Sept. 12, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli made a grand return to Vanderbilt on Saturday and he brought a friend – the Larry O’Brien trophy.
The Vanderbilt grad came back to West End with the NBA Championship in tow and a full day of festivities waiting. Ezeli, a first-round draft pick in 2012 after receiving his degree, was instrumental in helping the Warriors win their first NBA title in 40 years. He is just the second Commodore to win a NBA championship, joining former center Will Perdue, who did it four times.
“This trip has been very special,” Ezeli said from inside familiar Memorial Gym. “Everybody here is excited. I’m glad I get to celebrate this whole championship season with everybody here at Vanderbilt. This has got to be a first where somebody is bringing the NBA trophy back to Vanderbilt. So I’m happy I get to do that.”
Ezeli arrived in Nashville on Friday night and then headed to campus early Saturday morning.
He joined the set of the pregame show SEC Nation and crew Joe Tessitore, Tim Tebow, Greg McElroy, Marcus Spears, Paul Finebaum and Kaylee Hartung. Ezeli even played one-on-one with Finebaum, dunking over the SEC Network radio personality. Ezeli wondered around campus, from mingling with fans on the Commons to taking his photo with the trophy in front of the Cornelius Vanderbilt statue.
Ezeli then returned to Memorial to film video promos for home basketball games and then had a photo shoot on the court. After visiting coach Kevin Stallings and the rest of the coaching staff, he headed out to Vandyville to tailgate.
He was on the sidelines during for Vanderbilt’s bout with Georgia, hanging out with former Commodore and PGA Tour standout Brandt Snedeker. Ezeli walked out with Stallings to midfield to do the honors during the pregame anchor ceremony. It was a memorable weekend for Ezeli, who said he owes a lot to the lessons he learned at Vanderbilt.
“I laid a lot of my foundation here in school. I think of it as home,” Ezeli said. “When I came here I felt like I was a kid and I had a lot to learn – basketball-wise, off the court, life in general. I learned a lot when I was here. I had to learn a lot of values and a lot of morals.”
WOMEN’S TENNIS TEAM HONORED: The reigning national champion women’s tennis team was honored at halftime.
The entire Commodores squad, head coach Geoff Macdonald and associate head coach Aleke Tsoubanos and support staff was recognized for capturing the program’s first national championship in May.
Mayor Karl Dean awarded Macdonald, Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and athletics director David Williams with an official city proclamation honoring the achievement. All members of the team and staff were also given miniature national championship trophies.
RUSH HOUR: Saturday’s game featured two of the best young running backs in the SEC — Georgia sophomore Nick Chubb and Vanderbilt redshirt sophomore Ralph Webb.
Chubb maintained his status as an early-season Heisman Trophy candidate by rushing for 189 yards on 19 carries. The preseason All-American averaged 9.9 yards per attempt, and his highlight package included a 68-yard run in the first half. As he so often does, he gained considerable yardage after initial contact on many of his carries.
“We had a hard time stopping Chubb today,” said Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason. “We need to be better when it comes to finishing. We’ve got to make sure we can get him on the ground. We didn’t get him on the ground enough. We had hats around him. We had guys there. But you’ve got to make plays.”
For Vanderbilt, Webb was limited to 68 yards on 25 carries, but still compiled 125 yards of total offense by hauling in a career-high seven passes for 57 yards.
“(Georgia) did a great job with their run defense,” Webb said. “We’ve just got to get more push, open up some more holes so we can get the run game going so … we can open it up for the wide receivers.”
RAYFORD ON A ROLL: Vanderbilt wide receiver Latevius Rayford continues to emerge as one of the Commodores’ most dangerous play-makers.
The junior from Memphis caught seven passes for 57 yards Saturday, including a seven-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Rayford has 28 catches for 262 yards with a pair of touchdowns during Vanderbilt’s past six games (which includes the final four games of last season). His 57-yard performance on Saturday represented the second-best of his career.
“Today, I just tried to work my hardest to make sure I get open,” said the soft-spoken Rayford, “and make sure my quarterback (could) find me. … I was trying to make sure to collaborate with the other receivers and work hard against a good Georgia team.”
MASON REMAINS UPBEAT: Despite Saturday’s loss — and the frustrations that came with it — Mason said he believes the Commodores are moving in the right direction.
“I thought our guys competed,” said Mason. “Again, we had opportunities there in this ball game. These kids never gave up in playing this game. That is the thing for me that I got to continue to look at as we grow, these guys have got to continue to play hard — because the work is going to pay off.”
The Commodores are home again next week, hosting Austin Peay.
