Dores in Tempe

The Dores (2) play Oklahoma (3) in the Tempe Regional today at 4pm CT. The game will be available free via webcast (need IE to view). All baseball info here, including Joe Fisher's interviews.

Dores Down Gators

The Dores avenged a series sweep this past weekend, beating Florida 7-3 in the first round of the SECT. They face LSU Thursday at 6pm EST.

Another Dore Inks

Stamper makes 7 looking to make a name in the bigs

http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/052108aaa.html

ESPN Ranks Vandy's Class at 13

It's the highest ESPN has ever ranked us. Half of the SEC is in the top 20.

Vanderbilt Athletics Announces Huge Renovations

Great news for the athletic program. Hope they add some room in the rafters at Memorial Gymnasium, as the incoming can't-miss quartet will be filling the arena with banners.

Buy Shan, his Stock's Undervalued

SEC Player of the Year, 2nd Team All-American, Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for good citizenship = 40th best prospect in this year's draft? 

With just 6 weeks until the June 26th NBA Draft, it looks like Shan Foster will fall to the Second Round. According to ESPN's draft expert chad forde, the negatives on Shan read like the following. "Foster is pretty one-dimensional. He's not very athletic. Needs to add strength. Poor ball handler. He rarely gets to the line." As this highlight reel indicates, I take issue with those statements. I will perhaps tackle each of these in the coming days. For now,

Not very athletic? Ask Rick Stansbury, whose Mississippi State team suffered a 9/9 three point barrage from Shan Foster late in the season. As the founding member of the Daily Dore Fatt Popp will tell you, that clip will give your goosebumps goosebumps. That video also revealed that it sure looked like Stansbury told his team to guard 32. Any basketball purist will tell you that to take a non-athletic shooter out of the game, simply put a hand in his face. That video also revealed that that February night it didn't matter. See, athletic players make plays regardless of who's guarding them. Shan proved that night why he is an athlete.

Good Read on Hoops Class from Rivals

STALLINGS TALKS 2008 CLASS
"Stallings is bringing in what Rivals.com recruiting analysts say will be a possible top-15 class, which easily would be his best in the rankings during his tenure at Vanderbilt. It consists of four four-star prospects, each in the Rivals150: point guard Brad Tinsley (No. 93 overall, No. 16 at his position), power forward Steve Tchiengang (87th, 27th), and small forwards Jeff Taylor (52nd, 10th) and Lance Goulbourne (72nd, 12th).
Kevin Stallings has put together a talented 2008 recruiting class for Vanderbilt.How did he do it?
"It certainly has to do with the successes we've experienced as a program the last four to five years (including three NCAA Tournament appearances and two Sweet 16s)," Stallings said. "It also helps when guys can look and say, 'Well, they've had the last two players of the year in the league (Derrick Byars and Shan Foster), and you go there and guys get better and you have a chance to play and show what you can do and have success.' "
Stallings diplomatically said it was too soon to say which player would have the greatest immediate impact, but Taylor is the highest-ranked player, and with the departure of Foster, Taylor certainly looks as if he'll have every chance to start from Day One.
"We've really helped ourselves," Stallings said. "We have four quality guys who are going to come in and impact our program hopefully sooner rather than later. I think so much of who emerges depends on need.
"The person who impacts the quickest is not always the one who impacts the most over time. Sometimes it is, but I think all four of them are capable of coming in and having an impact next year. I'm not saying all four will, but I think all four are capable."
Not to be forgotten in the class is redshirt freshman Festus Ezeli, a 6-11 center with a 7-5 wingspan. Ezeli has been clashing in practice for the past year with A.J. Ogilvy, and Stallings says Ezeli, a Nigerian, has made great strides and should provide a major presence defensively."

Gators Claim Series and Standing

Disappointing run for the Diamond Dores as they follow up the UGA series with another series loss to the bums from Gainesville. On the upside, SEC invite thrown Vandy's way Thursday

http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/051608aac.html

Vandy Athletics Builds Excitement

As the success of the overall athletic program continues, ticket sales for the Dores upcoming gridiron season yields impressive numbers.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/SPORTS0602/805130340/1036/RSS020602

Dores Fight Dawgs Tough but UGA Takes Series

http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/051108aaa.html

State of Basketball in the State of Tennessee

Last year, the state of Tennessee for the first time certainly in recent memory and probably ever had 3 teams slated for top 4 seeds by the NCAA Basketball Committee. This fact combined with little known Nashville's Belmont University nearly knocking off Duke in the first round of the NCAA West Region made 2007 certainly a strong year for the state's basketball programs.

