Winter 2015
BLACK & GOLD
ENSHRINEMENT
Price, Cutler headline
2015 Hall of Fame class
full of Star Power
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SPRING HILL
CONTENTS P.8
P.12
P.15
Power class
Hardwood connection
Checks and balances
The 2015 Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame features some of the best athletes to put on the Commodore uniform.
Vanderbilt men’s basketball players Luke Kornet, Matthew Fisher-Davis and Joe Toye all have sisters playing Division I basketball.
Athletic director David Williams also serves as the chair of the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee.
P.2 Compliance Corner
P.3 National Commodore Club
P.10 Price-less experience David Price says Vanderbilt helped shape and develop him while teaching him valuable life lessons.
P.7 Inside McGugin
P.20 Coach’s Handbook Associate head lacrosse coach Beth Hewitt
P.21 VU From Here Sam Moore
P.23 It’s my turn
Rod Williamson’s monthly column
P.16 Walking on Hidden from the spotlight, Carley Bogan, Carter Josephs and Phillip McGloin relish their roles as walk-ons
P.18 Fifth-year wonder Senior soccer forward Taylor Elliott returned for a fifth year and had the best season of her career.
P.24 My Game Vanderbilt point guard Phillip McGloin
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LEAD THE WAY TO
MORE SUCCESS It’s a great time to be a Vanderbilt Commodore! • Women’s Tennis are national champions • Men’s Golf advanced to national quarterfinals • Women’s Bowling won the first ever Southland Bowling League Championship • Vanderbilt Baseball returned to the finals of the College World Series • Spring cumulative GPA of 3.169 was the highest student athlete average on record Lead the way to more Commodore success by making a tax-deductible gift before Dec. 31. Renewing your NCC membership is one of the most powerful ways to show support for out student-athletes in this season of giving.
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” Inside McGugin
By The Numbers
Notes from the athletic department
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Number of AL Cy Young Award finalists (out of three) from Vanderbilt. Both David Price, who won the Cy Young Award in 2012, and Sonny Gray were named finalists for the award given to the league’s top pitcher. Prior to this year, there had never been two players from the same school finish in the top three in voting in the same year.
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he women’s soccer team made many strides in Darren Ambrose’s first year as head coach. The Commodores won nine games—their most since 2009—and reached the SEC Tournament for the first time in five years. Vanderbilt defeated Georgia in the opening round for its first SEC Tournament win since 2005. During the regular season, the ’Dores knocked off No. 8 South Carolina and No. 12 Ole Miss for multiple wins over ranked foes for the first time in 15 years. l Two Commodore upperclassmen went 1-2 at the prestigious Sun Bowl Western Refining College All-America Classic in November in El Paso, Texas. Senior Zack Jaworski won the event by two strokes over teammate Matthias Schwab, who tied for second. Jaworski finished six-under par 207 (71-69-67). His final round of 67 was the tournament’s best round of the day on Sunday. Jaworski joins former Vanderbilt alum and current PGA Tour member Luke List (2005) as winners of the event.
JIMMY MITCHELL
”
Simone Charley and the Commodores reached the SEC Tournament for first time in five years.
l Vanderbilt and Tennessee joined forces to help tackle hunger by competing in a canned food drive in November. The canned food drive ran for nearly two weeks with all donations going to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. The drive was geared as a competition between the schools’ fan bases to donate the most canned food. More than 3,532 meals were raised as a result of the food drive. n
Calendar
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Ranking of South Carolina’s women’s soccer team when Vanderbilt defeated the Gamecocks 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 16. It marked the highest ranked opponent the Commodores have ever beaten since the NSCAA started compiling rankings in 1996.
Dec./Jan. Events Dec. 21
Jan. 15–16
Wrapping up non-conference slate The women’s basketball team wraps up its home non-conference schedule against Tennessee-Martin. The Commodores then head to the Bronx to play in the Fordham Holiday Classic before starting SEC play at the beginning of the new year.
Indoor track kicks into full gear The Vanderbilt women’s track team hosts the Commodore Invitational at the Multipurpose Facility. Senior sprinter Faith Washington leads the charge.
Jan. 2 Commodores open up SEC play The men’s basketball team welcomes LSU to town to open Southeastern Conference play. The Tigers are led by highly touted freshman Ben Simmons, who is projected by many as a No. 1 NBA Draft pick.
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2015 Hall of Fame Class full of Star Power By Jerome Boettcher
NAM Y. HUH
S
Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will be inducted into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame in January.
was a valuable member of the 1955 Gator Bowl championship team. Head coach Larry Schmittou helped get the baseball program off the ground, leading the ’Dores to back-to-back SEC Championships in 1973-74. And Stella Vaughn was a pioneer for women’s athletics at Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt grad organized the first women’s basketball team nearly 120 years ago and was the school’s
JOE HOWELL
urprise, humility, gratitude and excitement filled Aleke Tsoubanos when athletic director David Williams called to tell her she was being inducted into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame. Then the Vanderbilt women’s tennis great heard the rest of the 2015 class. “When I caught wind of who else was going to be in the class my first thought was, ‘Wow, that is a really impressive class,’” said Tsoubanos, now the associate head coach for the women’s tennis team. “It had nothing to do with me being in it. It is certainly going to be a memorable group and there are a lot of great memories that came out of the student-athletes and the administrator who were in this group.” The 2015 Hall of Fame class features some of the best Commodores to ever put on a uniform. The two that carry the most notoriety are Cy Young Award winner David Price and NFL quarterback Jay Cutler. Then there is Tsoubanos, a three-time AllAmerican doubles player who helped lead the Commodores to the 2002 NCAA Championships match. Marina Alex was a two-time SEC Golfer of the Year who won the 2010 SEC individual championship. In 1978, women’s basketball standout Cathy Bender was the first AfricanAmerican woman to receive a full athletic scholarship at Vanderbilt. Jeff Fosnes was a two-time First Team All-SEC selection on the basketball court and helped the Commodores to the 1974 SEC Championship. All-American halfback Charley Horton
Five of the nine inductees were at a press conference in November. to announce the 2015 Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame class. From left: David Price (baseball), Aleke Tsoubanos (tennis), athletic director David Williams, Cathy BenderJackson (basketball), Larry Schmittou (baseball) and Jeff Fosnes (basketball).
