Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City, 7,330 yards, par 71

Defending champion: Dustin Johnson

Last week: Justin Thomas prevailed on the first hole playoff over Luke List as he birdied 18 while List parred it to capture the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on the Champions Course at PGA National.

TV this week: Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 1-6 PM CT; Saturday, 11 AM-2 PM GC, 2-5 PM NBC; Sunday, 11 AM-1 PM GC, 1-5 PM NBC.

Weather, Sunny 78-79 all 4 days. Winds light, 5-7 MPH.

Winner

I’m going with this 27 year old Englishman who finished 2nd to Dustin last year shooting a 5 under, 66 on Sunday and sinking a 40 foot putt on 18 to capture second place over Jon Rahm. He finished 4th last week at the Honda shooting 1 under 69 on Sunday. He went 70, 68.67, 69 for the four days. He’s also already won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, played in the United Arab Emirates in January, where he finished -22 for the four days. I’m seeing this guy breaking out this weekend and capturing the WGC Mexico event.

Tommy Fleetwood

Coach Scott Limbaugh took over the Vanderbilt Men’s golf team in 2012-13 and has proceeded to lead the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament all 5 years including Elite 8’s in 2015 and 2016,  and a Final Four in 2017. The results are superb. 

Scott is not only a tremendous developer of talent, but he’s also an exceptional recruiter, and with the makeup of his 2018 team, this could be an even more spectacular season for Vanderbilt Men’s Golf.

The 36 year old Limbaugh’s 6th team is headlined by senior Theo Humphrey, juniors Patrick Martin and Will Gordon, and sophomore John Augenstein. They are a phenomenal quartet. And there’s depth behind them. So this season looks very promising to be a special one.

I spoke with Scott a couple of weeks ago before his team competed in the Suntrust Gator Invitational, which we won at -18, 9 clear of second place and No.7  Florida in a field of nationally ranked teams that was loaded with talent. The team will tee it up at  Los Cabos, Mexico this Saturday through next Tuesday in the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate featuring No.1 Oklahoma State, No.5 Baylor, No.12 Cal, No.13 Stanford, and No.16 Texas among the nationally ranked teams in the 16 team field. 

We are presently ranked No.2 in the latest Golfweek rankings. A&M is No.3, Auburn is 6, Alabama is 7, Florida is 8, LSU is 9, Arkansas is 20 and Missouri is 24. So the competition nationally and in the conference is fierce. But with Coach Limbaugh and our 2018 roster, we’ve got a chance to do some really good things. 

Here’s my conversation with Coach Limbaugh.

DW: How do you like your group so far?

SL: Theo  has turned into quite the player. He’s one of the hottest players in the country after the SEC’s last year and through amateur golf and making it the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur. He lost the Jones Cup in a playoff over at Sea Island (in January), so with his consistency, as long as we can keep him in a good spot, we’ll have a chance to be all right. And obviously, with Will, Patrick and John.  We’re starting to see some guys step up who want  to play it looks like.

DW: Now what is the Jones Cup that Theo played in?

SL: It’s a big amateur event at Ocean Forest in Sea Island. Theo didn’t have a bogey in the last 2 days on what was a very hard course. Theo lost in a playoff, John finished tied for 5th, Patrick finished tied for 8th, and Will finished tied for 15th, so it was a good showing for us, real good. 

DW: Coach, I was looking at your stats from the fall and it looked like Will had a good fall too.

SL: He had a great fall. He’s gotten back to his form from his freshman year. So we’ve got him in a good spot. When he’s playing at a high level, he’s got a whole different gear, more than a lot of people. He just won the East Lake Cup individually and won both of his matches we played over there, and he just brings a dynamic to the team. He’s got an infectious personality, so those are good things.

Note: The East Lake Cup was a four team competition against the 2017 Final Four contenders last season. National champion Oklahoma, runner-up Oregon and Final Four contenders VU and Illinois competed. We emerged victorious.

DW: Coach in the Elite Eight when Patrick sank that putt on 18  to win his match your reaction was awesome. What does that experience do for this year’s team?

SL: It kind of started at the SEC’s last year. As well noted, we had struggled with match play up until that point. Last year was the first time for match play in the SEC Championships (which we won). We played really well in the stroke play and won that and the biggest match of the year was when we were able to get over the hump against Ole Miss in the first round, as Matthias (Schwab) makes a huge putt on 18 to beat Braden Thornberry to win his match and kind of got a monkey off our back I felt like. It kind of relieved us. And John Augenstein did some absolutely heroic things in the final 2 matches against Florida and Texas A&M to win it. He won 2 matches in extra holes which was great. We played in the nationals and played well and won the stroke play by 11 or 12 shots. We lost in the first round the past 2 years of the national championships, so to get over it was big. That was a well talked about celebration. I’m an emotional coach and I had walked every hole with Patrick and he kind of let the guy hang around in that match and then he made a big putt to win it. We see it as stuff we practice every day. And to see a guy rise to the occasion like that, and to see it as a coach, especially for a kid like Patrick who you coach, you just get excited for him. It’s not about me, it’s about a kid living their dream out.

****Note: Matthias was a senior last season and the No.1 player on the team. He is now on the European Tour with hopes of getting on the PGA tour)   Thornberry was the 2017 individual national champion from Ole Miss who is back and ranked as the top player in the country by Golfweek.****

DW:  This team is not too much different though you don’t have Matthias. How good can this team be?

SL: This team won’t ever look like the team from last year, and that does not mean this team can’t be better and accomplish more, because we can. But you’re don’t get there by thinking or talking about those things. As a coaching staff, we’re trying to find the right pieces and also keeping those guys, who have been here a while and done a lot of things, real focused. And honestly, I’ve really liked the leadership that our upperclassmen have shown with the team. They trust us, Coach Todd and myself,  to find the right pieces. But it’s not about what Coach Todd and I do, it’s about who’s going to step up and take ownership. Who’s the guy who wants the shot, who wants the ball. Matthias is a full member on the European Tour, so he’s over there, so it’s not going to do us any good to worry about where he is. We’re starting to see guys like Harrison Ott, a freshman from Wisconsin, Mason Grennberg, a redshirt freshman from Dallas, guys like that starting to show themselves and do the right things in the offseason.

**** Assistant coach Gator Todd is our first year assistant taking the place of Dusty Smith, who is not the coach at Mississippi State.****

DW: Coach do they take the top 5 scores or is it 4?

SL: Everything we do is 4 in stroke play. We play 5 and count 4.

***In match play, 5 players compete.****

DW: You’ve got some talent with that top 4

SL: Yes, I think that’s fair to say. We do feel good about that. We want those other guys to focus on what they’re doing and not worry about the top 5. Somebody will step up, and if not, ,we’ll just be another team. We’ve already had a good fall season. We’ve just reset our focus this spring. It’s a long golf season from the fall. They play in a lot of tournaments in the summer, so fall is just a grind. The challenge for me is to not wear them out. Yes, we like what we see from the team, I will say that. Our leadership is good. We’re not where we need to be physically, yet. But I like what we’re seeing from a leadership standpoint early on.

***Here’s the roster for the 2018 team***

John Augenstein, Sophomore, Owensboro, Kentucky

Michael Decker, RS SR., Pebble Beach, California

Will Gordon, JR., Davidson, N.C.

Mason Greenberg, RS freshman, Southlake, Texas

Theo Humphrey, SR., Greenwich, CT.

Andrew Jacobs, RS Sophomore, Houston, TX

Patrick Martin, JR., Birmingham, AL.

Harrison Ott, FR., Brookfield, Wisconsin

Cooper Sears, FR., Mount Juliet, TN.

Luke Zieman, FR., Nashville, TN. 

 

Luke List

Luke had a spectacular PGA  tournament this past weekend at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Luke lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas after finishing -8 for the tournament in regulation. Luke lost on the first hole of the playoff. If Luke can keep his accuracy with his driver in good shape, and his putting keeps cookin like it did over the weekend, he’ll win this season, sooner rather than later. Luke moved to No.16 in the Fed Ex Cup rankings. Can’t wait to keep up with Luke some more. Proud of our 32 year old from Seattle, by way of Baylor High School in Chattanooga. Luke is a 2007 graduate of VU. He now lives in Long Beach, California.