The future is showing no signs of slowing for the state's basketball programs if a little known recruiting service known as Rivals is any indication. After taking a look at Rivals.com recent top 100 rankings of prep basketball recruits, the state of Tennessee is in the lead with 11 committed prospects with Vanderbilt and Memphis leading the way with 4 prospects inked and Tennessee lagging behind with three. Just as bonus information, Florida is second with 9, and North Carolina, home to historic programs such as NC State, Duke and UNC is third with 7.

From this data above, one can only reasonably conclude that the best basketball located in I-40 is not Tabacco Road which connects these three aforementioned ACC powerhouses, but rather it's the portion of I-40 that stretches across Tennessee connecting Memphis to Vanderbilt to Tennessee.

Pedro Silences Memphis Fans

The Truth Moves On

A fantastic piece on the Commencement of The Truth. A model student-athlete who makes all Commodores proud--

Dores Take Game One

# 11 VU takes down # 8 UGA. De la Osa keeps up his torrid pace with 4 RBI.

From Malibu to Nashville

A great read on Brad Tinsley from the Oregonian.

Goulbourne Highlight Video

The dude is sick--he can stroke the three, create his shot, drive to the hoop, and throw down nasty 2 point dunk shots. Highlights HERE.

In baseball news, the Dores knock off Texas Tech 7-2. Huge series this wknd against #8 UGA.

Dores Blank Memphis

8-0 win over the intrastate rival--

Tinsley Sings LOI

Brad Tinsley singed his National LOI with the Dores, finalizing a freshman class that will prove to bring success and excitement to Memorial Gym.

Tinsley on Cover of ESPN

Under the title "Vandy Dandy," ESPN gives Tinsley front page treatment.

"ESPN 100 combo guard Brad Tinsley verbally committed to Vanderbilt over the weekend, according to the Nashville City Paper. Tinsley, who was released from his scholarship to Pepperdine, narrowed his decision to Vandy and Wake Forest. "After he visited Vanderbilt, he decided Wake was the only other school that had a shot at him," his father, Carl Tinsley, told the paper. "It was a matter of coaching staffs, players and the depth chart. Those schools are pretty similar. There's not a lot of difference between them."

ESPN's Recruiting Coordinator Joel Francisco knows why the talented Tinsley had over 20 offers after gaining his release. "He has improved since last year and is now a sure-fire division one point guard, although he's also an excellent scorer," Francisco said. "He played off the ball most of the time last summer, but now he appears to be very comfortable running the point. His point guard skills - most notably his decision making - have developed and he's always been an outstanding shooter. He is very good in the open court and has the ability to dish out some dazzling assists."

"He's a good athlete, but not great, as he struggled against quicker opponents during the spring and summer," Francisco continued. "In addition, he had a tendency to wear down late in games. In the half court set Tinsley is a great shooter with a smooth release, but he needs room to get it off and he has problems separating himself from defenders with the dribble because he's not overly quick. But he has a high basketball IQ and is one of the better competitors on the west coast. Overall, he should be a solid combo-guard in a motion offense, due to his prolific shooting touch and savvy."

Tinsley joins a recruiting class that includes fellow ESPN 100 signees Jeff Taylor (Hobbs, N.M./Hobbs) and Lance Goulbourne (Princeton, N.J./The Hun School) as well as Steve Tchiengang (Montverde, Fla./Montverde)."

City Paper on Tinsley

A good article with quotes from Tinsley's father and Rival's prediction that Vandy's recruiting class will rank in the top 15. (How could it not?)

Sweep City

The Dores take care of the vawls in dominant fashion, as Dominic de la Osa becomes the all time hits leader in Vanderbilt history.

What a great weekend for the Vandy Athletics--Stallings and co. ink Brad Tinsley, and the Diamond Dores secure their second straight sweep against ew tee.

We Don't Rebuild, We Reload

Brad Tinsley, a 4 star Point Guard from Oregon, has finally made his decision--he's bringing his skills to Nashville and rounding out the best recruiting class in Vanderbilt Men's Basketball history.

Tinsley joins Lance Goulbourne, Steve Tsciechgang, and Jeff Taylor in the Top 100 Recruit Club. What a fantastic coup by Stallings and his staff.

The DD can't wait for hoops season.

On another, the Diamond Dores begin a crucial showdown with the Viles today.

Taylor Signs With Vanderbilt

Jeff Taylor, ranked #52 in the rivals top 100, officially signed with Vanderbilt on Wednesday. He joins Steve Tchiengang (#87) and Lance Goulbourne (#72) in the freshman class.