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physical education director and first female instructor in 1896. “We believe we always have a class that has real Star Power,” Williams said. “Certainly, this class has as much if not more Star Power than any of the classes we’ve been able to induct into the Hall of Fame.” The 2015 class will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame Dinner on Jan. 22 at the Vanderbilt Student Life Center. Tables or sponsorships may be purchased by calling Angie Bess at 615-343-1107. Like Tsoubanos, Bender, Fosnes, Price and Schmittou, who were all at the press conference announcing the class in November, called the enshrinement a great honor. Williams said the feeling is mutual. “It is so very interesting because everybody I call seems to be so very honored that we selected them,” he said. “I’m always having to tell them, ‘No, we’re the ones who are honored. It is the contributions you have given to our university and athletics department that gives us this opportunity to honor you.’” Price helped put the Vanderbilt baseball program on the map. The future No. 1 draft pick was the consensus national player of the year in 2007, the same year Vanderbilt swept the SEC regular season and tournament championships and received the top seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Murfreesboro native said being inducted
JOE HOWELL
Women’s tennis associate head coach Aleke Tsoubanos was a three-time All-American and holds school records for most career doubles victories, consecutive doubles won and best doubles winning percentage.
into his school’s hall of fame ranks up there with winning the 2012 Cy Young Award and being named a six-time All-Star. “You can be a terrible person and win those type of awards, as bad as that is to say,” he said. “Something that deals with character and stuff along those lines, that is what’s special. Baseball is going to end for me at some point. Me living and me being a good person, doing stuff the right way that is what is going to carry me through the rest of my life. That is the stuff I cherish, so this is definitely very special.” For Bender, Vanderbilt offered an opportunity that extended beyond just her. Bender and her Mt. Juliet High School basketball teammate Sheila Johansson were the first female athletes to receive full athletic scholarships at Vanderbilt. The scholarship allowed Bender to be the first of her eight siblings to go to college. “Because of that scholarship, my three siblings that followed me all went to college,” she said. “It was not only great for me but it was great for my family. The exposure to my community was awesome so I’m very appreciative of that.” Fosnes chose Vanderbilt and the basketball program over playing football at Notre Dame. In addition to being a two-time All-SEC selection and graduating as the program’s secondleading scorer, he was a two-time Academic All-American. He spent eight years at Vanderbilt, attending medical school and choosing a profession in medicine over playing in the NBA. “It is a very special place,” Fosnes said. “Athletically, it was a great time when we had the opportunity to play in the 70s. It was kind of the only game in town. It was great to be part of some of those great teams. Undergraduate
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was serious, medical school was pretty serious (laughs). So we grew some roots.” When Schmittou received the phone call from Williams, he was thrilled to be going into the hall of fame, and happy that Vanderbilt administrators knew “I was still alive.” “I’ve been honored a few other times at a few other things,” he said, “but I was really surprised that they looked back in old history and welcomed the great ballplayers I had. It’s because of them, not because of me.” Schmittou actually took a pay cut when he left Goodlettsville High School to become Vanderbilt’s head baseball coach in addition to the football team’s top recruiter in 1968. He didn’t have any scholarships to give when he started. He relied on friends to serve as part-time assistant coaches in addition to their day jobs. And all Schmittou did in his 11 years at the helm
was lead Vanderbilt to four SEC Eastern Division crowns, two SEC championships, set the league record for wins (37) in a season and win more than 300 games. “I had such great guys that worked so hard, outperformed some of them,” Schmittou said. “Then I was able to get football player, basketball player like Jeff Peeples and built my team around pitching. I had 11 great years. I wouldn’t give anything for it.” Tsoubanos arrived in Nashville from her hometown of St. Louis in 2000. The three-time All-American holds the school record for most career doubles victories (119), consecutive doubles matches won (15) and best doubles winning percentage (82 percent). The natural leader helped guide the Commodores to an Elite Eight, Final Four and the NCAA Championship match in 2002—the farthest any Vanderbilt athletics team had reached to that point. After she graduated, she played World Team Tennis before rejoining the Commodores when head coach Geoff Macdonald hired as associate head coach in 2007. In May, she helped lead the program to the pinnacle of the sport—the national championship. “This has felt like home for me,” Tsoubanos said of Vanderbilt. “I’m not from Middle Tennessee but I was a student-athlete for four years, I trained here for a year after I graduated and I’ve now been back, this is my ninth season (as a coach). It really does feel like home. It is so comfortable here. I feel extremely invested as a coach. “I’m fortunate. Not many people are able to play a sport as a student-athlete and then go back and coach at the same university. It is really special and a blessing for me to be here.” n
2015 Hall of Fame Class Marina Alex
Golf
2009-12
Cathy Bender
Basketball
1978-82
Jay Cutler
Football
2002-05
Jeff Fosnes
Basketball
1972-76
Charley Horton
Football
1953-55
David Price
Baseball
2005-07
Larry Schmittou
Baseball coach
1968-78
Aleke Tsoubanos
Tennis
2000-04
Stella Vaughn
Administrator
1890s-1900s
HALL OF FAME DINNER—JAN. 22, 2016 The dinner will take place at the Vanderbilt Student Life Center. For information on purchasing tables or sponsorships please contact Angie Bess at 615-343-1107. C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N
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Price cherishes Vanderbilt, lessons he learned
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JOE HOWELL
avid Price initially shut the door on Vanderbilt. Now, the 30-year-old has become an ambassador for the university and its athletic department as he has risen to stardom as one of Major League Baseball’s top pitchers. And in November, the Commodore great was announced as one of nine inductees into Vanderbilt’s 2015 Hall of Fame class. But back when he was 16, Price couldn’t grasp the notion of pitching for the Commodores. As the Murfreesboro native sat watching the SEC Tournament in 2002, his brother asked him why he didn’t just go play for Vanderbilt. “I was like, ‘No way,’” Price recalled last month when it was announced he will be inducted into Vanderbilt’s 2015 Hall of Fame class. “They are not any good. The school is too hard. I just slammed the door in his face right there on that.” Fortunately for the Vanderbilt baseball program and Commodore fans, that decision wasn’t final. Later in 2002, Vanderbilt hired Tim Corbin as head coach. A huge factor in the Commodores transformation into a national powerhouse can be linked to those early years. That’s when Corbin and his staff laid the groundwork, compiling nationally ranked recruiting classes. Locking in Price, a future No. 1 draft pick, was obviously a huge get for the Commodores. But for Price, the coaching is why Vanderbilt turned from a pretender to a contender in his recruiting process.
Former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price says Vanderbilt made him mature as a man. The Cy Young Award winner is a huge ambassador for the school and returns to campus every year to work out.
