THE OPPORTUNITY AWAITS

February 2009

2009 BASEBALL PREVIEW

C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N 1vucommodores.com

table of contents6 2 Connecting With The Web

4 National Commodore Club

6 In My Words Merideth Marsh

7 Commodores Cubed Know your Commodores

8 Point of View Vijay Paul

9 Perfect Bowl Attendance Friends have been to all four bowl games

10 Riding Momentum Into 2009 Bowl win increases VU’s odds for success

11 Game-Winner Caps Career Bryant Hahnfeldt ends career on top

13 It’s My Turn — Rod Williamson Strike up the band

15 The Final 4 Brad Tinsley

16 Commodores Reload 2009 baseball preview

20 Quick Hits A look at Vanderbilt’s sports teams

22 The Internet and recruiting How recruiting has changed

24 The Last Look

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Editorial

Publisher: Vanderbilt University

Editor-in-Chief: Ryan Schulz

Director of External Relations: Rod Williamson

Designers: Jeremy Teaford

Ryan Schulz

Digital Image Specialist: Julie Luckett Turner

Photographers: Neil Brake

Daniel Dubois

Steve Green

Stan Jones

John Russell

Contributors: Andy Boggs

John Erck

Larry Leathers

Vijay Paul

Thomas Samuel

Chris Weinman

Administrative

Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos

Vice Chancellor for University Affairs: David Williams II

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs: Beth Fortune

Vanderbilt University’s Mission, Goals and ValuesVanderbilt University is a center for scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large. Vanderbilt will uphold the highest standards and be a leader in the quest for new knowledge through scholarship, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and outreach, and creative experimentation of ideas and concepts. In pursuit of these goals, Vanderbilt values most highly intellectual freedom that supports open inquiry; and equality, com-passion and excellence in all endeavors.

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university.

ON THE COVER: (left to right) Brian Harris, Mike Minor and Andrew Giobbi (Photo by John Russell)

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

SUBSCRIPTION: To subscribe to Commodore Nation, please contact the National Commodore Club at 615/322-4114.

ADVERTISEMENT: To advertise with Commodore Nation, please contact Vanderbilt ISP Sports.Jeff Miller, General Manager 615/322-4468jmiller@ispsports.com

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Vanderbilt’s Blog The newest addition online is the official Vanderbilt blog. The blog is updated throughout the day, provid-ing fans with informative and fun content that they otherwise wouldn’t see on vucommodores.com.

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Fifty-Three Years In The MakingI was too young to remember Vanderbilt’s Gator Bowl win in 1955, and I never imag-ined it would be 2008 before Vanderbilt won its next bowl game. The wait was long, but it was definitely worth it to experience the energy in that stadium after beating Boston College. It is my proudest moment as a Vanderbilt fan. Fred, Hermitage, Tenn.

To experience a stadium with 50,000 fellow Commodore fans was the best experience I have ever had as a Vanderbilt fan. I have never worn my black and gold more proudly. Susan, Madison, Tenn.

After Vanderbilt had lost six of its last seven games, I was hesitant to purchase tickets for the bowl game. I had pretty much made up my mind that I would not be going to the game until Christmas Day when I received a pair of tickets from my wife. I can honestly say it was one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received. Dave, Memphis

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

Letters

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CORNERCOMMODORE CLUB

PHONE: 615/322-4114 vucommodores.com

MUSIC CITY BOWL • NCC EVENT AT WILDHORSE SALOON

MUSIC CITY BOWL • LIMELIGHT TAILGATE

Clockwise from top left: Henry Harris, Bill and Genelle Themann, Jim Waggoner, Daniel Stockton, Valerie Evans and Christy Waggoner.

Vice Chancellor David Williams with his wife, Gail, and children Nick and Sam.

Left to right: Chase, Megan, Carder, Mitch and Steve McCoy, Ricky Anderson, Marvin Thomas, and Chris Krause

More than 1,100 people attended Vanderbilt’s pre-game tailgate at the Limelight.

Former football player Louie Stephenson (in black Vanderbilt shirt) leads a line dance at the Limelight.

The NCC held a free event for Commodore Club members on December 30 at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville.

Vanderbilt hosted a pre-game tailgate at the Limelight, which is next to LP Field.

If you’ve been by Dudley Field, Hawkins Field or to a basketball game at Memorial Gym recently, you’ve seen the renovations to the facilities. Whether it is the addition of outfield bleachers to Hawkins Field or the improvements to the exterior of Dudley Field, the facility improvements are another indication of the progress of Vanderbilt athletics. To find out more about how you can contribute and be involved in the project, call the National Commodore Club at: 615/322-4114.

ATHLETICS FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS

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DEC. 16 SOUTH FLORIDA GAME VANDERBILT FEVER CROSSES THE WORLD

Anne and Joe Maddux, NCC members and scholarship donors, attended the SEC/Big East Challenge to see Vanderbilt defeat South Florida.

Nikolaj, Andreas and Martin Nøhr, sons of Dr. Christian Nøhr, a col-league of VUMC Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Dr. Nancy Lorenzi, at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark, have been sporting their Vanderbilt gear on and around the Aalborg campus.

You recently should have received your membership renewal for the National Commodore Club. Please mail it in, call 615/322-4114, click vucommodores.com or stop by the office in the McGugin Center to make your gift. Every gift is allocated toward the goal of fund-ing student-athlete scholarships. This year’s membership deadline is May 30 (Vanderbilt’s fiscal year ends June 30). Thank you for your continued support of Vanderbilt Athletics. Your Membership Matters!

JOIN THE NCC OR RENEW TODAY!

Vanderbilt Athletics and the National Commodore Club endeavor to endow all athletics scholarships. To help in that task, the NCC has created an endowment level called the Black and Gold Society. Black and Gold Society members create an opportunity for a student-athlete while receiving full benefits of the Dudley Society with a five-year, $100,000 commitment. For more information on the Black and Gold Society and Athletic Scholarship Endowments, please contact John Erck at: john.erck@vanderbilt.edu or 615/322-7922.

JOIN THE BLACK AND GOLD ENDOWMENT SOCIETY

Soul Incision, made up of Vanderbilt employees, administrators and surgeons, including Robert Early, Steven Smartt, Jeffrey Byrd, Norman Urmy, Deborah Kemp, C. Wright Pinson, Edward Shultz, Carol Byrd and Bryan Brand, performed at the tailgate.

Left to right: Dave Logie, Jeff Cartwright, Chris Krause, Marvin Thom-as, Steve McCoy, Mark Johnson, Ricky Anderson, Darryl Denson, Louie Stephenson, and Tom Black.

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In My Words

On her aspirations after graduationI would definitely like to go overseas and play. After that,

I’ll definitely try to get into college-level coaching.

