Feb. 23, 2011
— Game Postponed Until Friday —
Learn about World Vision | Florida Preview
Vanderbilt’s senior class of Jence Rhoads (Slippery Rock, Pa.), Rebecca Silinski (Birmingham, Ala.) and Hannah Tuomi (Thornton, Colo.) arrived in the summer of 2007 from all different regions of the country, but as the class prepares to play its final home game on Thursday against Florida (8 p.m. CT), it will depart Vanderbilt as one of the closest knit and most successful classes in school history.
That bond did not develop instantaneously, but rather over time. If you were to take a time machine back four years ago to when they were freshmen, not even they could have imagined they would be at where they are now.
“We’ve come a long ways since we first met,” said Rhoads who took her official visit with Silinski. The two committed shortly there after, but they didn’t meet Tuomi until the first day of summer school. The fourth member of the class, Chanel Chisholm transferred to Cincinnati after her sophomore season.
Although Rhoads and Silinski did not know each other before the visit, they quickly learned they had similar roots in the Keystone State. Rhoads is from just north of Pittsburgh, where Silinski was born and still has many family members in the area.
Despite the commonalities between the two, it was not a shoe-in the Silinski and Rhoads would hit it off right away.
“When she called me after we committed to see if I wanted to room with her, I wasn’t so sure,” Rhoads said.
Despite her initial reluctance, she agreed to room together as freshmen … and almost four years later, the two are still rooming together.
Now, the two are almost inseparable.
“They have their own language that I call the Jence-Becca language,” said Vanderbilt Athletic Trainer Michele Loftis. “The two can look at each other and can have an entire conversation without saying a word.”
When the two first met Tuomi, they thought they were meeting a friend of their teammates and not another member of their freshman class.
“I remember Jence and I asking each other who that girl was that was with Jen (Risper) and Tina (Wirth),” Silinski said. “We thought she was just a friend and then it turned out to be Hannah.”
Since those early beginnings, the trio has developed a friendship that has grown more tightly over the years.
On the court, the class has led the Commodores to three straight NCAA Tournaments, two Sweet 16s and an SEC Tournament Title, while also winning over 70% of its games. With the calendar about to flip to March, the list of accomplishments could very well be expanding.
Off the court, each individual has been an outstanding representative of Vanderbilt in the classroom and in the community, while having to deal with numerous injuries and personal obstacles that would have been too much for some individuals to overcome. Each member of the class points to those struggles as key moments in forging their relationships.
“I think adversity in this situation brought us together and brought us closer because we could talk to each other about it and we could relate to situations,” Rhoads said. “We’ve been through a lot together and we’ve leaned on each other to get through those times.”
As seniors the three are living together for the first time and will all graduate in May. Tuomi and Rhoads look to continue their basketball careers going forward, while Silinski plans on attending law school – possibly at Vanderbilt.
If the class can point to its favorite memories during their career, they look back at the 2009 season when they beat No. 3 Auburn, won the SEC Tournament and defeated Tennessee. Mostly, however, each points to the memories off the court with teammates as being most vivid.
The seniors have had tremendous success over their careers, but it has not come without blood, sweat and tears. In fact, if there is one thing this group wants fans to remember it for more than anything it is work ethic.
“I want to be remembered as being one of the hardest working classes in all aspects on and off the court,” Tuomi said. “I hope fans know that we are genuine, hard working and willing to do anything to help others.”
That generosity toward others will spill over to Thursday’s game when the senior class continues its theme of promoting a community service endeavor during its final game.
This year’s class has chosen to work with World Vision, and has sponsored a child in poverty. World Vision is an organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Vanderbilt will distribute 500 World Vision t-shirts and 2,500 wristbands at the door.
Like with most anything else enjoyable in life, time has flown by for this group’s tenure at Vanderbilt. The lessons learned and experiences had are something the three believe are invaluable.
“We’ve had struggles and everything we’ve gone through will make us a better person in the end,” Tuomi said. “Coach Balcomb always prides herself on teaching life lessons and there are a lot of life lessons you can take from basketball. The experience of being a student-athlete and working as a team, being schedule regimented and learning time management are incredible lessons that will benefit us.”
Although all three will go their separate ways after graduation, there is a common bond that will keep them together for the rest of their lives.
“We talk about how different we were as freshman and how no one would have thought the three of us would be living together as seniors,” Silinski said. “We get a long great now and have a lot more things in common than we thought we did. I think the three of us have been through so much and that is what brought us together and will keep us together.”
