolic steroids should be equated with just macho men or athletes.

“A lot of us came in with the assumption that it is body builders,” Doherty said. “It is people that are using them for their sport and their game.

In reality, it can be someone that is not even an athlete. I didn’t know the female athletes were on the same level as the men, which is the common assumption. They are just as likely to be using them.”

In organizing the seminars, Wenzel receives input from members of the Student Athlete-Advisory Committee (SAAC). In addition, she consults the Health Enhancement

Committee. The wellness committee informs and educates student-athletes about the various health and wellness related issues that they’ll encounter at Vanderbilt and after college. The committee includes an athletic trainer, the dietician, sport psychologist, associate director and life skills coordinator.

“I think it is of the utmost importance,” Wenzel said. “We’re trying to help them prepare for life after sports and what they’re going to face once they leave Vanderbilt if they’re not continuing on in their sports career. I think sometimes you can be in the Vander-bubble, as they refer to it on campus, and so it is good to have a reminder of things going on outside of your sport or Vanderbilt as a whole.

“We’re hopefully providing them with more resources now to make informed decisions.” n

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THE VU From Here Wallace Holleman

By Jerome Boettcher Nearly directly behind home plate, it’s almost a guarantee two members of the Holleman family will be in attendance at every Vanderbilt baseball game.

Wallace Holleman has been a season-ticket holder at Hawkins Field since coach Tim Corbin arrived on the scene 12 years ago. He has two tickets in Section G, and plenty of takers.

Wallace will be joined by his son, Key, and his kids, William, 11, and Hannah, 13. William has attended Corbin’s summer baseball camp and also had the thrill of being a bat boy last season for a couple games.

“That gives several family members a chance to go and that’s very good,” Holleman said. “We’re very active there. One way or another we’re all pretty much involved.”

That includes Sara Holleman, who died a little more than a year ago. Sara and Wallace had been married for more than 49 years.

And she would often join Wallace at Hawkins Field.

“She enjoyed baseball,” he said. “I guess the location of our seats and there being a chair instead of a bench added to her attractiveness and comfort of it – no doubt. Real good seats.”

Baseball isn’t the only Vanderbilt sport the Holleman family frequents.

Wallace has had tickets to basketball games at Memorial Gymnasium for many years and has become a more regular fan at football games the last five years.

“We’re still pretty much involved with the sports going on there and think with great pride of the success with the baseball team last year,” said Wallace.

He was at Hawkins Field last year for the NCAA Regional and Super Regional games as the baseball team raced all the way to the national championship at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Wallace has been a Vanderbilt fan ever since he arrived on campus more than 60 years ago. He is a 1955 graduate of Vanderbilt and was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Ever since the boy from Kentucky stepped foot in Nashville, he has stayed here for most of his life. For more than three decades he worked for the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is now known as LifeWay Christian Resources.

“Glad to be in Nashville,” he said. “I really am. I’ve been here most of the time since I graduated.”

Wallace, who has been retired more than 30 years, now lives in Burton Hills and spends most of his free time keeping up with the Commodores.

A devoted fan, he said he is drawn to his alma mater and their athletic teams and looks forward to weekend games – of all variety.

“Vanderbilt sports have been very important to me and the family

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for many years,” he said. “It is the fact I can identify with it. I feel a part of it. I’ve met Tim Corbin more times than he remembers. It is just easy for me to identify with all the sports there – baseball, basketball and football.”

We Want Your Ticket Stories The ticket office has long been a place to hear some of the best examples of the love affair between Vanderbilt fans and their seats for Vanderbilt games. Whether you met your spouse in the student section, shared popcorn with your grandfather from the very top row of the endzone in Section L or truly believe that row 25 in your section was made for you and 24 friends, we want to hear your point of VU (pronounced “view”) of Commodore Football. In 150 words or less, send in your stories to ticket.office@vanderbilt.edu. We will select some of our favorites to share with other Commodore fans. If your “VU From Here” story is selected, we will give you two tickets to a home game this season, in the hope that you will pay them forward to attract new fans to Vanderbilt Stadium. n

Zeppos heading up search for new SEC commish

It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson

L

et’s run through some top news items, starting globally and working our way closer to home.

World news (as we write) includes the Ebola outbreak in Africa, ISIS beheadings and ravaging through Syria, the melting polar ice caps and accompanying rising oceans and some tough talking Russians doing aggressive things.

National news includes the Ebola outbreak, ISIS, the rising oceans (an acre of Louisiana goes underwater daily), political gridlock, protests in Ferguson, a bobbing stock market and horror stories de jour.

Are you hiding under the bed yet? The world is getting smaller; once far-away problems are now in everyone’s backyard and the scary stuff seems to drastically out-number the “good news.”

Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves that not everything has gone haywire. On this campus—in this athletic department—good things still happen, albeit quietly. For instance: Ed Rode

• The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held another night of Trick or Treating for area kids that otherwise would miss that fun.

Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos will head the search for the new Southeastern Conference commissioner. Mike Slive announced his retirement last month.

• Fifteen Commodores have volunteered to sacrifice valuable winter break time for a service trip to Costa Rica with the Soles 4 Souls organization.

T

• Football senior Kyle Woestmann and some of his teammates and coaches continue to interact with Michael Sloan, the six-year old Vandy fan who nearly drowned last summer. (Kyle even visited Michael when the boy was rehabbing in Atlanta.)

he search for the Southeastern Conference’s new commissioner will be headed up by Vanderbilt’s man in charge.

Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, the current chair of the SEC’s Presidents and Chancellors, has appointed a committee to search for the eighth commissioner in the history of the league. Dr. David Gearhart, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas, will serve as chairman of the committee that will also include Dr. Judith Bonner, President of the University of Alabama; Dr. Eli Capilouto, President of the University of Kentucky; Dr. Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University; and Dr. R. Bowen Loftin, Chancellor of the University of Missouri.

