Oct. 22, 2014
Sophomores Luke Kornet and Damian Jones joined 16th-year head coach Kevin Stallings for the SEC Tipoff 2015 in Charlotte at the Ballantyne Hotel and the SEC Network studios, which are within a mile of each other.
The three talked about the season with print and television media at the Ballantyne in a traditional media day format, and then shifted their focus after lunch to the SEC Network studios, where the trio checked out the network’s new digs and participated in several television elements which will be seen throughout the year on the ESPN Family of Networks.
Me? Makeup?
All three sat in the make up chair upon our arrival to, according to the makeup artist, “take the shine off their noses.” Here’s Luke getting his powder on.
Traditional Media Day
The three sat in with several television personalities in the morning session, including ESPN’s Shannon Spake and CBS’ Seth Davis in different rooms, and then encountered local media from throughout the league in the main media room. Here’s Damian with Seth and Coach Stallings speaking with some of the media contingent.
The morning session ended, and after lunch, the Vanderbilt party boarded a shuttle and headed to the SEC Network studios, where the second part of their day began.
2K and More
Luke and Damian quickly descended on a lounge area the Network had set up, where the two picked up on a game of NBA 2K that a couple of other players had left behind. Won’t say who won, but it was a nice way to break up some idle time for the guys, who had a 6 a.m. wake-up call Wednesday morning.
All Gathered Together
Wednesday was a rare time when players, coaches, and staff members from all 14 schools were in the same place and actually got a chance to visit with each other. A lot of the players know each other from high school and AAU ball and chatted about practice and other things throughout the day, while coaches were seen milling around the studio talking about their families and their perspective on the early goings of practice. It’s a pretty neat deal.
In this shot, the players got together for a group photo on the outdoor sport court that was set up.
VandyBoys are Everywhere
There are pictures hanging everywhere in the studios, and wouldn’t you know, a photo of the Vandy Boys’ national championship in 2014 was hanging right beside the lounge area. Can’t escape Vandy Baseball!
TV Elements
Coach Stallings was just as busy as Luke and Damian, with his responsibilities ranging from a roundtable with six other coaches, a chat with Dari Nowkah, and a session with Kara Lawson where he went over an alley-oop dunk against Tennessee’ 1-3-1 defense in the Commodores’ win over the Volunteers in Nashville last year.
Here’s a few pictures from his activities at the studio Wednesday.
Heading Back Home
After the television stuff was finished, the Commodores headed to the airport for a quick one hour flight back to Nashville. Wednesday was a great way to tip of the 2014-15 season, and we all look forward to games getting started at Memorial in a few weeks.