On how she became interested in coachingI’ve been interested in coaching since I was little. I have a very

strong passion for the game, and I understand it a lot. On the flip side, I love to help people learn. When I’m given the oppor-tunity to help other people, it is just something that gives me joy. People tell me I’d be a good coach, and they come to me when they have questions. I still may like to coach high school because in high school you are still in position to be an influence to someone. There are so many girls out there

that are gifted in high school basketball but don’t even think they can play in college. You are just in position to influence someone on the court and off the court. That is my element. I could be in the gym for hours.

On if her coaching interest gives her a different perspective on games and practicesYes, it does, especially at the college level. When I got here, I started learning stuff about the game of basketball that I

didn’t even know. In high school, I was in a position where I was running one through five, whatever was needed. Here, I’m

in a position to learn one or two specific spots and roles. Coach (Melanie) Balcomb instills certain stuff about character and being a good teammate and stuff like that on the floor that makes our team chemistry very good.

On her tendency to overanalyze the gameWith basketball, I have such a strong passion for it that I understand a lot, and regardless of the situation I‘m going to think and analyze something. Sometimes Coach Balcomb has to tell me to stop analyzing and just do what she says. It is really hard for me because if there is something I don’t understand in basketball, I’m going to question it because if I don’t understand it, I want to know why.

On growing up as a Kentucky fanIt is different when our men’s team plays them because I was never a Kentucky women’s basketball fan growing up, I was just a fan of their men’s team. I enjoy playing them because they didn’t recruit me. I probably would have liked to play there, but they never recruited me. Playing at Kentucky is a lot of fun because I have a lot of friends that go to Kentucky, and they get to come see me.

On coming to VanderbiltMy experience of being recruited was probably a lot different than everyone else. I came to team camp the summer before my senior year, and the coaches pulled me aside and started talking to me about com-ing to play here. What really drew me to come here was the coach-

Merideth

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Marsh One of Vanderbilt’s most versatile players, junior

guard Merideth Marsh is able to handle the

point guard and shooting guard duties for

the Commodores. The Louisville, Ky., native began her

Commodore career as a point guard before shifting to

shooting guard during her sophomore campaign. A dead-

eye shooter, Marsh’s move off the ball has enabled her to

become one of the team’s most prolific scorers.

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kyleREWICK

Cross Country

festusEZELI

Basketball

lauraKEENANLacrosse

amberNORTONBasketball

People say I look like

Kasey Kahne Greg Oden Courteney CoxMy teammates

call me a panda bear

Favorite gadget

Computer camera for web chats

Samsung BlackJack

TiVo HP laptop

My first petCavalier King

Charles Spaniel

A catMy dog, Buster

A rabbit named Thumper

I could eat ___________ every day

M&M’s Lucky CharmsMaryland

crabsFried chicken

Commodores Cubeding staff and how much they showed they cared about me as a person and as a player. They wanted to develop me not only on the court, but also later on in life. It wasn’t just coach-player it was coach-player-friend.

On the chemistry of the teamOne of the biggest positives about our program at Vanderbilt is that we are so close as a team, and I think that is one of our biggest recruiting tools. When we hang out, we all hang out together. We just get along really well, and that doesn’t happen a lot of places.

On switching to shooting guardShooting has always been a positive of mine, but now as I’ve come here, Coach Balcomb has brought it to the forefront that shoot-ing, as well as passing and dribbling, can be put together at the shooting guard spot. I showed that I could shoot the ball, and now I’m in a position to be an extremely solid shooter. That is what we need on the floor. My shooting has definitely gotten better here than in high school.

On why she wears No. 23Pistol Peete. I’ve watched the highlight videos, and that is kind of the way my dad raised me. My dad focused on shooting a little bit, but his main focus was teaching me the basic fundamentals. He emphasized ball handling, passing and just being a per-son on the floor that reads the floor.

On being in the same class as fellow AAU teammate Amber NortonIt was just kind of random because we were at the same team camp together when Vanderbilt started recruiting both of us. We had played AAU together since we were 10 years old, so I’ve known her for a very long time. I wouldn’t say that her coming to Vanderbilt was a big influence, but it was just a neat thing to keep playing with her. n

’Dores Vault Past Vols

It is hard to classify any victory in the first week of SEC play as being more important than any other regular season win, but if

there is an exception it came on Jan. 11 when Vanderbilt defeated No. 7 Tennessee 74-58.

Vanderbilt’s victory put to rest a 16-game losing streak to the Vols that dated to Feb. 2, 2002. But maybe most importantly it gave the Commodores the signature win they had been looking for this season.

The Commodores had lost two of their previous four games and four overall in non-conference play, which was not the start most predicted after Vanderbilt was tabbed to win the SEC in the preseason.

The early losses, combined with the los-ing streak to Tennessee, made Head Coach Melanie Balcomb prepare the team differ-ently than she had for any other Tennessee game in the past.

“In preparing for this game, I did it differ-ently than we’ve ever prepared for Tennessee before,” Balcomb said. “I decided we would have some fun. We put Tennessee uniforms

and headbands on the (male practice team), played “Rocky Top,” and made the crowd noise so deafening that they couldn’t hear each other on the court. I think it defi-nitely worked.”

Worked it did. Van-derbilt took an eight-point lead into the half and never looked back. The Commo-dores had five players score in double figures and extended their lead to as many as 21.

“We just had a different talk at halftime than we usually do, and we took the momen-tum into the second half and ran with it,” said senior Jennifer Risper, who hadn’t beaten Ten-nessee in her previous seven tries. “This win is pretty awesome, especially for it to come as a senior. n

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Editor’s Note: Each month “Commo-dore Nation” will ask a varsity athlete to sound off on a point of personal interest. A native of Medford, N.J., Paul is a junior on the tennis team.

I n casual conversation two years ago when I entered school, I was not quick to boast about my enrollment at Vander-bilt University, largely due to the fact that I struggled to fit

in initially to its Greek-heavy culture. Invaluable professors, teammates and experiences have since shown me how wrong I was and how blessed I am to be here.

Vanderbilt is a place that prepares you for any road. I’m beginning to learn that while we can map out a plan for our future, the plan always seems to change. What then becomes important are the tools that you have at your disposal to deal with the change. Vanderbilt has the unique reputation of an Ivy-league caliber university with the moniker “athletic pow-erhouse” forthcoming. That’s a truth that my father realized when I was a skinny 17-year-old kid whose only real aware-ness of the world consisted of striking a tennis ball with rela-tive fury. Thirteen years of junior tennis in the greater Phila-delphia region, two years of collegiate tennis in the unrivaled SEC and one summer of touring tennis through Germany have

passed, and I realize now more than ever the great challenge a career in professional tennis poses.

Most aspiring tennis professionals gradu-ate directly from high school to a life on the road traveling the ten-nis circuit, sometimes banking only enough to cover the bus fare to the next tournament. They

train tirelessly on their forehand approach shots, backhand volleys and kick serves, but the one weapon that they can-not hone is a Vanderbilt education. Indeed it’s a rare attribute offered to the privileged athletes at this school. The peace of mind that comes with it is even more precious and allows the student with aspirations of a professional athletic career the ability to live as big as their dreams.

