NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The trio of Randon Fontenette, Martel Hight and Diego Pavia will join E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Football Clark Lea as Vanderbilt’s representatives at SEC Media Days when the annual event gets underway on Monday.
The Commodores—coming off a 7-6 campaign that featured the program’s first bowl victory since 2013—will be part of the afternoon session that day at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park. Live coverage of the event will be available through its conclusion Thursday on SEC Network.
Fontenette recorded 73 totals stops, including a team-high-tying eight behind the line of scrimmage, in his first season with the Dores, adding eight passes broken up and an interception. A preseason third-team All-SEC selection by Athlon who has been named fourth-team preseason all-league by Phil Steele as well, the Freeport, Texas, resident posted a career-best eight tackles—with 2½ of those for loss—against fifth-ranked Texas while he returned his first career interception for a touchdown to help Vandy defeat No. 1 Alabama.
A native of Rome, Georgia, Hight was credited with 33 tackles (including two for loss), a pair of interceptions, four additional passes defended and a forced fumble as a sophomore last fall. He also returned 18 punts for 265 yards, ranking among the national leaders with an average of 14.7 yards per attempt, to be named an honorable mention All-American by Phil Steele and second-team All-SEC, as he enters this season having earned second-team preseason All-SEC recognition as a punt returner from both Athlon and Phil Steele.
Pavia, the reigning SEC Newcomer of the Year, was also selected the national Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press in 2024 after recording 3,094 yards of total offense and accounting for 28 touchdowns in his first season with the program. The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native completed 177-of-298 attempts for 2,293 yards and 20 scores, and he ran for a team-high 801 yards and eight touchdowns as well to be named a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards, while he was chosen the most valuable player of the Birmingham Bowl following the Commodores’ win over Georgia Tech.
Vanderbilt begins the 2025 season with a 6 p.m. kickoff against Charleston Southern on Aug. 30, the first of seven contests at FirstBank Stadium this fall. Information is currently available for all ticket options, mini-plans and brand-new Commodore Club premium seating in the south end zone of the facility.