 

 

 

Success breeds success, and 59 year old Vanderbilt women’s tennis coach Geoff McDonald has built his program into a powerhouse in college tennis. Mcdonald, now entering his 24th season as the longest tenured coach at Vanderbilt, has taken his team to the NCAA Tournament every year he’s coached in Nashville. Entering this season, McDonald has taken his teams to 18 Sweet 16’s, 3 Elite Eights, 3 Final Fours and the national championship in 2015. Those numbers are stunning, but the humble and highly talented veteran coach is not stopping now. He’s got another tremendous team this season led by amazingly talented and accomplished 5th year senior Astra Sharma and a host of talented underclass women that have a goal of nothing short of a national championship. It’s a long road to get there and it’s incredibly competitive in women’s tennis, both nationally and in the ultra talented SEC, so Geoff takes the Tim Corbin approach to each season and takes it a day at a time. Geoff’s axiom is to get better today. His and his ladies relentless work habits and their intense competitiveness are characteristics of exceptional teams. And that’s what this Vanderbilt women’s tennis team is, they’re elite. 

The Ladies already have top 10 victories over then No.1 Stanford, 7-0, then top 10 team Baylor, 6-1, back in early February, and a national indoors victory over perennial elite team Florida. Our only loss is to No.2 Pepperdine at the National Indoors after we had defeated Wake Forest and Florida to advance.

This team is focused, electric, and has all the components to be exceptional. They’ve already shown that they are. We play at No.24 Northwestern tomorrow at 2:30 PM CT, then we’re at No.1 North Carolina Sunday at 12 PM CT. After those 2 major tests, we’ll navigate the SEC with No.6 Georgia, No.11 South Carolina, No.19 Tennessee, No. 20 Kentucky, No. 26 Auburn, No. 31 Alabama and a host of others in the conference all on the schedule. We are No.7 in the ITA Rankings, the Intercollegiate Rankings, and we are 6-1 overall.

These women are stellar individuals also. Geoff will delve more into that in this upcoming Q&A. Sharma is ranked No.56 in the latest rankings, but that will improve as she played on the professional circuit in the fall and early winter. Junior Fernanda Contreras is ranked 5th in the country, and sophomore Christina Rosca is ranked No. 24. In doubles, Contreras and Sharma are ranked 22nd. But those rankings don’t really represent the talent and character of this team. I spoke with Coach McDonald a couple of weeks ago and here’s what he had to say about his 2018 group. 

DW: Talk about that weekends’ victories over Baylor and Stanford?

GM: We played a match the week before and played pretty well, but the improvement from that match to the next week was stunning. I like the way the team approached the Stanford match.  You’d have to say that Stanford is the best program in the history of the sport. They’ve won 17 NCAA titles in 40 years or something and they win it just about every other year. And when we started playing them, I could tell the players were also playing that huge name and tradition and now that’s no longer the case. We just went out and saw an opportunity to play a very good team and we played a very tough, hard-nosed brand of tennis. I was very pleased with the competitiveness of our team. 

DW: What match was that the week before?

GM: It was the ITA Kickoff weekend. It kicks off the year and it’s 15, four team tournaments. And the 15 winners get 15 of the 16 spots at the National Indoor Championship in Madison (Wisconsin). The 16th team is the University of Wisconsin as host. If you win that kickoff weekend, you get a chance to play in the National Championship, and if you don’t, you’re off for a couple of weeks. Invariably, it’s early and pretty intense pressure and we were not expecting to play phenomenal tennis yet. We were a little rusty in the doubles, and didn’t do that well, but the past weekend (against Baylor and Stanford) we changed up teams and it went quite well. 

DW: And who did you defeat in that tournament?

GM: We beat both Nebraska and Florida State 4-1.

DW: Tell me about the indoors, how that went?

GM: We play the No.1 strength of schedule in the country, so it really prepared us for the season. We historically struggled there, where at times we didn’t win a match there. The year we won the NCAA Tournament we were 0-3 at the Indoors. So we use it as a launching pad to get better. But you can improve by winning. You don’t have to lose to learn. Our mantra is how can we get better. It’s early, we kept it in perspective. I’m a real believer in keeping the perspective relaxed. Intense, but not tense, if that makes sense. It was an early season tournament that made us tougher.

DW: Geoff, there are so many things to like about your team, would you just talk about your players.

GM: I admire them. They’re the epitome of student-athletes. They had a 3.6 (GPA) in the fall in pre-Med, Engineering, Neural Science. They’re known to be a very fair, sportsmanlike team. They represent our school well. They’re tougher than leather. They are gritty competitors and quality people. We had a nice crowd on Sunday for our Stanford match, and people are really starting to appreciate what this team brings. I’m lucky to coach them. They’re something. 

DW: Astra is not ranked highly yet, but she’ll be ranked highly won’t she?

GM: Yeah, she’ll be ranked. She’s got to play a certain number of matches. She’s 4-0 (through Stanford match) and  she’ll break in. She had a really wonderful summer and fall and even into early winter. She went from 980 to 430 in the world on the WTA computer. She won some of the smaller level pro tournaments, and her highlight was winning a tournament in doubles to qualify for the Australian Open. She’s coming on. We’re lucky to to get to watch her play. She’s one of the top 2 or 3 male of female athletes at Vanderbilt. She’s something.

DW: Do you expect Astra to be a No.1 player in the country this year?

GM: I’m not a fan of expectations. We’re much more about day in day out. It all sounds cliche. Expectations are, if you win it’s a relief instead of an accomplishment. In addition to Astra, Fernanda Contreras had the strongest fall in the country and emerged from lower in the lineup to playing Number 1 doubles and Number 2 singles. She’s in Engineering. Christina Rosca is pre-Med, and is No.24 in singles. Emma Kurtz is playing well. They’re all 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 students.

DW: How are your lower 3?

GM: You’ve got Emma Kurtz ar 4. Emma’s good enough to play 1 or 2. That’s the mark of a great team when you can go down the lineup and have many who can play 1 or 2. Summer Dvorak is playing 5 right now, and is ranked top 100 in the country and again one of the more improved players around. And at 6 we have a freshman, Amanda Meyer, who I think could move up in the lineup. She’s a dynamite player. Then you have Emily Smith, who was an All American in doubles last year. She’ll push to get into the lineup. And we have a freshman walk-on, Laura Gish, who’s improving every day. The improvement is contagious, it’s infectious. It’s like any team here like Corbin’s teams. The work ethic is infectious.

DW: Sounds like these ladies have quite a work ethic.

GM: Yeah, it’s astonishing how well they do off the court too.

DW: Geoff, I know you’re a day to day guy, like Tim Corbin, Derek Mason, Bryce Drew, Scott LImbaugh, and you like to see your players get better every day. I know you’re not an expectations coach, but how good can these girls be?

GM: I think we can be very special if they keep their feet on the ground. I’m about to get on the court for the second time today from 3 to 6 with about half of them. So that’s rare. A lot of programs don’t have that commitment to excellence and getting better every day. And I’m a real believer that good teams are driven by the players. When I’m doing my best job, I drive a van and I pay for meals. Really. Because they’re driven. You just teach them and you get out of the way when you need to.

DW: Coach your success in 24 years has been astonishing. 

GM: Everybody talks about the special years, but those first years where we were just slogging it out to get to the Sweet 16, those were some special people. I feel lucky to be at this school. It’s an incredible place. Nashville has grown. The school just keeps improving in the academic rankings. I can’t think of a school that has had greater improvement in terms of the academic rankings. No other school has done what Vanderbilt has done in the last 2 decades. I think we’re 14 or 15 in U.S. News and World reports, and when I got here, we were 22. No one has gone up 7. And that’s a real tribute to the faculty and leadership. It’s good stuff.

 

PGA National Resort, Champion Course, 7,110 yards, Par 70

Last year’s champion: Rickie Fowler, -12, won by 4 shots over Morgan Hoffman and Gary Woodland.

Last week’s winner at the Genesis Open at famed Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, CA.:  Bubba Watson. Bubba finished at -12 and won by 2 shots over Kevin Na and Tony Finau. Looked in Masters form with a sensational 4 rounds of golf going 68, 70, 65, 69 on the par 71 layout. When Bubba has his ball striking geared up and his putter dialed in, he’s tough to beat. He has now won 10 times on tour. At 40, Bubba looks like he could add to his Green Jacket collection from 2012 and 2014.

The weather in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

 A tricky course with the wind. Thursday, Sunny, 83, wind 14-18 MPH; Friday, Sunny, 82, wind, 14-20; Saturday, Sunny, chance of a brief shower, 81, wind, 13-18; Sunday, Sunny, 83, wind, 9-15.