When I mull over my future in the sport with my parents, they always bring up the fact that I have an active investment in the craft I’ve worked at for 16 years. This point in our con-versation has always been uneasy for me — characterizing myself a type of mutual fund rather than a human being. But as is always the case with parents, they’re right. Every athlete here has put in countless work on the court and in the class-room growing up. Vanderbilt only enhances both skills.

It is a school that gives one the freedom to take an entire summer traveling through Germany playing tennis, and it is a school that prepares one for a corporate law internship in Philadelphia the following summer (the horizon I find myself approaching). It is only fair then that we, as Vanderbilt stu-dent-athletes, allow ourselves the opportunity to reach for our athletic dreams after school because if we fall short, we know we will land in the security of a Vanderbilt diploma. n

Point of View

By Vijay Paul

Providing Student-Athletes With Opportunities

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Friends Keep Bowl Attendance Record Perfect

Alot had changed in the 53 years between Vanderbilt’s Gator Bowl victory in 1955 and its Music City Bowl victory in 2008.

There had been 10 different U.S. presidents, Alaska and Hawaii became U.S. states, the Ber-lin Wall was constructed and torn down and the number of bowl games went from seven to 32.

For as much that has changed in the world since 1955, one thing that has stayed the same is the attendance record at Vanderbilt’s four bowl games by Vanderbilt graduates Sharon and Bob Keith of Williams-burg, Va., and Betty and Charlie Daugherty of Nashville.

The friends have seen all four of VU’s bowl games in per-son, which is some-thing only a handful of Commodore fans can say. The couples have been friends since their time at Vanderbilt and were even in each other’s weddings, but attending every bowl game wasn’t in their plans until years later.

“When we left Legion Field after the (1982) Hall of Fame Bowl, Charlie Daugherty and I made a vow then that we would be at the next bowl game and all others that we could,” Bob Keith said.

However, neither couple thought it would be 26 more years before Vanderbilt would be invited to another bowl game.

“We thought it would take maybe four or five years and we’d be back some other place,” Bob said. “It didn’t happen that way, but we are glad it happened the way it did.”

The couples also couldn’t have been happier with having the game in Nashville. The game not only allowed them to stay with the Daugh-erty’s, but it also gave them an opportunity to see their son, Steven, who is Vanderbilt’s cross county coach.

“We had decided if there ever was another bowl game, we would absolutely have to go wherever it was, and as it turned out it was great because it was in Nashville,” Sharon Keith said. “We try to come every year to see at least one

cross country meet, and this was just a bonus to come back again.”

Making the experi-ence even better for both couples was the performance by the Commodores.

“It was one of my proudest moments as a Vanderbilt fan,” Charlie Daugherty said. “Back in 1955, I’d only been out of school for a few

years and I didn’t realize that we wouldn’t win another bowl game for so many years.”

The couples have special memories from each of Vanderbilt’s bowl games, but the Music City Bowl will always be held in a special place.

“There was more excitement with this sea-son than any of the others because of Vander-bilt’s 5-0 start,” Bob said. “Then we were really pleased when they got invited to the Music City Bowl because that allowed us to come back to Nashville. That was exciting and it was some-thing that probably wouldn’t have been as unique if we’d had to go somewhere else.” n

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

CORNERC O M P L I A N C E

Q:

A:

Speed Demon is a junior in high school and is very interested in running track in college. She has e-mailed several college coaches throughout the year. Several of the coaches provided Speed with a toll-free number to contact them about setting up a visit to their school next year. Is it permissible for college coaches to receive calls from Speed if she uses the toll-free number?

It is only permissible for coaches to receive such calls ON OR AFTER July 1 following Speed’s junior year in high school. NCAA Bylaw 13.1.3.6 states that institutional coaching staff members (see Bylaw 13.1.3.4.1) may accept collect and toll-free (e.g., 1-800) telephone calls placed by prospective student-athletes, parents and legal guardians, provided the calls are placed not earlier than July 1 following completion of the prospective student-athlete’s junior year in high school. (Adopted: 1/10/92; Revised: 1/11/94, 12/12/06)NCAA Bylaw 13.1.3.6.1 Exception—Men’s BasketballIn men’s basketball, institutional coaching staff members may accept collect telephone calls placed by a prospective student-athlete, parents and legal guardians, provided the calls are placed not earlier than the conclusion of the prospective student-athlete’s sophomore year in high school. The institution may use a toll-free number to receive such calls from a prospective student-athlete, parents or legal guardians. (Adopted: 11/1/01 effective 4/1/02; Revised: 12/12/06)NCAA Bylaw 13.1.3.6.2 Exception—Women’s BasketballIn women’s basketball, institutional coaching staff members may accept collect and toll-free telephone calls placed by a prospective student-athlete, parents and legal guardians, provided the calls are not placed earlier than the date on which an institution may begin placing telephone calls to the prospective student-athlete (see Bylaw 13.1.3.1.3). (Adopted: 11/1/07)

(left to right): Bob Keith, Betty Daugherty, Sharon Keith and Charlie Daugherty have attended all four Vanderbilt bowl games.

5 out of the 22 bowl games played before New Year’s Day had a higher attendance than the Music City Bowl, which drew 54,250.

95 percent of Vanderbilt’s 2001 freshman football class has graduated—the highest percentage in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

3.005 The GPA of Vanderbilt’s student-athletes during the fall semester.

11 of Vanderbilt’s athletic teams achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the fall semester.

3 The number of wins Vanderbilt’s football team had against opponents that were ranked at the time of the game—the most in school history.

5 The number of days after the Music City Bowl before wide receiver Jamie Graham began practicing with the basketball team.

1 Vanderbilt’s men’s basketball team is the only program in the SEC without a senior on its roster.

NUMBERSBy The

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Bowl Win Bodes Well For 2009 Season

In the days and weeks in the aftermath of Vanderbilt’s 16-14 win over Boston College in the Music City Bowl, it was

hard for fans to think of anything besides the game and the 2008 season.

Now as the triumphant victory gets smaller and smaller in the rearview mir-ror, it is hard not to look forward to what next season may bring. The Commodores return nine of 11 starters on offense and defense and must replace just nine seniors that were listed on the team’s two-deep heading into the bowl game.

The youthful talent was showcased throughout the Boston College game. Van-derbilt started eight underclassmen in the game, including redshirt freshman quarter-back Larry Smith and sophomore defensive end Teriall Brannon, who were making the first starts of their careers. Vanderbilt also got strong play from freshman defensive backs Casey Hayward and Sean Richard-son. Hayward played well in place of D.J. Moore, who was injured for most of the game, and Richardson scored the team’s lone touchdown.

“We had a bunch of guys hurt and a bunch of guys stepped up, and I thought that was huge,” Head Coach Bobby John-son said. “Hopefully that is going to be a good indication that we’ve got more play-ers available now to make those kind of plays in big games.”

That kind of depth, along with the momentum gained from ending the pro-

gram’s reign of 25 consecutive losing sea-sons should give the Commodores a large boost going forward.