“The SEC has enjoyed an era of unprecedented success under Mike Slive and at the same time has been a leader in dramatic change in the landscape of college athletics under his direction,” Zeppos said. “It is critical to have an efficient transition of leadership in order to continue our success on the fields of play as well as to identify a staunch advocate for academic achievement, integrity and sportsmanship. Our objective is to seamlessly maintain our conference’s participation in shaping the future of intercollegiate athletics.”

“Mike Slive has done an incredible job as SEC Commissioner. He is revered throughout college athletics. Finding the right person to carry on the leadership of the Southeastern Conference, an unquestioned leader in intercollegiate athletics, is a major undertaking as the position is vital to the continued positive transformation of the conference and intercollegiate athletics as a whole,” Gearhart said.

Zeppos said the committee will work closely with athletic directors, faculty representatives, senior women administrators and student athletes in the search. He also said the presidents and chancellors hope to select the new commissioner in a timely manner to allow a transition period before Slive’s retirement on July 31, 2015.

East earned a civil engineering degree from Vanderbilt in May 2014, and is currently enrolled in graduate courses at Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Management. n

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• The women’s basketball team just finished a reading project with the nearby Eakin Elementary School.

• Soccer alum C.J. Rhoades has decided to teach English in Thailand.

• Defensive back Torren McGaster is a math mentor in a Nashville elementary school.

• Our SAAC leaders are partnering with “Volunteers Around the World” in a World Cup soccer type project with the Martha O’Bryan Center. Commodores will be coaching the kids as they learn and have fun participating.

• Swim alum Alyxandra Vernon is the latest ‘Dore to sign up for Teach for America.

• The department just completed its semi-annual review of academic performance. There is a reason we’ve had eight straight years over 3.0 composite GPA’s—our students rarely miss a class for any reason, which speaks volumes to their dedication. Few schools could match this.

• Andrew East, another gridiron dweller, will graduate with both a civil engineering degree AND a MBA in just five years! No one here can recall such a feat, given the time he invests in football and elsewhere.

• We could list more but you get the point.

You aren’t going to read any of those stories in your local newspaper (if your town still has one), hear them discussed on a talk show or see a stream on some message board. In fairness, if we were a news editor it would be hard to ignore the great issues of our times. We get that, we’re just hoping to provide a little bit of balance.

Yes, the world and our nation have big challenges and even the Commodores have their challenges. But despite the complex problems and sometimes sour outlooks, there is still much good news to be found. You just have to crawl out from under the bed and look around. n

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My Game

Marqu’es Webb

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anderbilt sophomore post player Marqu’es Webb enjoyed a strong freshman season – leading the team in field goal percentage (54 percent) – and she appears primed for even bigger things this year. Sophomore slump for the 6-foot-1 forward from Hoover, Ala.? Forget about it.

Now that you have a year of experience under your belt, how much more confident do you feel heading into this season than you did at this point last season?

With this being my second year, I have a much better feel for what we’re doing. I know the offense, I know the plays, and I know what is expected from each play and each drill. It just feels so much better when you know what to do. That is how I’m going into the season. Last year, some things kind of caught me off guard in a way.

It is funny because in high school, I got in a little bit of foul trouble but it was nothing close to what happened to me last year. I thought at the college level I could get away with more stuff, but it was the complete opposite. With the rule changes last year, the game wasn’t as physical as it usually is. I mean, in the SEC, it is still very physical. But I think for me, a lot of my fouls came from just being late. Whether it was rotating late and putting my body in a bad position and doing all that stuff. But I got in better shape this summer, and that allows me to be quicker on my rotations and just move around better. So I think that was the biggest deal, just doing that. And understanding the defense has helped too. I understood it last year but now I understand it on another different level. Now I am understanding where I need to be a step before I need to be there. So it is just really dissecting everything and really understanding. I am not saying that I am not going to get in foul trouble at any point in the season (laughs), but I feel like it won’t be as bad as last year because I have matured. I realize I can’t do that because I need to be on the floor for my team.

Yes. My freshman year wasn’t what I wanted it to be, but it’s over. So, it is what it is, and I can’t do anything about it but just work from it. And that is really what I feel like I’ve done. This summer I really worked on the physical part.

But most importantly, basketball is so mental, especially playing at a college level. So I have worked on that, too, and I think it has helped me so much up to this point so far.

How big of a challenge will it be for this year’s team to fill the void created by the departures of Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie after they graduated as two of the most celebrated players in team history?

November 2014

— David Dawson JOHN RUSSELL

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I was a little surprised, to be honest, that two young players were chosen – me and (redshirt freshman) Rebekah Dahlman. But we have been working hard just like everyone else. Honestly, you could have picked anyone from our roster to go based on work ethic and whatnot. … But it was a great honor. I got to meet a lot of cool people that you don’t normally get to talk to because you are usually playing against them. Media days, it was just great, you get to meet so many people who have been around basketball for so long and just have so much intelligent input to give you, so much advice.

It was a great experience, I was really lucky that I got to be able to go.

You ran into foul trouble in several games last season.

How frustrating was that and what do you attribute that to?

Even though you had a strong freshman season, you’ve said you weren’t satisfied with your overall performance. Is that a motivation for you going into this season?

Well, Jas and Foggie scored probably 99 percent of our points last year (laughs) so I think this is an opportunity for everyone to step up. And the good thing about this team is that literally everyone on the floor can score; everyone is a threat. So I am looking forward to it. If it means that I am the person taking the (last-second) shot, then I can take that. But so can anyone else on this team. … I feel like everyone is open-minded about stepping up. And that is really all it is, everyone just has to step up.

What was it like to represent your team at Media Days?

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