Jack Nicklaus redesigned this course in 1990. George and Tom Fazio designed it originally.

TV, All times Central

Thursday-Friday, Golf Channel, 2-5 PM; Saturday-Sunday, GC, 12-1:45 PM, CBS 2-5 PM.

Key stretch

The Bear Trap, Nos. 15-17, one of the toughest tests in golf

No.15, 179 yards, par 3

Not a long par 3, but the winds make it tricky. There’s a lake in front and to the right and the diagonal green runs left to right. There is a large bunker in back of the green that is very difficult to get up and down from. Jack calls it a par 3, “that can make you swallow twice.”

No.16, 434 yards, par 4

Jack says the players will mostly play an iron off the tee to get the ball in the fairway and to keep their balls out of the three bunkers on both sides of the fairway. The second shot is over water and tricky with the wind. The green is slightly elevated and there is bunker just in front of the water. 

No.17, 190 yards, par 3

Once again, the player is driving over water into the windy conditions they will face this weekend. There is a bunker on the left side. Jack said this hole will present a lot of problems as, he says, it always has in the past. 

No.18, 604 yards, par 5

This is a double dogleg, first left then right. Many bunkers surround this tight driving fairway. There is water to negotiate on the second and third shots. Unless a strong wind is behind a player and he can bomb it, the competitor will most likely take 3 shots to get to this green. The green is perched out over a lake, so the excitement will build on Sunday on this electric finishing hole.

Winner

 

The 33 year old Venezuelan native finished tied for 4th here last year shooting a 64 on Sunday. I like him to capture the crown. He’s won 3 times on tour at the then Bob Hope Classic, now the Career Builder, in 2011, and back to back at the RBC Canadian in 2016 and 2017. I’ll take this bomber to win at the Honda.

Jhonattan Vegas

 

 

Sleeper

Scott Stallings

Trending well. The 32 year old has won 3 times on tour, the last time at the Farmers in 2014. He finished tied for 4th last week shooting 71, 68,68,68, to finish at -9, 3 back of Bubba. He’s got a real shot. 

 

The No. 13 Vanderbilt baseball team (D-1 Baseball Poll, the best in my opinion) had a really fine weekend series against No.25 Duke taking 2 out of 3 and missing by a couple of feet on Saturday of sweeping the series.

The big story was the hitting. The pitching and defense were solid, but our bats were going off against a solid Blue Devils’ pitching staff. 

We won 9-1 on Friday and Sunday, and lost 5-4 on Saturday on a play at the plate to end the game. Our freshman sensation right fielder Pat DeMarco tried to score from second in the bottom of the ninth on an Ethan Paul hit that was bobbled by the second baseman, but Pat was thrown out at the plate by a couple of feet. I liked Pat’s aggressiveness. Our players have always been aggressive running the bases and it can win a lot of games for you. So, no issue with Pat trying to tie the game. It was the third out, so we fell to Duke on Saturday, 5-4. 

But Pat sure made up for it with his hitting. He was 8 for 13 at the plate, .615, with 7 singles and a double. He was spectacular. Junior Stephen Scott was special himself going 6 for 12 in the series, .500, with 2 doubles, a homer and 3 Ribeyes. Stephen played some excellent catcher as well. He’s going to be very valuable to the team this season with his ability to catch and play in the outfield. Really liked Stephen’s play behind the plate. Junior shortstop Connor Kaiser hit .385, going 5 for 13, with 2 doubles and a Ribbie. Centerfielder Alonzo Jones hit .364 with 4 hits in 11 at bats. Jonesy was also 3 for 3 on stolen bases. Jonesy is a weapon for us. He played some good defense in the outfield as well. He’s got world class speed and he’s a phenomenal athlete. Freshman catcher and DH Philip Clarke hit .308 with 4 hits in 13 ABs. Freshman third sacker Jayson Gonzales hit .273  and played some terrific defense. It was a spectacular hitting performance.

But that’s not to discount the pitching and defense. It was pretty darn solid as well. Drake Fellows, Jackson Gillis and Aaron Brown combined to get the job done Friday Night. I’m a fan of all 3, but I’m a huge fan of Jackson. He’s a lefty who can bring it in the mid 90’s and hit upper 90’s some, too. Jackson could very well be in our weekend rotation and could even be our Friday Night starter if he keeps pitching like he did on Friday. Jackson went 3.2, gave up just 1 hit, with 1 walk and 4 K’s. I noticed Jackson last year in the Clemson regional, which we won to go the Corvallis (Oregon) Super Regional, and Jackson was terrific. Really like what Jackson can do for us this season. We got super work out of junior Chandler Day and freshman Mason Hickman, who both pitched extremely well on Sunday. Chandler started and went 4, giving up 3 hits, 1 run, with 2 walks and 6 K’s. Mason was outstanding out of the pen, going 5, giving up only 3 hits, with 2 walks and 7 K’s. Mason has a lively fastball that looks like it hits 95 or so and his change up is stellar as well. Saturday Night we got good work out of  Zach King, who went 4, gave up 4 hits, 2 earned with 0 walks and 4 K’s. Tyler Brown and Patrick Raby came in, in relief, and Rabes struggled a little, but he’s battling a slight injury. Rabes will be back. Trust him 100%. 

On defense, we fielded at a .991 clip which is spectacular and wins a lot of games as well. We only committed 1 error the entire weekend, and made play after play in the field. Connor and Ethan look outstanding at short and 2nd respectively, Stephen Scott looks very good behind the dish, and Jayson Gonzalez will be stellar at 3rd. Outfield gave us solid work, and Julian Infante played well at first, though he had some struggles at the plate. That’ll happen. He’s just gotta work his way out of it. As good of a hitter as Julian is, I expect he will. 

So overall, an exceptional weekend for the team. Up next is Presbyterian tomorrow, Tuesday, at 4 PM CT on SEC Network+ on the computer. Will keep you posted on our team the entire season. We’re going to like this group. 

Men’s Golf

Our No.3 Men’s golf team (Golfweek rankings, the best) went down to Gainesville and basically lapped the field shooting -18 and defeating No.6 Florida by 9 shots, to capture the Suntrust Gator Invitational. No. 25 South Florida was third at -5 and No. 32 North Florida was 4th at -2. No. 20 Arkansas finished +10 for the tournament, and No. 27 Missouri finished +6. There were 16 teams that competed, so superb performance by our guys.

Yesterday, sophomore “Johnny Clutch” Augenstein shot a 64, -6,  and junior Will Gordon shot 66, -4. Senior Theo Humphrey shot even par 70, as did junior Patrick Martin. For the weekend, Will shot 66, 72, 66, to tie for 4th along with Clutch, who went 69, 71, 64. Hayden Buckley of Missouri won the individual tourney at -8. Gordon and Clutch were -6 for the weekend. Theo  shot -4 for the weekend, 68, 68, 70, and Patrick shot 71, 67, 70 for a -2 finish for the tourney. The top 4 scores are taken in all college tournaments. All in all, a sensational performance by our talented group. Really excited about what this group of young studs can accomplish this season. Next up is the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Los Cabos, Mexico, March 4th. It’s a 16 team field with No.1 Oklahoma State playing along with us and some other talented teams in Georgia, Florida State, No.13  Stanford, No. 5 Baylor, and No.20 Arkansas. So excellent field for Coach Scott Limbaugh to get an even better gauge on his group. 

Jeff Roberson

J Robe was named SEC Player of the Week today after averaging 24 points and 9 rebounds last week in victories over Mississippi State and Florida. He was 12 for 12 from the charity stripe against Florida on Saturday and played an exceptional game. Like where JRobe, Riley, Joe Toye, Saben Lee and the guys are right now. Saben had 6 key rebounds Saturday against Florida in our 71-68 victory, which was a massive victory for our team and also for recruiting as we had 5 star signee Darius Garland and high 4 star signee Aaron Nesmith in attendance along with our top guy left, the No.6 player in the country, 5 star Romeo Langford. According to reports, Romeo had an excellent time on Saturday and saw an electrically exciting performance by our team. Darius was recruiting him hard as was Aaron. Wow, we get Romeo to go along with No. 14 Darius, No.7 Simisola Shittu and No. 68 Aaron, that’ll be a top 3 recruiting class and lead to some major excitement for 2018-19 with the players we have returning, the freshmen, and a couple of talented big men transfers who are sitting out this season. And I want this group, particularly, JRobe and Riley, who has also been playing superb basketball for us, to go out as a tournament team. NCAA that is. If you get there a deep run is possible. The way we’re playing we have a shot to finish strong and have excellent momentum heading into the SEC Tournament in St. Louis, March 7-11.