“It does feel good (to win), but it also gives us a place that we can move on from,” Johnson said. “We want to get our program better, and this certainly ups the ante a little bit with our program.”

The adage is that numbers don’t lie. If that is true, the odds are in Vanderbilt’s favor going into 2009. In the past five sea-sons (2003-08), 71.76 percent of teams that have made it to a bowl game have returned the following season.

In the past three seasons alone, that per-centage has been even higher. This sea-son, 73.43 percent of teams in bowl games were making at least their second straight bowl appearance. The number was 75.8 percent in 2007-08 and 75.0 percent the year before that.

Johnson understands the odds are in his favor, but knows the team must work even

harder if it wants to maintain its success in the Southeastern Conference.

“We want to make sure that we continue to move forward, and I think we have got enough players coming back from this foot-ball team that we are going to have a good chance to do that,” Johnson said. “It’s going to take an awful lot of hard work.”

Just making it to its first bowl game since 1982 gives Vanderbilt positive momentum going forward, but it was even more impor-tant to beat Boston College and finish the season with a winning record as opposed to losing seven of its final eight games.

Captains Reshard Langford (left), George Smith (center) and Bradley Vierling hoist the Music City Bowl trophy after the team’s 16-14 win over Boston College.

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Date Opponent Time

9/5 Western Carolina TBA

9/12 at LSU TBA

9/19 Mississippi State TBA

9/26 at Rice TBA

10/3 Ole Miss TBA

10/10 at Army TBA

10/17 Georgia TBA

10/24 at South Carolina TBA

10/31 Georgia Tech TBA

11/7 at Florida TBA

11/14 Kentucky TBA

11/21 at Tennessee TBA

2009 VANDERBILT SCHEDULE

PERCENTAGE OF TEAMS RETURNING TO BOWL GAMES

(last five seasons)

Year Overall After Win After Loss2007 73.4% 81.2% 65.6%2006 75.8% 83.8% 67.7%2005 75.0% 82.1% 67.8%2004 64.2% 71.4% 57.1%2003 69.6% 75.0% 64.2%Total 71.7% 78.9% 64.6%

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“Amongst ourselves the main emphasis for us was knowing if you win a bowl game you can have a winning season,” Johnson said. “We wanted to be called winners, we wanted to be called champions and we will. We will be the Music City Bowl Champions, we will have a winning season and all of these things are extremely important to a program that is trying to move up, espe-cially in a tough league that we play in.”

Winning the bowl game also makes the odds of Vanderbilt making consecutive bowl appearances that much greater. In the past five years, teams that are coming off bowl wins have returned to bowl games almost 80 percent of the time (78.9 percent).

The number is even higher in the last three seasons. Of the 32 teams that won bowl games in 2007-08, 81.25 percent returned to games this year. All but five of the teams that won bowl games in 2006-07 returned the following season (83.87 percent). The return rate for the previous season was 82.1 percent.

When you compare the value of winning a bowl game to that of losing one, the dif-ference is even greater. Just 64.62 percent of teams that have lost bowl games in the last five years returned the following year. Of the teams that lost bowl games in 2007-08, 65.62 returned this season. That is 15.63 percent lower than teams that won bowl games.

The lowest percentage of teams to return to a bowl after a loss in the last five years

came during the 2004-05 season when just 57.14 percent of the losing teams returned the following season.

One of the largest factors that fuels a team’s momentum is its confidence level. And after winning the bowl game, the team’s confidence was sky high. “Hopefully (the win) gives us a boost,” Larry Smith said. “I know I have a lot of confidence now.”

Just as confident in the future of the team is senior kicker Bryant Hahnfeldt, who believes the victory was just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come for the Commodores.

“There is no doubt about it,” Hahnfeldt said. “If you look at the guys that are out there, there are a lot of young ones that played and they played great. They’ve seen the work that we have put in and how hard we worked to get here, and they know what to do to get the job done. I feel like they are definitely going to take it, and run with it, and be more successful than we were.”

Given the momentum, the depth return-ing and the statistical evidence, it is safe to say that the 2009 season will be the pro-gram’s most anticipated in years. n

Redshirt freshman quarterback Larry Smith made his first start against Boston College.

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Hahnfeldt Ends Career on High Note

No player on the football field can go from being the most disliked player on the field to the most revered player on

the field faster than a kicker. Vanderbilt senior kicker Bryant Hahnfeldt knows both sides bet-ter than most.

After beginning his career on a high note by winning the kicking job as a true freshman and making 12 of 17 attempts (70.6 percent) en route to earning SEC All-Freshman honors, Hahnfeldt saw his career take another path during his sophomore season after coming back from offseason knee surgery.

Hahnfeldt made just 8 of 17 kicks, which brought much criticism his direction in 2006. However, it was his 33-yard field goal that sank No. 16 Georgia, 24-22, in Athens that was the biggest kick of his career until the Music City Bowl.

In the Music City Bowl, the Nashville native hit the game-winning 45-yard field goal with 3:26 to play. The kick will forever be remembered by Vanderbilt fans as the kick that gave the Com-modores their first bowl win in 53 years.

Fittingly, the game came after what had been a roller coaster past two seasons for Hahnfeldt. Following his disappointing 2006 season, he recovered to make 13 of 20 attempts in 2007, but it was his miss against Tennessee that closed the season on a sour note.

Hahnfeldt began the 2008 season on fire, hitting his first seven attempts of the season while breaking John Markham’s school record for most points in a career along the way. Hahn-feldt then missed five in a row before ending his career with six consecutive makes. His final three makes came in the Music City Bowl, where he hit from 42 and 26 yards out before hitting the game-winner of 45 yards.

“It has been an up and down career,” Hahn-feldt said. “I feel like I had a good year this year getting the (all-time scoring) record, which was a goal I set for myself coming in. To get the game-winner just puts a final stamp on my career. Even though all that stuff hap-pened in my past, I’ve moved on from it and gotten better.” n

Vanderbilt players celebrate Bryant Hahnfeldt’s (right) game-winning 45-yard field goal with 3:26 to play in the game.

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It’s My Turn

By Rod Williamson

Strike Up the Band

I ’ve been humming fight songs lately, prob-ably a hangover from watching too many bowl games. Then again, I once owned

an audio tape (or was it an LP record?) of the nation’s best fight songs, so this isn’t surprising.

When I was around 10, I’d count the days until it was time for the Big 10 Game of the Week. In the early 1960s the game of the week meant it was the only one televised for seven days so I watched them all—Northwestern at Wisconsin, Purdue at Minnesota—it didn’t matter.

I can still hum the show’s opening theme—a Sousa march—and hear that booming voice: “Big Ten Basketball is on the air!” I’d wear a plain gray sweatshirt with a partial zipper—my version of a basketball warm-up jacket—and shoot imaginary lay-ups over the bedroom door.

It was as close as an Iowa farm kid could get to college athletics but that was OK. I was a moth to its flame. With rah-rah in my DNA, I’ve always gotten cold chills from great fight songs and marching bands—the soul of college athletics.