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“Meeting Coach Corbin and our entire coaching staff, (pitching) coach (Derek) Johnson, (hitting) coach and (recruiting coordinator Erik) Bakich, all those guys, made it easy for me,” Price said. “One hundred percent that is why I came to Vanderbilt.” Nearly a decade after leaving Vanderbilt, Price looks at his time on campus as the formative years of his life. Beyond developing on the baseball field, Price learned accountability and the importance of wielding his skillset for the betterment of himself and others in everyday life. “It made me mature as a person,” Price said. “It made me mature as a man. It is what I needed. It was the perfect scenario for me at the time. Those years here at Vanderbilt were the most cherished years of my life. Hands down, the best decision I’ve ever made was to come here. I feel like I still have a ton to give back to Vanderbilt for me to be able to even catch up with what Vanderbilt has given and done for me. In my eyes, I’m still in the red.” The left-handed ace is quick to let any and everyone know where he went to school—in case they didn’t pick up on the Black and Gold signs draped throughout his life. His support is apparent on Twitter, cheering all of the Commodore teams on for all of his more than 800,000 followers to see. He dons VU gear from head to toe under his uniform—the Star V logo on his undershirt was on full display at this year’s All-Star Game—and passed shirts on to teammates such as Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera. This past summer, he drove to Champaign, Ill., from Chicago on his off day to be at a NCAA Super Regional to watch the Commodores clinch their third trip to the College World Series. He was again in the stands in Omaha, Neb., for the CWS. He calls Nashville his home in the offseason. Like Pedro Alvarez, Sonny Gray and other former VU baseball players, he works out at the team’s facilities during the winter months. Corbin even welcomes big league and minor league players who didn’t attend Vanderbilt. Price says that family environment is what he felt as an undergrad. For someone who doesn’t have a son, Corbin treats his players as if they are his own children. “We are an extension of his family,” Price said. “He looks at all his players as they are his sons. I tell people all the time that Coach Corbin expects more from his players away from the field than he does on it. He is just a good figure to have in your life, especially at that age. He is special.”
JOE HOWELL
by Jerome Boettcher
David Price visited with pitcher Carson Fulmer and the Vanderbilt baseball team in June at the Super Regional.
Those values he learned at Vanderbilt shine through in Price’s everyday life. He is involved in many philanthropic efforts through Project One Four. Price started the charitable foundation in 2008 with the mission of supporting organizations that provide opportunities for youth in the community to learn life skills. Currently, Project One Four is partnering with the Miracle League and the Murfreesboro City Council to build a Miracle Field in Murfreesboro. The Miracle League gives children with mental and physical disabilities an opportunity to play baseball on a custom-designed, rubberized turf field. Price became familiar with the Miracle League when he played for the Tampa Bay Rays. Every Saturday in St. Petersburg, Price and his teammates would volunteer and serve as buddies for the children in the league. Price, his parents, Debbie and Bonnie, and the city of Murfreesboro are raising funds for the league. Proceeds from his annual golf tournament in November and his “Dining with David and Friends” dinner went directly to the construction of the Miracle Field. “That is something my parents told me when I was a little kid—if you’re ever in a position to give back, it is something you want to think about doing,” he said. “Just seeing what it does for (the children). Talking to their parents and telling me how much they look forward to this. It gives them something to look forward to and it feels good.” n
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D-I counterparts: Trio of ’Dores watch sisters soar by Jerome Boettcher
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DANIEL DUBOIS
Twins Joe and Elizabeth Toye are both delving into their freshman years of college basketball, with Joe at Vanderbilt and Elizabeth at Wisconsin. The brother and sister journeyed from soccer to track and finally basketball, often playing on the same teams.
Year after a senior season at Butler when he averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He was flooded with Division I scholarships, including offers from Virginia, Texas and Kansas State. His shooting prowess attracted college coaches and Commodore fans have already gotten a good glimpse of his long-range accuracy. Last year he led the Commodores with 71 3-pointers and ranked sixth in the SEC with 2.1 treys a game. Jaymee also collects her points from the outside. She has led Liberty in 3-point shooting the last two years, helping guide the Flames to two NCAA Tournaments in the past three seasons. The senior is on pace to leave the program ranked in the top 10 in 3-pointers made. “She might shoot the ball better than me, depending on what day it is,” Matthew said. “She was always able to shoot.” Aside from all those one-on-one sessions out in the backyard that made both better shooters, what can be attributed to the pinpoint accuracy? Well, their genes certainly don’t hurt them. Their mother, Carolyn, played college basketball at UNC-Wilmington. “My mom might be the best shooter in the family,” Matthew said. Matthew Toye laughs at the question. Two talented children, full of athleticism and both playing Division I basketball—where did these genes come from?
“It did not come from my wife I’ll tell you that,” says Matthew, who played soccer and competed in track at the University of Illinois-Chicago. “She is laughing because she knows that’s true.” “I did dance and roller skate, but I was truly not interested in basketball, volleyball, soccer— none of that,” Janyth said. “I didn’t influence my daughter because my husband started her the minute she started walking with sports. I couldn’t make her a girly girl. I’m content and happy with who she is and who her dad has turned her into (laughs).” Twins Joe and Elizabeth Toye are making their parents proud as they embark on their first year of college basketball. Joe is digging in with the Commodores while Elizabeth is a sharp-shooting guard at Wisconsin. “Our family is blessed,” Joe said. “My parents don’t have to pay for college for either of us so that is just a huge blessing for our family.” Surprisingly, basketball wasn’t the first sport, or second, the Toye twins played. Matthew, originally from Nigeria, first introduced his children to the sport he grew up playing—socShooting runs in the Fisher-Davis fami cer. Then around middle led Liberty in 3-point shooting the last school they gravitated to Matthew has already become a perime JOE HOWELL
Matthew Fisher-Davis can relate to Luke Kornet’s pain. He too had an older sister who happened to be taller than him for most of his childhood. This discrepancy in height often led to heated oneon-one battles between Matthew and Jaymee Fisher-Davis. “We used to get in fights all the time,” he said, smiling. “I’m not going to lie, she beat me sometimes. It would get real physical. I tried to be physical with her and throw the ball at her. We stopped playing as soon as I got taller than her (in seventh grade).” For a brother and sister pair that both ended up on the hardwood, they were first drawn to the diamond. Matthew first picked up baseball when he was five years old and continued playing up until high school. Jaymee was a natural at softball, as the infielder was among the team’s leaders in hitting at Butler High School in Charlotte, N.C. “She was very talented. She could have played college softball,” Matthew said of Jaymee, who is two years older. But basketball was where the duo really excelled. Matthew was named the SW4A Player of the
WISCONSIN ATHLETICS
hanks to a growth spurt that started late in high school and continued into this, his junior season at Vanderbilt, Luke Kornet stands at a towering 7-foot-1. But he wasn’t always this tall—and Nicole Kornet took advantage on the basketball court. “It is pretty tough taking a beating from your sister,” Luke says, laughing and shaking his head. “She was better than me for a long portion of my life—longer than it was probably acceptable.” In Luke’s defense, his big sis was a Top 20 prospect coming out of high school who received numerous Division I offers—starting in eighth grade—before landing at the University of Oklahoma. Luke isn’t the only Commodore with a sister in college hoops. The sisters of Matthew Fisher-Davis and Joe Toye also play Division I basketball. Nicole Kornet is sitting out this year after transferring to UCLA from Oklahoma. In her senior season, Jaymee Fisher-Davis leads Liberty University in made 3-pointers. And Joe Toye’s twin sister, Elizabeth, is a freshman forward at Wisconsin. “It is really cool,” Luke said. “We are sharing a lot of the same experiences and being able to talk about it and knowing everything you go through has definitely brought us closer together.”