Next up we are at the LSU Bengal Tigers tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 8 PM CT on the SEC Network. LSU just defeated a good Missouri team at home on Saturday, 64-63. LSU is 15-11 overall and 6-8 in the conference. We are now 5-9 and 11-16. Just gotta put some W’s back to back now. LSU freshman point guard Tremont Waters is a superb player averaging 14.7 ppg and 5.8 assists. We’ll put Saben and Riley on him and I like our chances.

Just a tremendous week for the team last week with a last second shot by Riley to defeat State, 81-80, and 2 hugely clutch free throws by Joe Toye, part of a 22-for-24 free throw shooting day for the team, 92%, which led to a massive victory over the Gators. Like where we are very much. Some incredible coaching by Bryce and the staff as well.

On Wednesday, I’ll have a recap of the LSU and Presbyterian games.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning, I’ll have my conversation with stellar VU women’s tennis coach Geoff McDonald about his team. Our women are ranked 3rd in the country by the ITA (InterCollegiate Tennis Association)  and already have major victories over then No.1 Stanford (now No.6), and then top 5 Florida, which is now ranked 18th. Also, we beat a top 10 Baylor team when we played them. We lost to No.2 Pepperdine at the National Indoors, but had defeated Wake Forest and Florida prior to that in the Indoors. We’ve got a super team led by spectacular senior Astra Sharma and a talented group of underclass women. I’ll have my talk with Geoff later this week.

 I’ll also have my conversation with Men’s Golf Coach Scott Limbaugh later in the week.

Some amazing stuff going on at West End.  

The terrific Saben Lee scored 19 points, Riley LaChance chipped in 19 more in a superb effort, Jeff Roberson had another fantastic night scoring 11 and pulling down 7 boards, and Payton Willis sank 3, pinpoint trifectas and finished with 13 points in the Commodores’ 81-66 victory over Georgia before 8,761 fans at Memorial Gym last night. 

Those 4 played extremely well, but it was a superb overall team effort as we moved to 9-15 overall and 3-8 in the SEC. Georgia, a good team like they all are in the SEC with a couple of great teams, fell to 13-10 and 4-7. The awesome Yante Maten, Georgia’s 6’8″, 240 power forward, finished with 20 points and 6 boards. 

The effort and unity of the guys were sensational. These guys still believe we can finish strong and do well in the SEC Tournament and still get in the Big Tourney. I believe in’em. 

Saben was 5-of-7 from the field, 3-of-5 from three, and 6-of-6 from the line. As a team we finished a perfect 16-of-16 from the stripe. That’s phenomenal. Riley was 7-of-13 from the field, including an acrobatic reverse lay-up and an incredibly athletic floater from the side of the basket. He and Saben were going off. It was fun to watch. Jeff was his usual hard hat, lunch pale player who is superb, and Payton was awesome off the bench. To go along with his 13 points, Payton pulled down 5 boards. We out-rebounded them 29-28 and that’s quite an accomplishment with Georgia’s size up front.

 I thought Joe Toye did some really good things driving to the basket and scoring. Joe keeps getting more effective every game. He’s a stud. Clevon Brown played well and keeps improving. Clevon is going to be a highly effective inside player for us this season and he sank his only 3 point attempt. He’s a good shooter from the outside. Ejike Obinna and Maxwell Evans did some important things. Those 2 freshmen are getting more and more effective each game. They’re really good players and are going to help us the rest of this month and in March. Djery Baptiste keeps playing hard and is a selfless player for us. Djery will work hard and keep getting better and better. He has good talent.

We shot 55% from the field, 27-of-49, which is outstanding. We were 11-of-24 from three, a sparkling 46%, and, as I posted earlier, 16-of-16 from the stripe. Georgia shot 48% from the field and was 1-of-5 from triple, 20%. They were 8-of-12 from the line, 67%.

So super effort by the team. @ Arkansas Saturday at 7:30 PM on the SEC Network. They are 16-8 and 5-6 in the SEC. They are a 10th seed right now per Joe Lunardi of ESPN. They defeated South Carolina at home Tuesday Night, 81-65.

We’ll have to play well. They’re a fast, athletic team, so we’ll have to do a good job of taking care of the ball and be very good in our transition defense to prevent fast break points and big runs by the Razorbacks.

If we shoot it well, defend and hold our own or even win the boards, I like our chances. Our guys are still fighting hard. They still believe.

5 Football signees yesterday 

Coach Mason added 5 more players to our now 22 man, 2018 team. Like them all and really like this class overall. Some of them can contribute this coming season and they’ll be awesome players going forward. If Coach can keep adding classes like this, we’ll be a really stellar football team in years to come, and I see this 2018 team being extremely talented and having a chance to win many games as I’ve said in the past.

The talent is there. Maybe a little younger at wide receiver, but really like the talent we have there. O line will be terrific with a lot of talent and depth. Tight end will be excellent with Jared Pinkney and Sam Dobbs among others along with a couple of talented freshmen in Gavin Schoenwald and Ben Bresnahan. Quarterback with Kyle Shurmur, Deuce Wallace and now Allan Walters, will be fantastic. Like running back a lot with transfer Ke’Shawn Vaughn now eligible to play. He was a 4 star out of high school and did very well at Illinois. He should be spectacular. Also like what Khari Blasingame and Jamari Wakefield can do. And we have freshman Ja’veon Marlow coming in who is very talented. We’ll have size and speed at RB. Defense will be led by linebackers Jordan Griffin, Caleb Peart, Josh Smith, safety LaDarius Wiley, cornerback Joejuan Williams along with several studs upfront led by defensive ends Charles Wright and Dare and Dayo Odeyingbo. Those guys are all excellent players and there are many more. Really like the makeup of this 2018 team. They can do some great things.

So really like our material and really high on this 2018 class. Here are the 5 latest additions.

1. BJ Anderson, High 2 star defensive back but totally underrated. BJ is 6’1″, 175 out of Andalusia High School in Andalusia, Alabama. He caught 65 passes for 1,297 yards and 15 TDs as a receiver, and, as a cornerback, he intercepted 7 passes and recorded 28 tackles. He’s a member of the National Honor Society. BJ’s film looks super. Like what we’re getting here. Coach Mason wants him to be a cornerback at Vanderbilt. We’ve got a highly talented, smart cornerback in BJ. His first name is Bridges, but he likes to go by BJ.

2. Amir Abdur-Rahman, Amir is 6’4″, 210 out of Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta. He is an 85, 3 star by 247 and a 5.6, 3 star by Rivals, and he’s a superb player. Love Amir’s length, size and his hands and speed look excellent on tape. He caught 35 passes for 810 yards and 17 TDs in 2017 at Mays. He was second team All State in the talented football state of Georgia and was first team all region. He also lettered in swimming and track. He’s going to be a great one. Amir has size, super speed, and athletic power to break tackles, and, with his speed, make many house calls at Vanderbilt. Really like this signee, Amir, as well.

3. Lorenza Surgers, Lorenza is a 6’7″, 235 pound defensive end out of Panther Creek High School in Cary, North Carolina. A diamond in the rough player, Lorenza is a sacking machine. He’s aggressive, athletic and he’s an excellent tackler. He was an honor roll member all 4 years at Panther Creek. We’re getting a high IQ player both off the field and on it. Lorenza will be a very effective, dominant defensive end for us in the future. 

4. Parker Thome, Parker is a 6’3″, 210 pound punter from Hortonville, Wisconson, who transfers to VU from Columbia University. Parker led the Ivy League and was 11th nationally with a 42.9 average. He helped the Lions rank 3rd nationally in punt return defense. Parker will help immediately. Parker is the third Columbia kicker to punt for an SEC school as Cameron Nizialek of Georgia and Matthew Panton of Kentucky both did it in 2017. Both were very good. Obviously a bright guy and heckuva punter. Looking forward to seeing Parker boom punts for us in 2018.