The other day I decided I liked Michigan’s “The Victors” better than Southern Cal’s “Fight On, USC”. Next week I plan to solve world hunger.

Fight songs are like family pets, you tend to like your own. Our “Dynamite” was written by Francis Craig, an undergraduate in 1922. In all honesty, it rates a 5 on my adrenaline meter with one unique lyric: “…down the field with blood to yield, if need be save the shield…” Please tell me this isn’t suggesting surrender!

I’m not in favor of dropping "Dynamite" for a newer tune, something that gets whispered over cold drinks since we are in Music City USA. Not a chance.

When I was overseeing our cheerleaders 20-some years ago, it seemed nobody liked Mr. Commodore. Our mascot wasn’t fierce or cuddly, but he made up for it by being flabby and unathletic.

We prevailed upon Roy Kramer to have an extreme make-over, hir-ing the company that did the Sesame Street characters. In effect we wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger in ’Dore duds.

We were fixated on Mr. C’s upper torso, making certain he was chis-eled with six-pack abs. Up close he looked like Tarzan but upon his Memorial Gym debut giggles broke out. Not a good sign.

He was quickly dubbed “Captain Crunch” for while he had big shoulders he also sported pencil thin legs that were accentuated in the big arena.

“What happened to our good ole Mr. Commodore?” rang the cries of despair from our previous Silent Majority. You’d have thought we had ditched the "Star Spangled Banner" in favor of "Blue Suede Shoes." Live and learn.

Good bands are golden. With all due respect to Southern units, they cannot touch Big 10 bands for marching and music. They understand their primary responsibility is to set an inspiring, traditional theme. (Name a football power that doesn’t have a quality band or a have-not that has a great one.)

When the Michigan band pours from that tunnel in high-stepping, quick time and marches up and down the field playing “The Victors,” it’s worth a touchdown. Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, a Buckeye, once said dotting the “I” in “Script Ohio” was his biggest sports thrill. Maybe a tad exaggerated.

Many members of these traditional bands earn college credits or receive scholarships. That’s why I so admire “The Spirit of Gold," who march for the fun and honor of representing Vanderbilt and get little more.

Here’s a tip: next time you hear about the wonders of the NFL, give ’em two words: Boola Boola! n

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BRAD TINSLEY• Basketball• Freshman

Guard Brad Tinsley is one of six Vander-bilt freshmen averaging double figures in minutes played. The Oregon City, Ore., native made an immediate impact for the Commodores, scoring in double figures in his first seven games.

What has been the biggest adjust-ment from high school to college for you on the court?It has been speed and strength. Guys are a lot quicker, faster and stronger, and I think that is the biggest step I have had to make.

You played baseball in high school; did you give any thought to playing baseball in college instead of basketball?I played pitcher and outfield, but I was mainly a pitcher because I didn’t really like to hit. I thought about playing base-ball in college a little bit. I played football, baseball and basketball throughout high school because I just liked sports and loved the sports atmosphere. Playing a collegiate sport at any level was always a dream of mine.

What is it that makes this fresh-man class unique?I think it is selflessness. None of us are really “me” guys. We are all “we” guys. We’d rather have the team win than in-dividual stats, which I think is the best quality.

What was the biggest influence for you to come to Vanderbilt?I think the biggest thing for me was the coaching staff. We really connected from the head coach all the way down to the assistants. I thought they all were really great guys and knew their stuff on the court.

The Final 4

• Vanderbilt has begun the nomination process for the 2009 Athletics Hall of Fame class. The deadline for nominating someone for the hall of fame is March 6. Nominations made last year do not apply for this year. Each person must be nominated again.

• Vanderbilt’s multimedia rights holder, ISP Sports, has created a commemorative DVD for the 2008 football season, titled March to Music City. The DVD takes fans through the memorable season, while providing exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes foot-age and highlights. The DVD costs $29.95 and can be purchased in person at Vander-bilt’s bookstore or online at vucommodores.com.

• Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler became just the fifth Vanderbilt player to be selected to the NFL Pro Bowl since 1971—the first Pro Bowl after the AFL-NFL merger. Cutler joins Corey Chavous (2003), Will Wolford (1990, 1992, 1995), Jim Ar-nold (1987, 1988) and Dennis Harrison (1982) as the only other Commodores to play in the Pro Bowl.

• Vanderbilt won the 2008 Academic Achievement Award from the American Football Coaches Association. The Commodores earned the honor after 95 percent of their 2001 freshman class graduated—the highest graduation rate in the FBS.

• For the fall semester, Vanderbilt had 51 student-athletes (37 football players and 14 soccer players) named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. The number surpassed the marks from the previous two fall semesters of 37 in 2007 and 38 in 2006. Freshmen are not eligible for the award.

• Vanderbilt hosted its annual Memorial Madness event on Jan. 14 before the Georgia men’s basketball game. The honorary alumni at the event were ESPN’s Buster Olney and former NBA center Will Perdue.

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

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Southeastern Conference regular sea-son and tournament championships, SEC Coach of the Year, three consec-

utive NCAA tournament appearances, a No. 1 national ranking, 36 players drafted and two players selected in the top two of the draft.

The list of accomplishments would read like a career resume for most, but for Van-derbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin, the achieve-ments are a snapshot of his past three sea-sons alone.

To say Vanderbilt’s baseball program has arrived would be an understatement. How-ever, before the Commodores can advance to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, they must overcome the loss of virtually their entire offense from last season.

Gone from last year’s squad that finished 41-22 overall and 15-14 in the SEC are 73.8 percent of the team’s runs scored, 68.5 per-cent of its RBI and 69.2 percent of its hits. The majority of that production came from the likes of Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Flaherty, Alex Feinberg, David Macias, Dominic de la Osa and Shea Robin, who have all either gradu-ated or moved on to the minor leagues.

Showing just how far Vanderbilt has come as a baseball program, Alvarez’s selection to the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 2 overall gave Vanderbilt the distinction of being the only school—high school or college—to have players picked either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in consecutive MLB Drafts since Major League Baseball began having just one draft per year in 1987. David Price was selected No. 1 over-all in 2007.

The 2009 team will not only have to over-come the loss in production of players such as Alvarez, it must also replace the leadership the group provided.

A good portion of that leadership may come from the pitching staff, which will be the most experienced group on the team.

Having a team with experienced pitchers and a host of wet-behind-the-ears position players will be a complete 180 from the outlook

for the 2008 season when the team returned 85.5 percent of its hits, which helped offset the losses of Price and Casey Weathers.

“We will be inexperienced on the field,” Corbin said, "but we bring back 87 percent of the innings on the pitching staff, led by Mike Minor and Caleb Cotham.”

Because of the team’s lack of experienced position players, the Commodores will lean heavily on the freshman class to provide an immediate impact. The 13-member class was touted as the No. 2 class in the country by Baseball America and the No. 3 class by Col-legiate Baseball. Of the 13 members of the class, eight were drafted in the 2008 amateur draft. Of the position players in the class, six are listed on the three-deep, while shortstop Jason Esposito and third baseman Joe Lof-tus are penciled in as starters.

