Sept. 14, 2016
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
On campus in Nashville – Rebekah Dahlman has yet to play a real game for her new basketball coaches at Vanderbilt University, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the redshirt junior guard. Dahlman already has an idea of what gameday will feel like under the new staff.
“They’re just so passionate, and that’s what I love,” Dahlmon said. “That energy and that fire, it feels like gameday everyday, to be honest.”
Dahlman might be right, but at least one thing will change by the time Vanderbilt opens its season: The head coach will actually be in Nashville.
Confused? Then pay attention. The Commodores introduced Stephanie White as their new head women’s basketball coach on May 25. The problem was, White was just five games into the WNBA regular season as head coach of the Indiana Fever. She wouldn’t arrive in Nashville full-time until the Fever’s season officially ended. That means for the past three-plus months, the Commodores have been prepping for a fresh era without their newly minted head coach in tow.
Some Commodores were initially hesitant to try a slow-but-steady process without White. “It’s the start of my senior year without my head coach being here,” said forward Marqu’es Webb. “At first, I was a little worried.”
Even White’s staff admits to a fairly unorthodox setup. “I would say this is the first time I’ve done something like this,” associate head coach Carolyn Peck said. Peck, however, is a key piece to the puzzle for Vanderbilt’s unique transition. She is interim head coach until White arrives, a date that’s since been pushed back until the Fever finish their current run in the WNBA playoffs.
Fortunately for the `Dores, this isn’t Peck’s first stint holding a whistle. Prior to spending the past nine years as a college basketball analyst at ESPN, Peck served as head coach at Purdue (1997-99), the WNBA’s Orlando Miracle (1999-01) and Florida (2002-07). While at Purdue, Peck coached White during her junior and senior seasons in West Lafayette, leading the Boilermakers to the 1999 NCAA title.
That familiarity – and a longtime friendship – has made for an easier transition with Vanderbilt’s staff. “This isn’t the first time Steph and I have worked together,” Peck said. “We think alike. When she gives us instructions on what we want to do, it’s not like it’s brand new.”
So how does Vanderbilt’s unique arrangement work? The staff met in Indianapolis and Nashville at different points during the summer, carefully planning the chain of command. Assistant coach Kelly Komara, who also played for Peck and with White at Purdue, is in charge of defense. Fellow assistant Joy Cheek, whom Peck recruited during her playing career, takes care of offense. That allows Peck to reapply her head-coaching hat and “make sure it all fits together” in practice, she says.
For Peck, the benefit of her new role is two-fold. She can return to coaching after nearly a decade as a broadcaster. Meanwhile, Peck gets to help rebuild a Commodore program close to her heart; she played at Vanderbilt from 1984-88 and is a member of the university’s athletic Hall of Fame.
“Everyday I wake up and I get to coach at Vanderbilt University, a place that I love,” Peck said. “The icing on the cake is, I get to do it with former players. Kelly played for me. I actually recruited Joy. We just have great staff chemistry.”
Even amid the WNBA grind, White keeps her fingerprint on the Commodores. Vanderbilt’s video crew sends tape of each practice to White in Indianapolis. The head coach watches the film and sends back critiques, keeping tabs on Peck and other staffers via phone throughout the week. That way they can swap notes as if White was already in her office.
Thus far, the arrangement has yet to hit a snag. “The communication that our assistant coaches have with Coach White, it’s like her actually being here,” Webb said.
Of course, the Commodores are hardly unfamiliar with White. She has made a handful of trips to campus since being hired, taking time to bond with the roster. Even White’s short stints in town have been memorable: Webb first met her new coach at the Commodores’ first team practice, but not before mistaking the youthful White for an unknown walk-on.
“She looks so young, I was like, did we get a new player?” Webb said. “Then she was like, `What’s up, I’m Coach White.’ I said, oh wow… She’s just a ball of energy. People say that, and it’s such a cliché. But that lady is literally a ball of energy.”
Peck and the rest of Vanderbilt’s staff have tried to provide the same energy until White arrives, when the next era of Commodores basketball begins anew. Until then, don’t expect a drop-off in passion from Peck and company.
“We want to keep the intensity and the motivation and deliver the vision of where we want to be as a program,” Peck said. “So far, I think our players are enjoying the process.”