5. Louis Vecchio, Louis is a 6’4″, 260 pound defensive linemen who could play d end or d tackle for us. He is a transfer from Penn and he is from Orange, California, just south of LA. He lettered all 4 years at Penn and earned first team All Ivy League in 2016 and 2017. He led the Quakers in tackles for loss with 8 1/2 this past season. He also posted 10 1/2 TFLs and 5 1/2 sacks in 2016. I read an article on Louis in the Orange Country Register when he was coming out of high school in 2014, and he had offers from Penn, Harvard, Yale and other Ivies along with a preferred walk-on with Stanford, meaning he would most likely get a scholarship there. He had a 4.6 grade point average in high school. Wow.

So we’re getting exceptional students who are also very serious football players who are serious about helping this team win immediately. Our whole 22 man class looks like that. There could be 1 or 2 more graduate transfers. Will keep you posted on that. Now onto the Spring and start getting ready for 2018. Psyched for the season already. Strength Coach James Dobson has our players getting stronger and faster in the weight room and in getting quicker and faster in speed and agility drills. Love what Coach Dobson does. I know Coach Mason and the staff do. 

 

Super Bowl LII was a masterpiece. Nick Foles was sensational. Tom Brady was just as good. Foles was 28-of-43 for 373 yards, 3 TDs and 1 interception that really wasn’t his fault. Alshon Jeffery was trying to pull in a deep pass by Foles that was pretty well thrown, and Jeffery, in his effort to catch the ball, tipped the ball up in the air. The pass was intercepted on the Patriots’ 1 yard line. Foles also caught the reverse handoff for a touchdown on a brilliant 4th and 1 call by Coach Doug Pederson, that may have been the play of the game along with Brandon Graham’s late sack of Brady that led to a fumble that the Eagles recovered in a 41-33 victory as the Eagles raised their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.  Foles quarterback rating was 106.1. He was the Most Valuable Player.

Brady was pretty spectacular himself completing 28-of-48 passes for 505 yards, 3 TDs and 0 ints, with a quarterback rating of 115.4. 

The Eagles will have a decision to make as Foles will want to start next season, but second year sensation Carson Wentz, who threw 33 TDs this season, will be back from a knee injury, and the Eagles probably will want to go with him. So Foles may go elsewhere. He certainly proved he’s a superior quarterback in the National Football League. Many teams would be lucky to have him.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick aren’t going anywhere. I see 1 or 2 more Super Bowl titles in their futures. They’re too good not to get back to the Big Game. Super Bowl LIII will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on February 3,2019. The Patriots are already the early favorite to win it. But the competition is fierce. The Steelers will be back, as will some good young teams in Jacksonville and Tennessee. Oakland should be better under Jon Gruden. The Houston Texans will have Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt back, so they’ll be a factor. On the NFC side, the Falcons certainly want to play at home in the Super Bowl, the Eagles will have a stellar team again, the Vikings will need to make a decision at quarterback with Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater competing for the job, though one of them will probably leave. But they’ll have a good team. The Saints should be good again as Drew Brees and company will be back. The Cowboys should be better as Ezekiel Elliott will return for a full season to help Dak Prescott and the offense. And the Carolina Panthers and Cam will be a contender. So 2018 should be another terrific season in the National Football League. Can’t wait for it. Certainly one of the all time great Super Bowls last Sunday. 

2018 Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Courses ; Pebble Beach Golf LInks, 6,816 yards, Par 72, Spyglass Hill, 6,953 yards, Par 72 & Monterey Peninsula, 6,914, Par 71

Defending champion: Jordan Spieth, won by 4 shots over Kelly Kraft and by 5 shots over Dustin Johnson.

Last week’s winner: Gary Woodland. Woodland defeated Chez Reavie on the first playoff hole to capture the Waste Management Phoenix Open title. 

Weather: Excellent, 68-70 all weekend, wind 8-12 MPH each day.

TV: All Times Central

Thursday-Friday, 2-5 PM, Golf Channel.

Saturday: 1-2:30 PM, GC; 3-6 PM CBS

Sunday: 12-1:45 PM, GC; 2-5:30 PM, CBS

Key Holes on Pebble Beach

No.8, 428 yards, par 4

This may be the most picturesque part of the course, No.’s 8 and 9. And the toughest stretch. No. 8 features a blind tee shot, and then one of the best second shots in golf as the player hits it over the Pacific to a small green surrounded by sand and water to the right. A mishit shot can lead to a big number. Fantastic hole that will challenge the players’ fortitude.

No.9, 462 yards, par 4

The driving and approach shots will test a player’s accuracy. He must avoid the ocean on the right, with a dropoff on the right side that goes way down to the surf. On the left, there is thick rough. The green is small like most all of Pebble’s greens are and the Poa Annua greens are difficult to putt on with tricky breaks and sometimes bumpy surfaces. Another major challenge.

No.17, 178 yards, par 3

Famous hole in golf history. Tom Watson told his caddie, Bruce Edwards, before his chip shot, that, “I’m not going to get it close, I’m going to make it.” Watson proceeded to chip in and defeat Jack Nicklaus to capture the 1982 U.S. Open, part of 8 majors that Watson won. It was also reported that Watson said to Nicklaus after the chip in, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it.” Not a big fan of that, but Watson was a ferocious competitor.

No.18, 543 yards, par 5

The Pacific runs along the left hand side. A player who draws it needs to be careful. Too much of a fade and the player faces a long second shot. There is a chance to go for it in 2 for guys like Dustin Johnson, Rory, who’s playing, Jason Day, and last week’s winner, Gary Woodland, among others. The green is larger than most, and it’s a very good birdie opportunity. Graeme McDowell made his winning two putt in the 2010 U.S. Open here. Should make for an electric finish on Sunday.

***Dustin Johnson, world No.1, John Rahm, No.2, Jordan Spieth, No.3, Rory McIlroy, No.8, and Jason Day, No.10, are all playing this week. Super field.

Winner

I’m going with the 23 year old. He’s already won this season at the CareerBuilder and he’s trying to get the World Number 1 ranking with a victory and a 45th place or worse finish by Dustin. I don’t think DJ will do that. He’s the 2009 and 2010 champion here, and has 7 top 10 finishes, but I do like the young Spaniard to get the job done at historic Pebble Beach.

Jon Rahm

 

 

Sleeper

Brandt Snedeker

He’s an 8 time champion on tour, and won here in 2013 and 2015, so he knows how to get it done at Pebble. He’s back this year from a shortened season last year due to an injury. He finished 4th here a year ago. Like Sneds to be right there on Sunday and possibly pull it off though Rahm is my pick. 

 

 

I caught up with the great Tim Corbin recently to discuss his 2018 VU baseball team. The prospects look exciting, the team possibly special. Certainly the tools are in place to have a very good year. Leadership will be derived from the junior class. Returning first baseman Julian Infante brings his .315 bat back to the lineup. Julian brings super power as he slugged 11 home runs last year and drove in 66. His first base skills are solid. Like what Julian can do. Second baseman Ethan Paul didn’t hit up to his usual standards last year as he hit .251, but Ethan will bounce back. He did hit 15 doubles last season and is capable of hitting many extra base hits, and hitting 5 to 7 out of the yard this season. Really like Ethan at second. Connor Kaiser will return his exceptional glove to short. Connor is superb on defense and had an excellent summer league hitting the baseball and a solid fall camp. Third base is a position I will leave to Corbs to discuss. It’s still undecided, though there are good candidates. The outfield has athletes, but need to get those positions set as well Alonzo Jones is a candidate for center with his incredible athletic ability. Jonesy just needs to get his bat going, because if he does, his work on the base paths could be game changing for our team. Stephen Scott is a candidate for left with his sensational bat and power, and his defense is improving. J.J. Bleday has super athletic ability to play right field. There are other candidates Corbs will discuss. Patrick Raby will return to lead our pitching staff. Rabes was awesome as our Friday Night starter last year going 10-4 with a 2,73 ERA walking 30 and K’ing 87. He’s a bull, a workhorse and gives us superior leadership on the staff. There are some returning veterans who figure in the rotation as well like Drake Fellows and Jackson Gillis. The bullpen looks promising. Corbs says he’s still figuring out the pitching and said he won’t know until we start playing games how he will use his staff. The catching position is another spot Corbs and I will discuss. We lost the great Jason Delay to graduation and the pros, so we’ll need to fill that spot. 