“In the seven years that our staff has been at Vanderbilt, this class will have more of an impact on the field than any previous group,” Corbin said. “We are fortunate to have a class that is this talented and this deep.”

InfieldNo area on the field was hit harder by gradu-ation and the draft than the infield. With the losses of Alvarez, Feinberg, Flaherty and Robin, Vanderbilt will be looking for new start-ers at every position except first base, where junior Andrew Giobbi returns.

In addition to Giobbi, junior Brian Harris (2B) will add a veteran presence to an infield that has three underclassmen in sophomore Curt Casali (C) and true freshmen Jason Esposito (SS) and Joe Loftus (3B).

After a breakout campaign in 2008, where he ranked second on the team with a .332 batting average, Giobbi returns as Vander-bilt’s top returning offensive threat this sea-son. The Portland, Maine, native also led the team with 22 doubles and ranked third on the squad with 42 RBI.

“Andrew (Giobbi) will be a catalyst for our team in many ways,” Corbin said. “He has improved his athleticism greatly and can play several positions on the field. He has come up with a lot of big hits in his career, and he is a very positive influence on our young kids.”

Although he is listed as the team’s pre-season starter at first base, don’t be surprised to see him spending time behind the plate, where he is listed as the No. 2 catcher behind Casali. Casali batted .317 last year and will likely find his way into the lineup because of his bat even when he isn’t catching.

A Nashville native, Harris is one of the team’s most versatile players. Listed as the preseason starter at second base, Harris is also the backup at shortstop and third base. Although Harris was not a regular starter, he was one of the team’s most vital players last year, filling in for Alvarez at third base and Feinberg at second base when they both missed time due to injuries.

“Brian is the most versatile infielder on our team,” Corbin said. “He has great reflexes and hands. Brian has developed as a hitter in a big way; makes very good contact and has plate discipline. He will be counted on very heavily by our team.”

OutfieldThere were three players who played and started every single game last season. Of those players, two were outfielders. Every game Vanderbilt took the field it could count on centerfielder David Macias and rightfielder Dominic de la Osa being in the lineup. Corbin will try to fill their void by shifting senior Jona-than White to center field and sophomore Steven Liddle to right field. Last season, Lid-dle and White battled each other for playing time in left field. Likely earning the start in left this year will be sophomore Alex Hilliard, who had just three at bats last season.

White started 30 games last season, hitting .286 and ranking second on the team with 11 stolen bases. When not playing in left field, White was the team’s primary designated hitter at the end of last season. White’s pro-duction on the field will be key to Vanderbilt’s success, but what may be even more impor-tant is the leadership he brings to the locker room as a fifth-year senior.

“Jonathan (White) is a rare case of a player who possesses legitimate speed and power,” Corbin said. “He can be an offensive threat and really help our team. His experience and attitude should be a key factor, as well.”

Liddle was one of the team’s most pleas-ant surprises last season. The Franklin, Tenn., product hit .310 and totaled 28 RBI in 158 at bats. His .376 on-base percentage is also the highest among any returning player with at least 100 bats last season.

“Steve (Liddle) really came on at the end of last year,” Corbin said. “He is a good all-around baseball player who always plays hard. He has very good fundamental skills in the outfield and handles the bat very well.”

Commodores Reload For 2009

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Designated HitterVanderbilt used a platoon of players at des-ignated hitter last season, and this year will likely be no different. The biggest difference at the position this season will be the expe-rience level Corbin has to select from. After having a bench full of experienced players to fill the spot in recent seasons, this year’s team will turn to young players in 2009.

Among those battling for time at the posi-tion will be sophomores Richie Goodenow and Aaron Westlake and freshman Dylan Pratt. Catcher Curt Casali also will see time at the position when he is not behind the plate.

Goodenow has been primarily used as a pitcher out of the bullpen, but Corbin has been impressed with his development and sees Goodenow as a two-way player for the Commodores.

“Richie (Goodenow) has turned the corner as a player,” Corbin said. “He had a very good fall as a pitcher and also as a hitter.”

Westlake missed half of last season due to injury, but should see plenty of action this season between DH and first base.

PitchingVanderbilt’s strong suit should be its pitch-ing staff. The returning members of the staff accounted for 37 of the team’s 41 wins last season and pitched 87.4 percent of the innings.

The staff will be buoyed by the return of its weekend rotation of lefthander Mike Minor and righthanders Caleb Cotham and Nick Christiani. The rotation posted a 20-12 mark and accounted for 43.6 percent of the team’s strikeouts.

Leading the rotation will be Minor, who posted a 7-3 record to go along with a 4.28 ERA. This past summer he was named Col-lege Summer League Player of the Year by Baseball America. Minor earned the honor after helping the USA Baseball National Team win the gold medal game of the FISU World Championships by throwing 9.2 innings of shutout baseball in the team’s 12-inning win over Japan.

Minor’s place among the best pitchers in the nation was recognized again this winter when he earned second team preseason All-America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

“Mike has to be seen as one of top pitch-ers in the country,” Corbin said. “He brings back a tremendous amount of experience. We have relied on him heavily since his fresh-man year, and we will continue to do so again this year.”

The team’s Saturday starter will be Cotham, who finished the season with a 7-6 record and 4.50 ERA, while averaging over one strikeout per inning.

“Caleb (Cotham) had a great summer in the Cape Cod League and continued his prog-ress this fall,” Corbin said. “He has developed into a quality SEC starter with a heavy fastball and two quality secondary pitches. He has improved a great deal over the last year.”

Vanderbilt’s Sunday starter will be Christiani, who posted a 6-3 record and a 4.97 ERA.

“Getting Nick (Christiani) back for his senior year was very big for our team in many ways,” Corbin said. “He has a lot of experience in the SEC, and he continues to get better.”

After being one of the biggest question marks heading into the 2008 season, the mid-dle of the bullpen is one of Vanderbilt’s most stable parts this year. Righthander Chase Reid and Goodenow, a lefty, were solid con-tributors last season and will once again for-tify the middle of the bullpen.

Reid finished second on the team with 23 appearances, where he went 4-0 with a 4.30 ERA. Goodenow pitched in 19 games, finish-ing 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA.

Also adding depth to the middle of the bull-pen will be righthanders Jack Armstrong and Will Clinard and lefthanders Sean Bierman, Grayson Garvin, Ben Blanton, Corey Williams and Kellen St. Luce.

At the back of the bullpen will be sopho-more right-hander Russell Brewer and junior right-hander Drew Hayes.

Brewer earned Freshman All-SEC honors after posting eight saves and a 3.52 ERA last season.

“Russell (Brewer) is as consistent as any pitcher we have,” Corbin said. “He could be used in many roles but really flourishes at the end of the game because of his attitude.”

Hayes had two saves last season to go along with his team-leading 3.51 ERA.