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OKLAHOMA ATHLETICS
LIBERTY ATHLETICS
Older sister Nicole had the height advantage most of her childhood on younger brother Luke, who didn’t sprout until late in high school.
DANIEL DUBOIS
the track, where Joe in particular excelled. As a seventh grader, he won the AAU national championship in the high jump. Two years later, in 2011, the summer before his freshman year of high school he won the triple jump by more than two feet with a mind-boggling leap of 44 feet and 2 ¼ inches. “A lot of seniors in high school, probably 95 percent can’t jump that, he did that in eighth grade,” Matthew said. As a freshman at Whitney Young Magnet High School, he stunned the field at the uber-competitive Chicago Public Schools championship meet by winning both the high jump and triple jump and advancing to the state meet. Matthew and Janyth recall one particular meet where the track coach had to go pull him out the gymnasium and “kind of force him” to a meet. He didn’t have the right shoes, he wasn’t prepared and all he did was go and break the school record in the high jump. “That was hilarious,” Janyth remembers. “He can fly out of the gym. He is extremely athletic,” Matthew said. “In my opinion, he has Olympic potential. To me, personally, I think that is where his talent is. But he wants to play basketball so hey (laughs) that is what he is doing. We are 100 percent behind him.” Joe says he began to really take basketball seriously in eighth grade. He spent his first couple years at Whitney Young where he played with future Duke star and first-round NBA draft pick Jahlil Okafor. But his career took off when he transferred to La Lumiere School just across Lake Michigan in Indiana. He committed to Vanderbilt his junior year, then closed out his high school career by averaging 18 points and seven rebounds. Elizabeth took up basketball around the same time and quickly realized it was her best sport (she also played softball, soccer, tennis and ran cross country in high school). Before one game, she surprised her parents when she declared that she was going to score 40 points in a game. “Keep in mind when she said this she hadn’t scored 20 points in a game,” Matthew said. “I said, ’40 points? Why s family. Senior Jaymee Fisher-Davis has don’t you just try to he last two years while younger brother score 20 first?’” perimeter threat at Vanderbilt.
She scored 39 points. And she left early because of an injury. That was just the start—and she eventually eclipsed 40. She scored an astonishing 49 points, a school record, in a game and in just three years became Lindblom Academy’s alltime leading scorer. “She can flat out shoot,” Matthew said. From playing soccer together on the same youth teams to chasing championships in track to landing Division I basketball scholarships, the Toye twins have always supported each other. Joe says he talks to his sister nearly every day and they’ve gleaned advice from each other as they go through college together, yet in different places. As for their parents, they couldn’t be prouder. “It is a blessing. That is the only way I can describe it,” Matthew said. “It is a blessing to be in that position. They are realizing their dreams. They are realizing their potential. Of course it is still a journey for the both of them but we’re enjoying watching them go through the journey.”
Often times, at least in the early going, Nicole Kornet found herself alone in the backyard. She had to go grab and prod her little brother, Luke, to come play basketball. “I was always really competitive and he was such a nerd back in the day,” Nicole said. “He loved school and he still does—he is a (electrical) engineering major. He loved reading and playing video games and loved staying inside. I would always be outside and be like, ‘Luke, please come play with me!’” Separated by just a year, Nicole and Luke and often found themselves on the same basketball
and baseball teams when they were younger. “I don’t want to say he was in a shadow,” Nicole said, “but because I was the girl on the all guys teams, people noticed that. So Luke was always like, ‘Ugh, I hate my sister. She is always the center of attention!’ It was kind of funny. Now it is flipped around. Luke is 7-1 and he is doing so well. He’s got his time to shine. I love it.” Just 6-foot-2 his sophomore year, Luke hit his growth spurt late and shot up to 6-9 heading into his senior year at Liberty Christian outside of Dallas. Before that, though, his 6-foot-1 sister drew most of the attention as a Top 20 recruit. He was even known as Nicole’s brother. “It was tough when she was playing shortstop and pitching and batting fourth and I was in right field at the end of the lineup or on the bench,” Luke said, smiling. “It kind of bothered me a little bit because she was always better than me. But it ended up working itself out. I always supported her and am proud of her. We weren’t jealous of each other. “Once it turned the other way and I was blocking her shot, it was nice to relish the success.” With their father, Frank Kornet, an All-SEC standout for Vanderbilt basketball in the late 1980s, the Kornet children gravitated toward the basketball court. Older brother John, 24, played at Division II Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas and Nicole started her career at Oklahoma. During Nicole’s freshman year at Oklahoma, Frank, who was also Luke’s basketball coach at Liberty Christian, would end practice early on game days. He would pack Luke in the car and make the more than two-hour drive up to Norman, Okla., to watch Nicole play. “I was the younger sibling so I was watching her go through all of it, the entire process—getting recruited and finally choosing a school,” Luke said. “We are always keeping track of each other’s games. We know what is going on and we wish the best for each other. Our whole family bonds over basketball so I think that has been an important part of just growing up and being close as brother and sister.” n
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Williams plays big role as chair of infractions committee
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hen we learn that a major university’s athletic department or coach has been found liable of committing an NCAA violation, the school or coach’s public response often comes with the desire to appeal the ruling. And should that appeal come to fruition, it arrives before the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee chaired by Vanderbilt Director of Athletics David Williams, who has served as a member and chair for about eight years. Assisting the NCAA is yet another way in which Williams’ legal background is productive, as he has also been on various Southeastern Conference committees in which a law degree is helpful if not essential. The Infractions Appeals Committee was the original brainchild of former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, who also served as the group’s first chair. As an attorney himself, Slive felt there was need for an independent committee where schools could turn to should they feel the Committee of Infractions (COI) had been wrong or unfair. “We used to hear about six to eight cases a
