Nov. 6, 2017
Vanderbilt Athletics is honoring the men and women who serve and have served our country this week. VUCommodores.com will feature daily content all week expressing the appreciation for our military. This weekend the Commodores continue our Salute to Service at our basketball doubleheader when women’s basketball takes on Middle Tennessee and the men’s team squares off against Austin Peay. We’ll conclude our Salute on Saturday – Veteran’s Day – at the football game against Kentucky. Details for Saturday’s game will be released later this week.
Head coach Derek Mason will represent USMC Sgt Kevin Balduf on Saturday. Balduf was a lifelong Vanderbilt fan and his mother – Jenny Newsom – has worked at Vanderbilt for 25 years.
Members of the women’s basketball team have a special bond to the military.
Two of our very own served in the military prior to joining the Commodores. Associate director of strength and conditioning Darren Edgington and assistant strength coach Josh Wilhite serving in the Navy and the Marines, respectively.
The Commodores’ Deep Water uniforms will feature a special Salute to Service on Saturday. Vanderbilt is partnering with Medals of Honor to put the names of fallen soldiers on the back of the jerseys with the soldiers’ military branch patch on the front.
Tommy Openshaw and Ean Pfeifer discuss how their lives were shaped by their family members who served in the military.
We began the week with Athletics Director David Williams and Deputy AD/SWA Candice Lee discussing their fathers’ roles in the military. Williams’ father served as a member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen while Lee’s father served in both the Air Force and the Army.
Check back each day for fresh content regarding our Salute to Service.