The schedule is extremely challenging. We open with No.25 Duke at home Feb. 16-18th, a Friday through Sunday series. We’ll face No.24 Houston at Minute Maid Park, home of the Astros, Sunday, March 4th at 6 PM CT. We’ll play at No.11 UCLA in LA on Friday, March 9th at 8 PM CT. We’ll square off with No.7 TCU at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, March 11th at 1 PM CT among other non conference contests. Then there’s No. 1 Florida, March 30th-April 1, at Gainesville and a host of other extremely high quality SEC teams to navigate. In the D-1 Baseball.com preseason poll, there are 8 teams in the SEC ranked in the top 25. Florida is No.1, Arkansas is No.4, Kentucky is No.8, Ole Miss is No.9, A&M is No.10, Mississippi State is No.12, we are No.14, and LSU is No.16. Wow. But that’s the way it is in SEC baseball. It’s loaded with higjly talented players a lot of whom have big league potential. If we can navigate through this conference well, then we’ve got a real shot to do some special things in the postseason. Corbs says this junior class is hungry, they want to do some special things like we’re used to seeing at Vanderbilt. We were 36-25-1 last season and 12-13 in the SEC. It’s not what we’re used to, but we finished strong winning the Clemson regional before falling at Oregon State in the Super Regional. The freshman class was the No.1 rated class in the country by Perfect Game, D1 Baseball. com and Baseball America. 

We’ve got talent to be a very good team this season. Here’s what Coach Corbin had to say about his 2018 Vanderbilt baseball team. 

DW: Coach, Patrick Raby is a bulldog. I know there’s a lot, but what does he bring to the table?

TC: “He’s a leader internally among the team, and he’s a competitor and that’s his strength. I love him. You know what you’re going to get when he gets out there. I just like his fibers as a guy,. He’s just all Vanderbilt, all team. That’s all that matters to him. He’s really well liked and respected and he’s liked for sure and the respect part is just as important as the first part because he’s a quality, quality guy.”

DW: Do you see him being another one of your pro prospect type of guys?

TC: “That’s tough to figure out. He definitely has a chance to go beyond here and play, but it’s tough to say how the outside world sees him. I see him for what he is here, and I like him. He’s got winning tangibles and he’s got winning intangibles. So that’s my focus more than anything. He’s got a chance to play beyond Vanderbilt for sure.”

DW: What about the rest of your rotation, how is that shaping up?

TC: “It’s tough to tell right now. There are a lot of pieces. You could potentially put (righty) Drake Fellows in there, you could put (lefty) Zach King in there, you could put (lefty) Jackson Gillis in that group. You could potentially put Chandler Day, Maddux Conger, we got a freshman named Jake Eder (lefty the staff is high on, can hit 97), too.  I gave you 7 names. It’s tough to pinpoint any of them. And it’s tough, Whitey, to pinpoint who the Friday, Saturday and Sunday guys are. I couldn’t give you that right now. We’ll probably matchup. It’s not going to be like certain years, where we know who will throw on such and such day. I think it’s the case where we’ll match it up with their health and what benefits Vanderbilt best.” 

DW: Do you see Rabes as your Friday Night guy though?

TC: “I’m not sure about that yet. I can’t say that yet. I certainly think he has an opportunity, but I could put other guys in that spot too.”

DW: What about your bullpen Coach, how’s that shaping up?

TC: “Tough to say because a lot of it is kids who haven’t been here before. A guy like Reed Schaller (redshirt freshman, righty) he’s been here but he hasn’t pitched. He’s had limited time since he’s been here. After that it’s (freshman righty) Mason Hickman, (right handed freshman) Tyler Brown, (right handed redshirt sophomore) Justin Wilson has never been on the field. (Right hander) Aaron Brown, freshman, (right hander) Justin Willis, freshman, (left hander) Hugh Fisher, freshman, (left hander). A.J. Franklin is a redshirt sophomore, (Right hander) Eric Kaiser, freshman. A guy like David Bates (righty), freshman. So there is a lot of unknowns. And someone who doesn’t start will go to the bullpen, too. So we don’t have any defined roles yet out of the bullpen though I think the thing is if you have to put us on the spot, we’ll use a lot of them.” 

DW: So a lot of freshman will go for you?

TC: “Yes, I think they’ll have to pitch.”

DW: How are the freshman doing?

TC: “The thing about it Whitey is,  when you turn on the scoreboard and start selling tickets, it’s a different deal. There’s a process young kids have to go through, the building of playing other opponents. But that’s the same thing with Price and Gray (who had to pitch as freshmen). But I’ll tell you something that’s different. A lot of these kids went off and played in college leagues this summer. So I don’t think there’s a lot of awe factor to these kids. They don’t get on the field and they’re awed by it. They’re certainly respectful of what’s going on, which is pretty good and they’re self confidence is pretty good. Again, you need to check your self confidence at the door when Alabama and Vanderbilt play football. That’s when the rubber meets the road. That’s when you find out who you are. It’s great to speak in great tones about these kids and be positive, but the reality is you have to do it against the best teams in the country and right now our schedule is one of the tougher schedules in the country. When it’s all said and done you look back and you go, wow, Holy Cow.”

DW: That schedule is something else. How do you navigate it and if some losses happen, how do you handle them?

TC: “I think restoring team ego is the toughest thing a coach has to do. The ability to take a loss or a win and to measure yourself and measure it properly so your kids can grow from it. Oftentimes you have a hard time with winning because kids get a little bit comfortable with it and I think that’s normal. But a loss you probably critique it more than you should and the point of just being able to keep your head above water throughout the season, is challenging. That 2014 year we won it all, we had trouble winning a series. We lost our first 3 series and you just gotta keep telling your kids, hey we’re good, we’re fine, we’re just running into a lot of good competition too. It’s not necessarily that we’re playing badly, we’re not playing good enough against that level of play to be successful. So you raise the bar mentally and you raise the bar physically, and that’s what playing good competition does, it gives you a barometer of who you really are, and sometimes you don’t know. The key is trying to be real with yourself to understand who you are and how you’re going to play.”

DW: Coach, I know you’re pretty solid at first, second and short with Julian, Ethan and Connor, but discuss those guys, and what about third and catcher?

TC: “Both up in the air. You’ve got a few people at third base. (Freshman) Garrett Blaylock and (freshman) Jayson Gonzalez are vying for that spot, Infante can play in that spot. The catching spot is (sophomore) Tyler Duvall, Stephen Scott and Philip Clarke, a freshman, so I’d say it’s completely up in the air who will play catcher.”

DW: Philip Clarke is a talented freshman isn’t he?

TC: “He is. He had a great summer. He has some ability no doubt about that. He’s certainly competing for that spot no doubt.”

DW: But you feel good about first, second and short?

TC: “I do. Yes.”

DW: Getting to the outfield, I know you might be going with Alonzo Jones in center, but what about the other 2 spots?

TC: “Well, Jonesy can either play left or center. He can do either one, and the reason I say that is (freshman) Pat DeMarco is a center or left kid, and I think we’re trying to look at that and see what benefits us best. And (junior Walker) Grisanti’s played well, so he figures in that left handed mix. And J.J, Bleday has played well and he’s in the left field-right field mix. So I think those 4 guys with Stephen Scott being in the mix with his bat and he’s actually done pretty well defensively. Harrison Ray is a kid that can go out there and play outfield pretty well. He’s a good defensive outfielder. I’d say those positions are pretty open right now.”

DW: So you really don’t have an established center fielder yet?

TC: “Not yet, no.”

DW: Harrison Ray is an interesting player to a lot of people. Can he play third or is he more outfield oriented this year?

TC: “He can play second, too. Yeah, Second, third, outfield, for sure.” 

DW: He’s a versatile guy isn’t he?

TC: “He is. He’s a good athlete.” 

DW: Coach, I know you’re excited about your freshman class, what do you like about them? 