year,” Williams says, “and then when the NCAA revised its infractions structure we went for a period of time with very few appeals. Now more appear to be coming our way.” Williams says the COI gets the most public attention because it hears the cases first and its proceedings can last for days. While the Infraction Appeals Committee has five members—all with legal backgrounds—the COI has more than triple that number with former coaches, college presidents, athletic directors and other administrators amongst its members. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has been a member of the COI, for example. There is a relatively narrow range of items that can be appealed and Williams says his committee, whose hearings are limited to four hours, often stem from accusations that while liable, the penalties handed out by the COI were too harsh. “We are an independent committee and not a rubber stamp,” Williams says. “We are not affiliated with the COI and do not discuss cases. There are times when we disagree with the COI and they can be annoyed with us and other times when we are in agreement with the findings
JOE HOWELL
By Rod Williamson and the defendants are miffed. We don’t start with the premise of having a favorite in the matter and we try to assume the position of getting to the right place in a case.” While Williams says David Williams he enjoys the assignment and takes it seriously, the preparation for a case requires considerable study. He held up a bound volume approximately six inches thick, which represented the complete proceedings of a COI investigation and hearing. The volume contained pages and pages of transcripts which require hours to digest. In a recent case involving the University of Southern California there were two such binders. “You read some interesti ng things,” Williams says with a smile. “We are a protector of checks and balances within the NCAA. We are the last stop for the membership and it is important we get it right.” n
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Walk-ons motivated by chance to contribute By David Dawson
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heir names can be found on the roster, but rarely in the box score. “People ask me a lot if I felt more a part of the team (during my sophomore They run all the wind sprints at practice, but seldom get to run any year) than I did my freshman year,” he said. “But honestly, here at Vanderbilt, plays during a game. They sit through all the film sessions, but hardly I feel like walk-ons feel as much a part of the team as any other player, any ever see themselves on the screen. scholarship player. I felt included from day one. I never felt more a part of the Welcome to the world of the walk-on, where the dangling carrot of gameteam when I was playing than I did when I was just practicing. I think that is a day glory usually remains just out of reach. great part of the culture here. Just the culture of inclusion. So it is It’s a situation that requires tremendous mental toughness, and really cool in that respect.” it’s a role that only a small percentage of athletes are willing to Bogan, like Josephs, said she felt accepted by her teammates accept, much less embrace. on the soccer team. However, the Pittsburgh native did admit “It was definitely a little tough, at first, knowing that the starting there was an awkward moment or two on the day when she and 11 was pretty much already set, and that my main job was just to fellow walk-on Danielle Snajder showed up for practice in the push them in practice,” said Vanderbilt sophomore Carley Bogan, second week of the season when the team had already played who joined the soccer team as a non-scholarship player this fall two games. after transferring from William & Mary. “That was kind of a harsh “When we first walked into the locker room, the other girls Vanderbilt soccer realization for me.” were like ‘Who are you guys?’ And we were like ‘Oh, nice. Great,’” walk-on Carley Bogan But Bogan—and so many of the other walk-ons in the Vandersaid Bogan with a laugh. “But after we made the roster, the girls bilt athletic department—has been able to clear that psychowere telling us ‘good job’ and at practice they were patting us on logical hurdle and find an alternate source of motivation. Instead of being the back. To be honest, I didn’t really expect it at all. It was a really welcomdriven by the prospect of prestige, most walk-ons do what they do because ing environment.” they love their sport, their school and their teammates. And they don’t Bogan said she initially perceived there was an established hierarchy operate under any illusions. among the girls on the team—and that she and Snajder were pretty far down “I knew exactly what I was coming into, in terms of being a walk-on, and I the list. The lowest rung, in fact. embraced it from the beginning,” said guard Phillip McGloin, a sophomore “It seemed like the freshmen were (at the bottom of the pecking order) on the men’s basketball team from Washington, D.C. “I enjoy it. Practice is fun and then the walk-ons were lower than that,” said Bogan, again breaking into for me. Basketball is still fun for me. Every time I get to play, I enjoy it.” a big smile. There are, of course, countless stories of student-athletes who have made But she said those perceptions faded immediately, and that she soon felt the team as a walk-on, and then developed into impact performers—or even like every other player on the team. big stars—for their respective teams. But those situations are rare. In most “The girls never divided the team between the starters and non-starters,” cases, walk-ons remain in a reserve role for the duration of their careers. she said. “I never felt like I was invaluable member of the team.” As such, most walk-ons have to maintain a big-picture mentality, and gain satisfaction in knowing that they are helping a cause bigger than their own. “It is definitely tough, knowing you might not get the same possibility as some of the other players,” said senior Carter Josephs, a four-year member of the men’s basketball team. “But just being a part of the team and being with a great group of guys is something I really enjoy. That is the main reason why I’ve stayed all four years.” Josephs, a native of San Antonio, has lived on both sides of the street during his time at Vanderbilt. He arrived on campus as a “preferred walk-on”—which essentially means he knew he was being given a spot on the team, but he wasn’t receiving a scholarship. As expected, he played sparingly as a freshmen, seeing action in just six games during the 2012-13 campaign. But the following season, when the Commodores endured a rash of injuries, Josephs was thrust into a prominent role. He played in 20 games, including making one start, and became a fan favorite at Memorial Gym. Josephs logged a career-high 20 minutes of action against top-ranked Florida, and averaged 16 minutes of playing time during the final six games of the year. After the season, head coach Kevin Stallings awarded him a scholarship. “That was awesome—just to have your hard work appreciated,” Josephs said. “I mean, I knew it was appreciated all along, but just to have tangible evidence of it was really cool. It was a good gesture, a nice gesture and something I really appreciated.” During his junior season, and thus far during his senior year, Josephs has served a more limited role on the team. But through it all, he said his teamVanderbilt senior Carter Josephs arrived on campus three years ago as a preferred walkmates’ attitude toward him has remained the same—and his approach to on, meaning his spot was guaranteed but he would not have a scholarship. He earned a scholarship before the 2014-15 season and has played in more than 44 games. being a member of the team has, too.
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DANIEL DUBOIS
Vanderbilt sophomore Phillip McGloin made the team last fall after going through walk-on tryouts. The guard from Washington, D.C., has played in 10 games in his career.
Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach Melanie Balcomb believes that walk-ons can potentially play a very important role on the team—not necessarily in regard to points and rebounds, but rather in terms of passion and resilience. Balcomb said she feels that the two walk-ons on her team this year—Myka Dancy and Miaya Seawright—can be inspirations to the scholarship players. “Our two walk-ons are showing that, hey, it’s a privilege to be on this team,” said Balcomb. “There’s a lot of entitlement among the millennials — and they get kind of comfortable because they are given a lot of things. But I think the walk-ons (serve as a reminder) that there are people out there who would kill to be in (the scholarship players’) shoes. … The walk-ons give the other players an example to look at.” Josephs said he knew from the start that the bulk of his work during career would probably come outside the spotlight—in unglamorous places like the weight room and the practice gym. “I definitely came in thinking I was probably not going to play that much,” he said. “I just wanted to be a part of it and help the team in any way I could. That was really what my role was, just pushing the guys in practice and doing what I could to help the team.” The bigger-picture mindset seems to be a common thread among the walk-ons. And even though they might occasionally think about potential rewards—such as increased playing time or perhaps even a scholarship—they gain their most satisfaction from the more intangible aspects of their roles. “It would be nice for a couple of books to be paid for—I am going to be honest,” Bogan said. “But that’s not what drives me. I am more just gunning for a chance to contribute to the team. It’s not even about starting for me. It’s really just about contributing. Because I do feel like I can help this team. And that’s the way I am going to look at it. It is kind of my way to say thank you to the girls.” n
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Inspired Elliott dedicates season to father By Jerome Boettcher
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I was just ecstatic for her—a fifth-year senior who has faced real adversity in her life and overcome some challenges.” Tearing her ACL in her left knee the May before her freshman season and then suffering the same injury in her right ACL that following spring, Taylor had a fifth year of eligibility from redshirting in 2011. She knew she wanted to stay at Vanderbilt. She just wasn’t sure if the new coach wanted her. Any doubt quickly faded as she met with Ambrose for the first time last February, just a couple weeks after he was hired. “He saw me after a week of playing and he told me, ‘I believe in you. I believe in you as a player. I think you’re going to impact this team,” she said. “He said, ‘The only thing is I know you don’t have confidence in yourself. I can see that.’ He kind of knew that was something I struggled with. Really talking to him that first meeting changed me.” Her teammates offered a boost, too. When her father died, she didn’t tell many of her teammates, only best friend Cherrelle Jarrett and a couple others in her class. So she was surprised and moved when so many on the team showed up at her father’s funeral in her hometown of Massapequa, N.Y. “I was blown away,” she said. “My team was awesome. Everybody reached out to me. Everybody sent things to me. My teammates were… I wouldn’t have gotten through it without them.” Elliott also emphasized the help from staff members throughout her career. Athletic trainer Sara Melby patiently helped Elliott through both ACL rehabs (along with stress fracture and meniscus injuries), crafting drills catering to Elliott’s needs and skillset. Then-strength and conditioning coach Kristina Jeffries was there to listen and offer encouragement as Taylor got stronger in the weight room. She often visited sports psychologist Vickie Woosley during her injuries and after her father’s death. And current strength coach Darren Edgington was one of the first people to check in on her after she returned to campus last year. “I felt so loved,” she said. “With everything that happened in the past, it felt like everything came together. All my hard work—it just came together in one moment. I couldn’t describe anything better. It was crazy. I am just so happy for the team. Everybody has been working so hard. It was four years of hard work that paid off.” n JOE HOWELL
R
obert Elliott’s presence was undeniable. He stood tall at 6-foot-6 with blond hair, ears pierced and fur coats draped over his broad shoulders. And he had a voice that boomed, projecting his outgoing personality. “When he walked in a room you knew he was there,” says Taylor Elliott, smiling and remembering her father. “He had this long hair—old school 80s do. It was so funny. He looked like this big tough guy but on the inside he was such the sensitive guy, who cried during movies.” A former first-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in the 1968 MLB draft, Robert Elliott was athletic, too. He played four sports in high school. Though his pitching drew the attention of professional scouts, he loved football the most and also starred at basketball and wrestling. But after his playing days ended and he had four children with his wife, Janet, he became vested in their interests. So when Taylor took up soccer, Robert took her to the field every day during high school for extra practice sessions. He saw the talent in his only daughter and youngest child and encouraged her to give her all to the sport. “I think that is why I love the sport so much,” Taylor says, “because it is a strong attachment to him.” Perhaps the biggest advice Robert offered to Taylor was to have fun and enjoy the sport. Stop thinking and just play, he would often say. Those words never rang more true than this past fall—Taylor’s first soccer season without her father. Robert Elliott, or Pops as Taylor knew him, died last December at the age of 65. He suffered an embolism, or blood clot, in his heart and passed away in his sleep. Returning to Vanderbilt for a fifth season, Taylor played inspired soccer in her father’s memory. Before every game, she wrote the word “Pops” on her finger. This served as a reminder of her father and what he always encouraged—just have fun. Usually hard on herself and worried about letting her teammates down, Elliott played loose. “I think he played a big part in that, just kind of letting go of everything,” said Elliott, who graduates in December with a degree in political science. “I just said I am going to give everything I’ve got.” As a result, her best season at Vanderbilt unfolded. In her previous three seasons she had scored just one goal and made only one start. As a fifth-year senior, the 5-foot-10 forward ranked third on the team with four goals and made 13 starts. She played a pivotal role in the Commodores’ breakout season, helping the team to its first SEC Tournament appearance in five years. She had the game-tying goal and game-winning assist in Vanderbilt’s 2-1 overtime victory at No. 8 South Carolina, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors. At the SEC Tournament, her header in the second half catapulted the ’Dores to their first tournament win since 2005. Head coach Darren Ambrose called the game-winning goal against Georgia his most memorable moment of the season in large part because of who scored it. “She embodies a lot of things I believe are important in having a successful program,” Ambrose said. “A never-ending work rate, this incredible desire to give what you can to your teammates, and just a really good kid.
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Coach’s Handbook: Lacrosse associate head coach Beth Hewitt
Was pursuing a career in coaching always the plan for you? I knew for sure I wanted to do something in athletics. I wasn’t sure what avenue I was going to take. But I think when I went to grad school (at Oregon) as a graduate assistant and as soon as I started coaching I knew that is what I wanted to do. I like the strategy part of it and still being competitive. I like everything with athletics, the administrative part, but if I have a preference I’d rather be on the field. Did you grow up playing lacrosse? I didn’t. I didn’t start until ninth grade. I actually played soccer and basketball my whole life. Lacrosse was fairly new at my high school, and so if you were fast and athletic, they said, ‘Oh, come try it out.’ I did. Compared to soccer, it was pretty different. But speed was the No. 1 factor and I was pretty fast. As soon as I started playing it, I really, really enjoyed it. You grow up playing these sports and you somewhat get burned out on them. Lacrosse was so new, and there was so much for me to still learn that I think it made it more of a challenge. How was your college experience at North Carolina? It was awesome. I loved everything about it. I had really great experiences. I was on, until their national championship team, one of their best teams. It gave me kind of the experience I think I was missing compared to the people who grew up playing it. My coaches were great so we learned a lot. I think playing at a level like that you never want to be done. We don’t have the opportunity to do the pro end of it. I wanted to stay with the game somehow. I talked a lot with my coach (Jenny Levy) about what I wanted to do and the path she took. That is where you picked up a lot of strategy, at North Carolina? I would say in college and then at Oregon I worked with (now the associate head coach) Robert Bray, Jr., who played (lacrosse in college). I feel like I learned a lot of strategy at North Carolina, but then going to Oregon I feel like I picked up a lot
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of the men’s game. I morphed the two with my thought process. But I really enjoy watching the guy’s game now, from him and sort of the different strategies they have. I would say I have a different thought process than some people. I really, really enjoy the men’s game probably just as much as I enjoy the women’s and trying to bring some of that to our game is exciting. Is it neat to look back now and see that you helped start the program at Oregon? That first four years with that original group, I think we got into the Top 20. We weren’t the Top 10 but a decent start to the program. A lot of it was these raw athletes who wanted to learn lacrosse, play it. It was fun to see how much they grew throughout their career and change. A lot of them are in coaching now. It is kind of fun to see them on the road. To their credit, they started the program and really embraced the whole idea of West Coast lacrosse and getting it started out there. You got your first head coaching job before you turned 30, leading Division II LeMoyne. How was that experience? Did you feel you were ready? I think you think you are ready. Then when you get in the position you realize there is still a lot you have to learn. I think between everything I had learned from being a player, playing at the highest level, my coaches (at North Carolina) were awesome and really helped me, then going to Oregon and being a part of a program from the get-go. I think I felt pretty prepared because of that. We had to create everything for the program (at Oregon). It was not like there was something in place and we were keeping it going. It was developing what we wanted and how we wanted it to go. I guess I felt like that really helped me as a young coach. I was at a smaller school so I was doing a lot of it on my own. So without that experience there is no way I would have been ready for that. How rewarding was it to see the growth at LeMoyne from a 5-12 record the year before you got there and to two straight Final Fours in your five years at the helm? There was one class in particular that was my
JOHN RUSSELL
Beth Hewitt enters her second season at Vanderbilt and first as associate head coach. A former All-American midfielder at North Carolina, the native of Syracuse, N.Y., brings a wealth of experience. She helped start a Division I program at Oregon, became a head coach before she was 30 and led LeMoyne to consecutive Division II Final Fours. She and her husband, Erik, have a daughter, Keegan (4), and a son, Kaden (1).