“Drew has really come on the last year,” Corbin said. “He has a very good arm with a very competitive attitude. We will count on him heavily, and he will end up pitching some very important innings for us. He is very valu-able to our club’s success.”

Corbin also expects right-handers Mark Lamm and Navery Moore to add depth at the back of the bullpen.

Vanderbilt may be young and inexperi-enced in 2009, but the influx of talent, com-bined with the proven ability of the coaching staff, has all the makings of another exciting season at Hawkins Field. n

Tim Corbin

Caleb Cotham

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Left FieldAlex HilliardJordan WormsleyDylan Pratt

Center FieldJonathan WhiteMatt Marquis

Right FieldSteven LiddleJoey ManningJordan Wormsley

ShortstopJason EspositoBrian HarrisAlex McClureThird Base

Joe LoftusBrian HarrisJason Esposito

Second BaseBrian HarrisRiley ReynoldsGabe Ortiz

First BaseAndrew GiobbiAaron WestlakeRichie Goodenow

CatcherCurt CasaliAndrew GiobbiDrew FannAaron Westlake

Designated HitterRichie GoodenowAaron WestlakeDylan Pratt

Starting PitchingMike Minor (LHP)Caleb Cotham (RHP)Nick Christiani (RHP)Taylor Hill (RHP)Sonny Gray (RHP)

CloserRussell Brewer (RHP) Drew Hayes (RHP)Mark Lamm (RHP)Navery Moore (RHP)

Middle ReliefChase Reid (RHP)Richie Goodenow (LHP)Sean Bierman (LHP)Jack Armstrong (RHP)Grayson Garvin (LHP)Ben Blanton (LHP)Corey Williams (LHP)Will Clinard (RHP)Kellen St. Luce (LHP)

2009 Preseason Depth Chart

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MEN’S SPORTSBaseball

Vanderbilt opens its sea-• son Feb. 20 at Stanford. The Commodores will play two games against the Cardinal and two at California during the road trip.

Basketball• Vanderbilt finished non-con-

ference play with an 11-3 re-cord.

• Vanderbilt’s 78-48 win at Massachusetts on Jan. 3 was VU’s largest margin of victory on the road since defeating TCU by 35, 95-60, in 2004.

Football• Vanderbilt won the 2008 Aca-

demic Achievement Award from the American Football Coaches Association.

• Vanderbilt earned the honor after 95 percent of its 2001 freshman class graduated — the highest graduation rate in the FBS.

• Bobby Johnson became the third Vander-bilt coach to be elected to the American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustees. Johnson jointed the 18-member board with Buffalo’s Turner Gill.

• Vanderbilt had 37 players selected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

• The Tennessee Sports Writers Association named Bobby Johnson the state's college coach of the year.

• Bobby Johnson was honored for winning SEC Co-Coach of the Year at the Tennes-see Titans game on Dec. 21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

• By winning the Music City Bowl, Vanderbilt earned its first bowl win since winning the 1955 Gator Bowl. The win also gave the Commodores (7-6) their first winning sea-son since 1982.

• Junior punter Brett Upson earned MVP honors at the bowl game after pinning Boston College inside its 20-yard line on

three occasions and averaging 42.6 yards on nine punts.

• Junior cornerback D.J. Moore announced he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft after the team's win in the Music City Bowl.

Golf• Vanderbilt opens its spring

season Feb. 23-24 in Or-lando, Fla. at the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate.

Tennis Vanderbilt was ranked No. • 27 in the preseason ITA poll released on Jan. 7. It was VU’s highest preseason ranking since 2005. VU’s doubles team of soph-• omore Adam Baker and Alex Zotov was ranked No. 32 in the nation and No. 3 in the Southeast Region. Sophomore Bryant Salcedo was ranked • No. 29 in singles in the Southeast Region. VU signee Ryan Lipman won the Bill Tal-• bert Junior Sportsmanship Award from the USTA.

WOMEN’S SPORTSBasketball• The women's basketball

team was one of 11 Vander-bilt teams to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the fall.

• Vanderbilt finished non-conference play with an 11-4 record.

• Vanderbilt's 74-58 win against Tennessee on Jan. 11 ended a 16-game losing streak to the Vols.

• The win also was Melanie Balcomb's first win over the Vols in her seven seasons at Vanderbilt.

• Christina Wirth has been selected to the initial list of 30 NCAA women’s basketball candidates for the 2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Shan Foster won the men’s Senior CLASS Award last season.

Bowling• Josie Earnest and Brittni Ham-

ilton finished eighth and 10th respectively at the USA Team Trials on Dec. 19. The four-day tournament will help de-termine the USA international team. The top three finishers earned automatic invitations.

• Vanderbilt was ranked No. 1 in the National Tenpins Coaches Association’s second na-tional poll of the season on Dec. 23.

Lacrosse• Vanderbilt opens its season

Feb. 15 against North Caro-lina.

• The North Carolina match is the first of three straight home matches to open the season.

Soccer• Vanderbilt had 14 players se-

lected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Tennis• Vanderbilt was ranked No. 12

in the preseason ITA poll re-leased on Jan. 7.

• Individually, five players were ranked in the preseason sin-gles poll. Freshman Jackie Wu was ranked No. 21, junior Catherine Newman was ranked No. 55, freshman Chelsea Preeg was ranked No. 80, Keilly Ulery was ranked No. 84 and se-nior Coutney Ulery was ranked No. 105.

Track and Field• Due to repairs to Vanderbilt’s

track, the Commodores can-celed their 2009 home meets.

• Freshman Anna Carr set the school record in the indoor 60-meter dash at the Ken-tucky Invitational on Jan. 18.

GeoffMacdonald

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Tom Shaw

KevinStallings

TimCorbin

Quick Hits

JohnWilliamson

BobbyJohnson

MelanieBalcomb

Jessica Mooney led the team with 15 points in Vanderbilt's 74-58 win against Tennessee.

Bryant Salcedo was the only Commodore to earn a preseason ranking in singles.

Jermaine Beal has had more games with three three-pointers than his first two seasons.