TC: “They’re good baseball players. A guy like (infielder) Garrett Blaylock is a versatile guy who can play a lot of positions. I look at (Jayson) Gonzalez and he’s advanced for a younger kid. (Catcher, Tyler) Solomon is a big, strong switch hitter, he can play first base. I like his work ethic, I like his seriousness about the game, I like his maturity. (Outfielder) Cooper Davis is a Canadian kid who gives us a lot of versatility, I like his future here. (Outfielder Pat) DeMarco is tough, he’s got a hit skill, he can run, he throws the ball well. Austin Martin (infielder), I like his toughness. He’s fearless. He competes at second, short, third. I like those kids. I think they’re pretty good players. And Philip Clarke (catcher), I think he’s got a chance to do some good things this season. Those kids can help us day 1. I’m not going to tell you they’ll start, but they’re going to be in the mix at some point, whether they play regularly or sparingly, they’re going to play. There’s no doubt about that. The pitching, I like the freshman. (Jake) Eder’s got a left handed arm that’s pretty special. I like him. He may not be there right away, but I like him down the road. Ty Brown is a bull, he’s strong. Aaron Brown has a really good changeup for us. (Hugh) Fisher has a tremendous arm and Eric Kaiser has a tremendous arm, too. So it’s a pretty good class when you can get’em all. “

***Note*** The 2017 class was the No.1 ranked class in the country by the most respected websites for college baseball, Perfect Game, Baseball America and D1 Baseball. So this class is special. By the way, 2018 is No.1 in the country as is 2019 and 2020 is No.2 or No.1. Pretty spectacular recruiting by Corbs. it’s hard to get them all in with the pro contracts that are out there, but this year we did get them all, which is pretty superb. 

DW: Quite a team you’re playing starting out with Duke.

TC: “It is because they return their whole team. They’re going to to be good, they’re going to be really good. They have a lot a lot of left handed arms and a lot of quality, quality starters. I thought their center fielder was one of the best players I saw play at the Cape last summer when I went up to see our players play. Duke has a lot of good players playing in the Cape. Knowing that we were going to play them, I thought, man we’ve got our darn hands full with these guys. I thought they were really good and very talented and their centerfielder Herron is one of the best players I saw play at the Cape (Cape Cod League in Massachusetts).”

DW: The schedule is daunting but you like it that way.

TC: “Yeah, you gotta get hit in the face, because if you’re not, you’re not getting a real feel for competition and competing. I just think you gotta get punched. If you’re in it for the long run and all 15 rounds, then the rounds have to be tough. You have to check your players to see who you really are. If you find out who you are and it’s not what you thought it would be, you can attack your weaknesses. If you know what the weaknesses are you’ve got a chance to patch up the boat before it sinks before May. That’s huge.”

DW: How are the facilities?

TC: “Very nice, very lucky to have them. Everything is in place.” 

***Note***The field is ready, the hitting bays, the locker rooms for our team and our pro guys are in place. it’s spectacular.

DW: Finally, Coach, the pro players, Price, Gray, It’s head spinning honestly how well our guys do in the pros. How many guys do we have not only in the big leagues but also throughout the pro system (minors). How many guys will we have in the Majors and Minors this season?

TC: “In the big leagues I would say 10-12 right out of the gate, and then I think we’re bouncing on 40 guys playing minor league baseball. Beyond that, we have 15 Vanderbilt people in coaching positions and front office positions. The head coaching that has come out of our system with Travis (Jewett) at Tulane, and Josh Holliday at Oklahoma State and Erik Bakich at Michigan, Blake Allen at Depaw. The fact that is if you’ve got a situation where development is happening in player and staff positions, then you’ve got a successful situation. And I’m extremely proud of that.” 

DW: You’ve got a new hitting coach and recruiting coordinator?

TC: “Yes. We have Mike Baxter and David Macias. David was part of the 2014 and 15 teams that went to Omaha and won the national championship. Now I’ve got Mike and David as assistant coaches. I feel like I’ve died and gone to Heaven. Former players now coaches. It’s a luxury item. Like you’re in business and you’re running a company and your son is right behind you, you just think, gosh I can’t believe I’m living this dream. I really like their care level for what they’re doing.”

***Note***Baxter, who played many seasons in the minor leagues and big leagues, will be the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Macias will work with the infield and recruit. Scott Brown will be back with the pitchers as pitching coach. 

DW: One last thing, Coach, is Pedro going to be playing on a big league team?

TC: “I think he will. He’ll have to get a minor league contract and work his way up. He’s working out here every day. And, yes, I do. Sooner or later he’s going to have a shot. He’s going to be able to play at a high level. He’s a heckuva kid, too. I love him. He helps me out with anything. He’s great.”   

VU will be televised 11 times this season. Here are the teams, dates, times and network.  All times Central.

1. @ Mississippi State, Friday, March 16th, 6 PM, SEC Network

2. No.16 LSU at VU, Friday, March 23rd, 6 PM, ESPNU

3. LSU@ VU, Saturday, March 24th, 7:30 PM, ESPNU

4. LSU @VU, Sunday, March 25th, 12 PM, ESPN2

5. @ No.1 Florida, Saturday, March 31st, 11 AM, ESPNU

6. @Florida, Sunday, April 1, 11 AM, SEC Network

7. Georgia @ VU, Thursday, April 5th, 6 PM, ESPNU

8. No.9 Ole Miss @ VU, Sunday, April 15th, 4 PM, ESPNU

9. @ Missouri, Thursday, April 19th, 7 PM, ESPNU

10. No.15 Louisville @VU, Tuesday, May 1, 6 PM, SEC Network

11. @Tennessee, Sunday, May 13th, 11 AM, SEC Network

 We also could be picked up as a wild card on the final weekend of the year when we play @ Kentucky.

As Corbs alluded to, guys will need to develop, and we’ll know after the pre conference season and definitely by May what kind of team we have. I feel good about it. 

****Breaking:

We just got a commitment from Andalusia, Alabama wide receiver/cornerback Bridges Anderson. BJ  is 6’2″, 175 so that’s more size at wide receiver or at corner. Really liked BJ’s film. Super looking athlete. He’s an 83, 3 star by 247 and a 5.4, 2 star by Rivals, but he’s a much better football player than that. He has size, speed and super ball skills. We’re getting another good player in this talented 2018 signing class. We now have 17 signees and 4 commits for a total of 21 players. Could be a 3 or 4 more, particularly with graduate transfers. I really like what BJ can bring to the field for us. 

This is what BJ did his senior season per Chris Smith of Vandy247 sports:

Anderson produced 65 receptions for 1, 297 yards and 15 touchdown’s as a receiver while coming up with 7 interceptions as a cornerback.

 

VU Football

Coach Mason and his staff added 2 more commitments for this exciting and highly promising 2018 class as 5.6/85 3 star wide receiver Amir Abdur-Rahman, and under the radar defensive end Lorenzo Surgers have dropped anchor with the Commodores. 

Amir is a 6’4″,200 pound receiver out of Mays High School in Atlanta. He put together an awesome senior season catching 35 passes for 758 yards and 17 TDs for his Mays team that finished  11-2 overall and 8-0 in their region and reached the Class 6A third round in the playoffs in the second highest classification in Georgia. Georgia has 7 classes of high school football.

Really like this pickup. He chose us over other offers from South Florida, Iowa State, Maryland, Wake Forest and Florida International, all bowl teams except for Maryland, but Maryland has been recruiting well under soon to be 3rd year coach D.J. Durkin. Iowa State had a highly impressive Liberty Bowl victory over Memphis and defeated Oklahoma on the road and TCU at home this season. They’re up and coming and pretty much there to be a big factor in college football. Matt Campbell is one of the top young coaches in football. He’s outstanding.

South Florida under Charlie Strong was extremely impressive in their Birmingham Bowl victory over Texas Tech last season, 38-34. Their only losses came to what turned out one of the best teams in the country in Central Florida, losing 49-42 at UCF. UCF, of course, defeated Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Day. South Florida also lost to a very good at times Houston team. South Florida finished the season 10-2, losing a game to Hurricane Irma.

Wake Forest defeated Texas A&M in the Belk Bowl, 55-52, and finished its season at 8-5. Coach Dave Clawson has the Wake program on an upward trajectory. And Florida International, though they lost in their Bad Boy Mowers Gaspirilla Bowl Game to Temple, 28-3, is trending well. They lost their starting quarterback in the bowl game on the third play of the game, and that really devastated their team and diminished their chances of winning that game greatly. They still finished 8-5 and would have had a very good chance of knocking off Temple if their quarterback had not gotten injured. Butch Davis, a talented veteran coach, has his program trending very well.