Associate head lacrosse coach Beth Hewitt
senior class for the first Final Four. That was the most rewarding for me to see them go from 5-12 their freshman year, and this was a really talented class. These were kids that could have played at a lot of different Division I schools and chose LeMoyne based on location, based on what they wanted to study. It is always brutal to lose but to see them be in the Final Four—they never thought they were going to have an experience like that. I was happy for them that they had that chance. How beneficial was that head coaching experience in coming here to Vanderbilt? When you go from being a head coach, you are going to be pretty selective if you are going to go back to being an assistant coach. When Cathy (Swezey) and I talked on the phone for the first time I think it was like for an hour. So it was like, ‘OK, this is a really good fit.’ For me, and for her as well, it comes down to the relationship with the people you work with. I think we complement each other as coaches, specifically on the field. I think we have really similar thought processes. Obviously there are times we will disagree. She is someone I’ve always respected. I think she has done a great job with this program. I felt like it was the right opportunity and it has been a great transition. Aside from lacrosse, what do you like to do with your free time? Definitely spend time with my family. Being in a new city, everything is pretty cool to check out. We’re big music fans so we try to take in as many concerts as we can and big sports fans so any time we can go to a game we do that. ■
THE VU From Here
Sam Moore
by Jerome Boettcher His children have long since graduated from Vanderbilt, but Sam Moore’s support for the Commodores hasn’t faded. The 85-year-old has been a season ticket holder for football and men’s basketball for more than three decades. Retired for nearly 10 years, Vanderbilt athletics continues to be a big part of his life and the lives of his children and grandchildren. He cheers on the Commodores from the bridge section at Vanderbilt Stadium. At Memorial Gym he sits just two rows off the floor, right at halfcourt. “Vanderbilt is our local college,” Moore said. “It is a first-class university and highly respected by other schools in the country. A lot of good teachers, well respected and a big asset to the town. Something like this, many of us ought to support it.” Moore’s son, Joe, graduated from Vanderbilt in 1985 with his degree in economics. His daughter, Rachel, received her degree in history in 1995.
a doctor. Besides, it takes a long time to be a doctor. So I switched from pre-med to business. And here I am many years later—an old retired man.” ■
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 games. Whether you met your spouse in the student section or shared popcorn with your grandfather from the very top row of the endzone in Section L, we want to hear your point of VU (pronounced “view”) of Commodore Football. Send in your stories to ticket.office@ vanderbilt.edu. 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.
Often Sam Moore will attend games with his son or grandsons. His wife, Peggy Poe, who, according to Sam, is the great niece of author Edgar Allen Poe, also attends games. According to his longtime assistant, Adair Fryer, Peggy enjoys the games as much as her husband. “We’ve been married 57 years, man—and I still love her,” Moore said, laughing. Moore puts a large emphasis on education, which led him to the United States. He left Lebanon in the 1940s to attend school at the University of South Carolina and pursue a career in medicine. He wanted to be a surgeon.
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But soon after he arrived he decided to choose a new career path. He switched from pre-med to economics and found his niche. He paid for his education at South Carolina—and later at North Carolina when he earned his master’s degree—by selling Bibles door to door in the summer. He began supervising other salesmen, eventually started the National Book Company, and then established Royal Publishers, Inc. Due to his success, Thomas Nelson publishing firm, which was founded in Scotland in 1798, approached him to run their North American division. Instead, he bought Thomas Nelson outright and became CEO and President. Thomas Nelson became the world’s largest Bible and Christian book publisher. In 1976, the company developed the New King James Bible. “I was 18 years old and young and dumb,” Nelson said laughing. “I wanted to be a doctor and found out I could make more money than
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’Dores finish 19th at NCAA Championships By Jerome Boettcher
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JEROME BOET TCHER
ed by a freshman, the Vanderbilt women’s cross country team posted its second-best finish at the NCAA Championships. Racing in their fifth straight NCAA Championships, the Commodores finished 19th at the national meet in Louisville on Nov. 21 for their best team finish since 2011. As she has done all season, freshman Caroline Pietrzyk led the team, racing to 32nd—the highest individual NCAA finish in school history. She finished fifth among freshmen in the field and became just the second Commodore to earn All-American honors. The race capped off a spectacular season for the Commodores, who entered ranked 19th in the country and on the heels of winning their second straight South Region championship. The top 20 finish at the NCAA Championships marks the program’s second-best finish. The 2011 squad finished sixth in the team’s first trip to nationals. “It is real rewarding for them to have a good day at nationals,” head coach Steve Keith said. “Top 20 for us was a real goal this year. Super happy for the ladies. I thought they performed well in this environment.” Pietrzyk had crossed the finish line first for the Commodores in all six previous races and the national meet was no exception. In a deep and dense field with 355 runners, Pietrzyk was in 92nd place at the 2,000-meter mark. But the SEC Freshman of the Year from Malibu, Calif., chipped away and gained 60 spots by the end of the 6,000-meter race. She finished with a time of 20:21.2 and became Vanderbilt’s first All-American since Alexa Rogers finished 39th in 2011. “In the middle of race, she really set her mind to it,” Keith said. “I saw her around halfway through and she was low 50s. She kept moving up. She has a good head on her shoulders, trusts her fitness and is a great competitor.” Senior Vanessa Valentine was the second Commodore to cross the finish line for the second straight race. After finishing eighth at the South Region meet, she placed 105th with a time of 20:51.9, moving up 55 spots. The trio of junior Carmen Carlos (148th, 21:11.9), freshman Sara Tsai (167th, 21:17.7) and senior Sarah Barron (177th, 21:22.4) then finished 11 seconds apart to lock in the top 20 finish. Sophomore Maddie Criscione (214th, 21:49.5) and redshirt junior Lily Williams (221st, 21:59.0) rounded out the Commodores. ■
The Vanderbilt women’s cross country team placed 19th at the NCAA Championships for the second-highest finish in program history.