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The Month Ahead

Men’s SportsBaseball2/20 at Stanford 7:30pm2/21 at Stanford 3pm2/22 at California 3pm2/23 at California 3pm2/25 Western Kentucky 4pm2/27 Vermont 6pm2/28 Vermont 2pm

Basketball2/5 Alabama 6pm2/7 Ole Miss 12pm2/14 at Tennessee 2pm2/17 Kentucky 8pm2/21 at Florida 2pm2/25 at Georgia 6:30pm2/28 South Carolina 8pm

Golf2/23-24 at Rio Pinar Intercollegiate (Orlando, Fla.) All Day

Tennis2/1 at National Indoors Qualifying (Boise, Idaho) TBA2/6 Michigan 2pm2/8 North Carolina State 12pm2/13 Memphis 2pm2/14 at Middle Tennessee State 2pm2/22 Louisville 12pm2/28 at Oklahoma State (Tulsa, Okla.) 2pm

Women’s SportsBasketball2/1 Alabama 2pm2/5 at Mississippi State 7pm2/8 at Kentucky 12pm2/12 Florida 7pm2/15 Georgia 12pm2/19 Auburn 8pm2/22 at Ole Miss 2pm

Bowling2/14-15 at Morgan State Invitational (Baltimore, Md.) All Day2/28 at Holiday Classic (Bessemer, Ala.) All Day

Lacrosse2/15 North Carolina 12pm2/21 UMBC 1pm2/27 Northwestern 5pm

Swimming2/18-21 at SEC Championships (Auburn, Ala.) All Day2/27 at Last Chance Meet (Athens, Ga.) All Day

Tennis2/1 National Indoors Qualifying TBA2/5 Middle Tennessee State 2:30pm2/13-16 at National Team Indoors (Madison, Wis.) TBA2/21 Yale 12pm

Track2/6-7 at Rod McCravey Invite (Lexington, Ky.) All Day2/13-14 at Iowa State All Day2/28-3/1 at SEC Indoor Championship (Lexington, Ky.) All Day

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The Internet has changed the way the world runs. Whether it is politics, enter-tainment, news or sports, the Internet

has affected it all.Recruiting is no different. Less than a

decade ago, e-mail was hit or miss, cell phones were just becoming popular, recruit-ing services were nonexistent and if you asked someone if they wanted to surf the 'Net, you may get a puzzled look and have to explain why you would want to surf when there isn’t an ocean within 1,000 miles.

Times have certainly changed, and nothing has been more of a catalyst for the change than the Internet. The Internet has changed many things in sports, but few areas have been impacted as much as recruiting.

“The advent of the Internet has made it much easier and faster to recruit,” said Andrew Turner, Vanderbilt’s recruiting coor-dinator for Olympic sports. “When I started this job in 2000, we were focused mostly on mass mailings, but now everything has been streamlined with the Internet.”

It wasn’t too many years ago that the only way coaches could communicate with potential student-athletes was through written letters and phone calls to their home. While those methods still are used, they have been supplemented with many other ways, most of which have come through the Internet.

One of the biggest changes the Internet has brought in recruiting is the speed to which information is delivered to coaches. As a former receiver at Furman and now Van-derbilt’s running backs coach, Des Kitchings believes the timing with which everything happens has been the biggest change from when he was being recruited as a senior in high school in 1995.

“The one difference that stands out to me is how much earlier everything happens,”

Kitchings said. “You now start recruiting juniors as you are finishing up your seniors The whole timing of it all has just sped up.”

The Internet has not only sped up the recruit-ing cycle for football, but across all sports.

“I think the Internet has made a huge dif-ference and impacted the whole recruiting process very much,” said Vanderbilt men’s tennis Coach Ian Duvenhage, who is in his 24th season coaching college tennis. “The calendar has accelerated to a great degree. In years past a lot of guys who signed would sign during the April signing date. Since I’ve been (at Vanderbilt), my experience is that it is very rare for someone to sign that late.”

Part of what has added to the increased speed with which recruiting takes place has been the advent of the recruiting industry. Today, companies such as Rivals.com and Scout.com track every move of recruits. Because everything is tracked almost instan-taneously, coaches can no longer keep their incoming classes secret from other recruits and programs.

The companies have made recruiting more mainstream for fans, while making the pro-cess of identifying potential players easier for coaches.

“They do a lot of the tedious leg work for you,” Duvenhage said. “We have two or three recruiting Web sites that we can go to and research players and pull up all of their results in the last year. The Internet has changed the process radically.”

The majority of coaches use recruiting ser-vices in some form or fashion, but the degree to which they use the services varies greatly.

“We deal with some if we trust their evalu-ations,” Vanderbilt football Coach Bobby Johnson said. “Basically we are getting infor-mation on where the kid goes to school and some grade information, but when it gets down to it, we are going to look at the film and decide who we think can fit in our program. We don’t use recruiting services to tell us that this guy needs to be offered a scholarship.”

While the Internet doesn’t tell a coach whether to offer a player a scholarship or not, it does enable coaches to more effec-tively track players. About 1½ years ago, Vanderbilt teamed with Blue Chip Athletic Solutions to become the first university to go department wide with a recruiting data-base called Recruiting Radar. The database allows coaches to access and edit informa-tion from anywhere in the country through the Internet.

Having the information available at the palm of their hand has also forced coaches to move quicker in order to stay ahead of other coaching staffs.

“It forces one to recognize things sooner because things happen faster,” said Michael Hazel, who works with Vanderbilt’s on-cam-pus recruiting as assistant director of foot-ball operations. “You also have to be more reactive because you are finding out who

has offered a kid before you have talked to them and you are reading that he has offers before we’ve actually talked to him.”

In many ways the Internet has also made recruiting more competitive throughout col-lege athletics. One example of this is how it has leveled the playing field for schools with smaller recruiting budgets that were unable to recruit nationally.

“I think it has gotten more competi-tive because schools that don’t have the resources to maybe recruit the large portions of the country, now can use the resources of the Internet and expand their geographic recruiting footprint because the Internet is boundless,” Hazel said.

The expansion of recruiting territories has also allowed players who once would go unnoticed, to get noticed.

“The Internet just opens up a lot of ave-nues for the kids that we may not have been able to get,” Kitchings said. “In rural areas or even in the big cities there might be a kid that you wouldn’t have known much about, but now with the Internet, there is just so much information at your fingertips to research and find out about kids.”

As beneficial as the Internet can be in recruiting, it can also have a down side.

“(The Internet) makes you research (play-ers) even more because a kid can say he has an offer on the Internet and you don’t know how much validity there is to that,” Kitchings said. “Sometimes, kids get some offers that maybe they shouldn’t get based on them saying they have an offer.”

The growth of the Internet also has been at the forefront for discovering new methods of recruiting. Among other things that have spawned from the Web are e-mail and video conferencing.

Ten years ago no one thought the Internet would be what it is today, and it is likely that 10 years down the road, the top recruiting method will be something that is in its infant stage or hasn’t even been developed yet.

“It is hard to predict what direction recruit-ing will take,” Turner said, “but I believe something down the road will be the use of widgets. Say you have a coaching Web site called timcorbin.com. You will be able to download a widget from his Web site and put it on your desktop. Essentially, it is our Web site running live on your desktop, so anything added to the web site is going to show up on the widget. We are going to be able to push data to that prospect.”

It is difficult to predict where the Internet will take recruiting, but no matter the direc-tion it goes, it is sure to have an impact.

“I think the Internet has made recruit-ing more competitive,” Duvenhage said. Coaches have gotten more sophisticated and they have become more organized because of it. The whole process has just been streamlined, and it is a lot more efficient.” n

How The Internet Has Affected Recruiting

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Des Kitchings (left) and Head Coach Bobby Johnson.

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COLD SHOWERHead Coach Bobby Johnson has a buck-et of Gatorade dumped on him after the Music City Bowl. This photo and dozens more are available for purchase by visiting the photo store on vucommodores.com.

The Last Look