Oct. 7, 2014
Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings and the 2014-15 Commodores met the local media for the first time this season at Memorial Gym, with Coach Stallings addressing the media and the team and media participating in a three-point contest.
The full interview from today’s festivities can be seen above.
Three-Point Contest
Eight members of the local media were paired up with one, or in some cases, two Commodores for a three-point shooting contest. Each team’s players had to alternate shots from beyond-the-arc for one minute, with the highest total made advancing to the next round.
The last two teams standing included Chris Harris from WSMV-TV and senior James Siakam, and another team that consisted of Cal Baxter from WKRN-TV, freshman Riley LaChance, and junior Nathan Watkins. To make it an even two-on-two, Coach Stallings randomly selected Watkins to compete with Baxter, and the two came out on top, 6-3.
Stallings excited about young group
The Commodores, who will play five true freshman at three perimeter positions this year, will be the youngest on the perimeter in the Stallings’ era. However, the 16th-year head coach says the group is ready to go.
“They’ve been really good all fall and all summer,” said Stallings. “They’ve enjoyed the first couple of days of practice. We’ve gone in pretty hard and pretty long, for us. We’ve never been a team that practices for long periods of time, and we’ve gone long and hard for the first couple of days. But, everyone in the gym is shooting 30 minutes after we’re done, and as we say together as coaches, that’s always a good sign. That means they’re into it, they care about it, they want to be good, they want to be better. So far, so good.”
Stallings addresses departures
Coach Stallings addressed the media about the recent departures in the Commodores’ program in the last two seasons.
“When I’m recruiting a guy, I just need to make sure a guy fits here, whether that’s a right fit for our program or our university,” said Stallings. “That’s where the failings have come. Everybody likes to say that guys don’t like to play for me, but everyone inside this program knows that that can’t be any further from the truth. I have made mistakes in some instances of bringing in guys that probably didn’t belong here. There’s no one to blame but me. I take full responsibility for that and I need to make sure I bring in guys who are the right fit.”
New banners in gym corners
New Star V banners are now in the corners of the gym after one year of the walls being blank.