vucommodores.com
It’s My Turn By Rod Williamson
W
e once had heroes named Clyde, Bucky and Whit. These days we also have heroines named Heidi, Simone and Astra. Phil and Butch have been joined by Shan and Festus. Where once there was Gerry there is now Derek. Roy’s desk is occupied by David. The emergence of women and the overdue opportunities available to minorities are just two of many changes in college sports since we began our working career some 45 years ago. The athletic departments of the early 1970’s were clubs for white males. See a female and she was a secretary. See a person of color and he was on the grounds crew or the designated assistant football coach—the “recruiter”. Big changes often occur so gradually they go undetected and what today seems completely logical was once nearly unthinkable. Other differences in eras are impacted by technological advances, modifications to best practices and the evolving viewpoints of our society. Back in the days of President Nixon, the work pace was slower. Guys gathered around coffee to shoot the breeze before their days began. There wasn’t the urgency of email; we didn’t need to check Twitter. No Our core beliefs trump smart phones. We waited for innovation, race and the mail to be delivered. A common topic during gender. Our values are those bull sessions was cheattimeless and treasured. ing—which schools did and which were especially good at it. While not everyone was cheating, the very topic was palatable enough to discuss. Think of how drunk driving has changed in the eyes of the public and you will understand. My first boss was born before World War I and he would lament how college athletics wasn’t as much fun as it once had been. He talked about putting for pennies during the summer when there was little to do. Even in 1972 that seemed surprising. Today, athletic staffers try to squeeze in a quick vacation while colleagues scramble to prepare for the fall seasons. We thought technology would simplify our jobs, give us more free time. That might be the biggest misjudgment of all. Computers made the task easier but they also raised the expectation of the quantity and quality one could produce. We are infinitely more productive today, covering a far wider range of responsibilities. In 1983 Vanderbilt athletics had two main events, football and men’s basketball. Some of our current Olympic sports were yet to exist. Baseball fans sat on old wooden bleachers and the pressbox was an 8-foot table on top of the third base dugout. A visiting writer asked what happens if it rains and we said “we get wet.” One could not imagine these and other advances so long ago. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Dan McGugin and Jess Neely would still recognize Vanderbilt’s commitment to the true student-athlete. They would appreciate our devotion to sportsmanship. They would nod understandingly as we often compete against those with more tangible resources. Most of all, our forefathers would give thanks that we remain a university that offers life-changing opportunities to quality young people from all walks of life. Our core beliefs trump innovation, race and gender. Our values are timeless and treasured. ■
C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N
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My Game
Phillip McGloin By Jerome Boettcher
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rowing up in Washington, D.C., sophomore walk-on point guard Phillip McGloin has been exposed to politics and a diverse culture. At the end of the semester, he plans to declare a double major of political science and economics with a minor in Chinese and managerial studies. He has been studying Chinese since he was in middle school and studied abroad in China for a month this past summer. With your role at Vanderbilt, have you come to embrace your position as a walk-on? I knew exactly what I was coming into do, in terms of being a walk-on. I embraced it from the beginning. I enjoy it. Practice is fun for me. Basketball is still fun for me. Every time I get to play I enjoy it. What has it been like to be a part of the team? It has been a lot of fun. It has been very interesting. It has been exciting. I feel like I was there before we had these expectations. Get to know people, see how much some people have improved, specifically like Wade and Luke. To watch them get better and to really be confident we can play with anyone now. To see how much better we are from last year and how much better we are as a team, how much better people get along on and off the court. It is special. It truly is what it means to be on a team.
Your mother, Valarie, is a doctor, and your father, David, is a journalist and educational consultant and worked with 60 Minutes and the Read Across America Program. What sort of influence have your parents had on you? They’ve been amazing. When I was younger I kind of fought against them. Because my mom was a doctor I didn’t want to be a doctor. Because my dad was a journalist, I didn’t want to be a journalist. But they’ve stuck with me through my tough times. The older I get, the more I appreciate them. To the point I am at now, where I listen to what they say—I truly do. They are really smart. They are great parents. I’m truly blessed to have them. Do you have an idea of what you’d like to do after you graduate? Not specifically. Right now my plan is to try internships out in different areas and really sort of narrow down my focus. Is it politics? Do I want to work in Washington, D.C.? For me, I’m interested in China. I’ve studied Chinese since middle school. I’ve been over there in the summer a couple of times. So trying to decide if I would be comfortable living and working in China is a big next step for me.
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Wi nte r 2 0 1 5
You went to Sidwell Friends School for high school—the same school that Malia Obama went to. Did you know her? We’re definitely not best friends, but I knew her (Malia was a freshman when McGloin was a senior). She is really nice. We’d say hi in the hallways, things like that. What was it like going to school with the daughter of the president of the United States? As a student, you see the security guards and you see Malia every day, you get over it really quickly. But when you step back, she has security with her—there is a person that follows close behind and a person that follows far behind. There is a security team parked in front of the school. I’m sure there are other people we couldn’t see that are always there. After Sidwell Friends, you spent a postgraduate year at Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in Pennsylvania. Why did you decide to go to prep school for a year?
Was Vanderbilt always the place you wanted to go? To be honest with you, Vanderbilt really wasn’t on my radar at all. I applied because my mom told me to (laughs) and my guidance counselor told me to in high school. I was looking at some Division I schools but by the end of my senior year it came down to I had a lot of Division III options to play basketball and then I also got into applying to North Carolina, Georgetown and a couple others. I had two different ways I could go. And I decided to go to Vanderbilt. It was the best mix of academics, interesting, far away from home. I thought I had a chance to be on a team and they gave me a lot of financial aid so it was just the place to be.
speak and get to where I need to be in China. Ask people for help and directions and things like that. It really improved a lot while I was over there. It has been a lot of fun. I can understand what people are saying. If they are speaking really fast, maybe not. (laughs)
What was that experience in China like? It was unique, very different and exciting. Even though I was only there for a month. I felt like I wanted to dabble in everything. Living had a really good hold for me to get used to it. There was always something new every day. So it made it fun for the whole trip. My Chinese has gotten pretty good over time. It has taken me a while but I’m able to
A couple reasons. A big one would be basketball. I wanted to consider other basketball options (in college), other places to play. Another (reason) is academics. My grades weren’t that great coming out of Sidwell. And the last reason was I just didn’t feel ready for college. I just wasn’t excited about. I was more nervous than excited. I didn’t like where I was at mentally. I didn’t think I was ready. I knew once I got to college it was going to be all business. I just didn’t feel like that coming out of Sidwell. ■
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