NASHVILLE, Tenn. — At the start of the academic year, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier encouraged students to remember they are part of a community “doing remarkable things.” With a common purpose and relying on long-held values, he reminded them, today’s students have the opportunity to set new standards of individual and collaborative excellence.
Vanderbilt student-athletes spent the ensuing months showing the campus, conference and country just how remarkable Commodores can be.
Compete against the best? Lead the way? Live up to a legacy?
No matter the circumstances, each victory and accolade spoke to the same theme, the statement growing louder as team after team and athlete after athlete met the moment.
This is who we are. This is what we do. This is Vanderbilt.
“This memorable year is further proof of what is possible for Vanderbilt Athletics,” said Candice Storey Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director. “Across each of our sports, Vanderbilt student-athletes, coaches and staff competed with a tireless commitment to reaching the full heights of their potential. Commodores challenged each other to grow, and what they achieved, together, challenges all of us to be relentless in pursuit of even better days.”
From every corner of the Frist Athletics Village to the fairways of Vanderbilt Legends Club and beyond, from the Birmingham Bowl to an SEC title in Hoover to NCAA Tournaments aplenty, Vanderbilt student-athletes and teams transformed 2024–25 into a year that will live long in the memory and a blueprint for even bolder ambitions ahead.
“I commend our student-athletes, coaches and staff on their hard work and remarkable achievements,” Diermeier said. “Working together to make each other better as a paradigm of radical collaboration, Vanderbilt student-athletes set new standards of excellence and brought us together as sports uniquely can. They remind us of what it means to dare to grow. As we embrace new models that support excellence in education, research and athletics alike, underscored by our recent launch of Vanderbilt Enterprises, we remain proud but not satisfied.”
Championship Collaboration
Nearly 75 percent of Vanderbilt programs either competed in NCAA Championships or bowl games or saw student-athletes advance to NCAA Championships.
In some cases, success meant going where no Vanderbilt team had gone before. When E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Football Clark Lea’s team memorably defeated No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 5, the 40-35 victory marked the first time in program history that the Commodores took down the nation’s top-ranked team.
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Soon thereafter, head coach Darren Ambrose’s women’s soccer team secured the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance by eliminating No. 1 seed Florida State in Tallahassee, Florida, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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And for the first time ever, Vanderbilt’s football and men’s and women’s basketball teams were all ranked nationally during the same academic year.
Success also required reclaiming ground. Proving itself far more than a one-week wonder, football reached its first bowl game since 2018 and claimed its first bowl title since 2013 by outlasting both Georgia Tech and inclement weather in the Birmingham Bowl.
In head coach Mark Byington’s first season, men’s basketball defeated four top-15 opponents for the first time since the 1980s. And when head coach Shea Ralph’s women’s basketball team reached the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row, it meant that men’s and women’s basketball shared March Madness for the first time since 2012.
Success also requires maintaining established excellence, something that is harder than ever as competition grows more fierce. Head coach Tim Corbin’s VandyBoys won the SEC Tournament for the fifth time overall, the fourth time under Coach Corbin and the third time in the past six tournaments—en route to a national-best 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
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Remarkably, the VandyBoys don’t even have sole possession of the longest postseason streak on campus: Head coach John Williamson led women’s bowling to the NCAA Tournament for the 19th consecutive season.
Thomas F. Roush, M.D., and Family Men’s Golf head coach Scott Limbaugh led his team to the NCAA Championships for the 11th consecutive year, while the women’s golf team turned a stirring regional comeback into a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships.
Individual Inspiration
What was the most Vanderbilt moment of the year? The celebration that spilled into the Cumberland River? Back-to-back basketball wins against Tennessee in the span of scarcely 24 hours? There are many worthy candidates. But it’s hard to do better than Mikayla Blakes setting an NCAA Division I women’s basketball record for most points in a game by a true freshman—and then breaking it two weeks later with 55 points against Auburn, to set the women’s record for all freshmen and any SEC player.
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Maybe it was women’s tennis’ Célia-Belle Mohr becoming the first student-athlete in that championship-winning program’s history to be honored as a five-time All-American. The Frenchwoman swept to singles and doubles honors alongside freshman Sophia Webster.
Proud but not satisfied, indeed.
As the conference and the country took notice, Vanderbilt earned respect. Blakes earned the Tamika Catchings Award as the nation’s best freshman. Lea’s peers honored him as SEC Coach of the Year, and mesmerizing quarterback Diego Pavia was named SEC Newcomer of the Year.
Mark H. Carter and Family Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mark Byington was named 2025 Skip Prosser Man of the Year in recognition of his success on the court and his exemplary moral integrity.
Even the architect got in on the action: Lee was a recipient of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics AD of the Year Award and one of five finalists for the Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year.
Community Building
Commodore Nation was front and center throughout the year. Fans filled FirstBank Stadium to capacity for five of football’s seven home games. Memorial Magic took on new life—and new decibels—throughout basketball season. Around Nashville and across the country, text message chains blew up and old friends reconnected as the Dores thrived.
That’s the power of sport, its ability to bring people together. But as the past year proved, that’s a two-way street. The power of a community brought Vanderbilt to new heights.
Vanderbilt dedicated the state-of-the-art Huber Center for men’s and women’s basketball, made possible by George and Cathy Huber and legions of Commodore fans who continue to support Vandy United, part of the Dare to Grow campaign.
Alumnus Mark H. Carter, who spent some of his favorite undergraduate hours in Memorial’s student section, endowed the men’s basketball head coaching position.
Former Vanderbilt All-American and NFL standout Casey Hayward committed the largest- ever philanthropic gift by a football alumnus who played professionally.
Vanderbilt supporters didn’t just come along for the ride in 2024–25. They fueled the rocket.
Now, a new year awaits. And with it, following final approval of the House settlement, a new era of collegiate athletics. Even as Commodores reached new competitive heights this past year, preparations continued to lead the way and create the conditions for success in the new model. In May, Vanderbilt appointed global hospitality leader Markus Schreyer as CEO of the new Vanderbilt Enterprises, which has an initial focus on enhancing Vanderbilt Athletics resources, support for student-athletes and the fan experience.
From the opening serve of volleyball’s first home game on Wyatt Lawn, 2025–26 is again sure to be a year unlike any other.
Because more than anything, 2024–25 proved that we’re just getting started.