So all those schools are high quality programs and watching Amir’s film I can see why they wanted him. His size, at 6’4″, 195, is terrific, and he catches anything within reach. His wingspan is perfect for catching the 50-50 balls in the air, and man can he take it to the house. I watched house call after house call on tape. He’s a very physical wide out as well. Really love this pickup from the greater Atlanta area. Amir is our third stud wide receiver pickup to go along with 4 star signee Camron Johnson out of Brentwood Academy (TN) and 5.7 and 86 3 star C.J. Bolar out of Purvis, Mississippi. Camron is 6’0″, 180 and C.J. is 6’2″, 185. Coach Mason and the coaches like the length we’re getting at wide out. We’ve got quite a receiving corps lined up for next season and beyond that. I like what junior Kalija Lipscomb (rising junior, 6’1″, 200), Ohio State transfer Alex Stump (6’3″, 210, eligible next season), a rising junior, explosive junior speedster Donaven Tennyson (5’10”, 185 runs a 4.4 and shown he’s got take it to the house ability every time he touches the ball), redshirt freshmen Chris Pierce (6’4″, 208), redshirt freshmen James Bostic (6’3″, 208) and redshirt sophomore Jackson Winrow (6’1″, 195) all can do. Add these 3 talented freshmen in the mix and next season, along with the future, looks extremely bright. Add super talented tight ends Jared Pinkney and Sam Dobbs and the receiving corps has a chance to be spectacular next season, to go along with one of the best returning quarterbacks in the SEC in Kyle Shurmur. Kyle is not going to only make noise in the conference, he’ll be a big name nationally. Love to see what Kyle will do next season.

The other addition to this class comes out of Cary, North Carolina. He is Lorenza Surgers, a 6’7″, 225 pound defensive end. Lorenza is rated a 2 star by Rivals and not ranked by 247, but I’m seeing more of a 5.6, 85 3 star here. His film is super impressive. Lorenza is a sacking, tackling machine. He was a UConn commit, but switched to VU today. I’m high on Lorenza and he joins former 4 star Rutger Reitmaier in this defensive line class. Rutger was a 4 star by Rivals and ESPN out of high school and an 88, 3 star when he signed with Oregon in 2017. He wanted to be closer to home and he wanted to play for Coach Mason and Vanderbilt. Rutger is 6’3″, 295 and will play defensive tackle for us, but can probably move over to the edge if need be because he’s so athletic. I don’t know why some people are saying on the boards that this team does not have enough defensive linemen. We’ve got 3 deep talent on the line and with potential superstars Charles Wright, Dare and Dayo Odeyinbo and a massive amount of younger talent. We’ve got the makings of a very talented defensive front. We’ll have some youth out there at times, but I’m confident in this group. We’ll see if Coach Mason adds another D lineman or another player of 2 before signing day Wednesday. There are still some other candidates and we have a good chance of getting more graduate transfers in. Will keep you posted. Apparently, we have some transfers that may come after signing day, so a lot to get excited about.

Our 3rd commitment of the 2018 class to go along with our 17 man signing class is 5.6 and 87, 3 star cornerback Rayshad Williams out of Memphis. Shad had opened up his recruiting, but everybody feels good that Shad will announce on Wednesday that he’ll be a Commodore. That is the optimistic hope. Shad would round out a fantastic secondary class and we might add one more when all is said and done. Really want Shad coming our way. He’s 6’4″, 180. Love the height. We’ve got some guys in this secondary class that can help us right away. They are talents. Want Shad to be a part of that group along with 4 star safety Brendon Harris (6’0″, 205), 89 and 5.7, 3 star corner Tre Douglas (6’2″, 180), 87 and 5.6 3 star safety Deshaun Jerkins (5 11.5″, 195), 5.6 and 85 3 star safety Maxwell Worship (6’1″,198). So this is an exceptional secondary class and adding a corner of Rayshad’s ability and possibly adding a commit/signee out of Andalusia, Alabama Bridges Anderson (6’3″, 180), a highly underrated player who intercepted 7 passes this season and is impressive on film and can also play wide receiver. We’ll see if the staff will add Bridges come Wednesday. Always like Alabama players. Some of the toughest and most talented pound for pound in the country. 

There are also going to be 4 new coaches on the staff next season. Jason Tarver, an NFL veteran and a coach who was co defensive coordinator with Coach Mason when they were at Stanford and had stellar defenses, is set to become the defensive coordinator. I like that Coach Mason has a guy he can rely on, so he can be more like a Bill Belichick, who can still coach defense, but be heavily involved in all aspects of the team and not be distracted when making major decisions in games like going for it on 4th down, onside kicking, things of that nature. I really like that for DMase. Tarver has a solid reputation as he has been defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14, and was a senior defensive assistant for the 49ers over the last 3 years. Like what we’re getting here. He brings more toughness and intensity to this defense that Coach Mason and his staff has.

Aaron Moorehead will be our new wide receivers coach taking the spot vacated by Cortez Hankton who took the same position at Georgia. Moorehead has been the receivers coach at Texas A&M the last 3 years and coached the electric Christian Kirk, who will be a high draft pick come April, a 1st or 2nd round guy. Also like what we’re getting here in Moorehead.

Shawn Mennenga will serve as our special teams and tight end coach. He comes to VU after serving the last 7 years as the Cleveland Browns special teams assistant. The special teams were the lone bright spot for the Browns over the last several years as their punting, kickoff and punt coverage and return games excelled in the NFL. He could add a lot to our special teams.

Finally, Terrence Brown is expected to coach our cornerbacks. Brown was a graduate assistant at Washington for their talented secondary the last 3 years. He had 2 All Americans, Budda Baker and Sidney Jones, under his watch and the Huskies intercepted 49 passes over the last 3 years. Brown was a 2 year starter under Coach Mason at Stanford and started 14 games his senior year in 2012, a year in which Stanford went 12-2 won their first PAC-12 championship in 13 years, and won the Rose Bowl.

I really like what Moorehead, Brown and Tarver can do in recruiting also. Moorehead and Brown are young, energetic guys who will be relentless on the recruiting trail much like our younger coaches Chris Marve (inside linebackers), Marc Mattioli (safeties) and C.J. Ah You (defensive line) are. 

So I like what this team can do next season. I like it a lot. I see us being highly competitive in every game and winning quite a few. I like 7-9 victories in 2018. Hoping for better of course, but I like this team to do well regardless with the talent we have returning and the studs we have coming in. 

Basketball

We took another tough loss Saturday Night to Auburn, 93-81, at Auburn, but the great Jeff Roberson finished with 30 points and played a phenomenal game. JRobe and Riley keep playing at a tremendously high level. A friend of mine and I were talking about it, and we think we can do some damage in the SEC Tournament in St. Louis, March 7-11. This team was highly competitive with Auburn and should have defeated Kentucky on the road last Tuesday, losing in overtime, 83-81. But I like this group and what they can do the rest of this season. We can make a run to end this month and get to the tournament with a ton of momentum. I like the way Saben Lee is playing. Maxwell Evans, another freshman, played very well Saturday Night. Max is a competitor like Saben. Clevon Brown did some good things as did Joe Toye, and Payton Willis was awesome shooting the ball in overtime against Kentucky hitting 2 deep 3’s. Like where Payton is at. Ejike Obinna is still developing as a freshman, but he can still help us a lot this season. He’s big at 6’10”, 234, likes to mix it up, will be a terrific rebounder and defender, hopefully this season, and can score down low. Like Ejike very much. I still believe in Djery Baptiste as well. Djery’s massive size at 6’10”, 235 is something you can’t teach as they say, and he’s shown some offensive skills. He just needs to get a little more confident down low, and if he does, he can be a dominant type player. He wants to be. So I believe in what this team can do going forward. While Tuesday and Saturday weren’t the results we wanted, we went toe to toe with a good Kentucky team at Rupp, and an Auburn team that looks Final Four-like. So we can play with anybody on a neutral court. This week it’s Georgia @ home Wednesday at 7:30 PM on the SEC Network, and @ Arkansas on Saturday at 7:30 PM on the SEC Network. So another important and challenging week for our growing team.

Women’s tennis doin some massive work

Vanderbilt women’s tennis coach Geoff McDonald is very careful about not getting too high or too low, which is a perfect demeanor for tennis, any sport for that matter, but his No.2 ranked Dores team just knocked off No.1 Stanford at Currey Tennis Center on Saturday, 7-0. The great Astra Sharma, who’s not ranked nationally yet because she’s been playing professionally most recently in doubles in something called the Australian Open, wow, won 3-6, 6-3,6-3 over No.13 (nationally) Michaela Gordon. No.4 Fernanda Contreras won at No.2 singles. No.19 Christina Rosca won at No.3. Emma Kurtz, No.96 Summer Dvorak and freshman Amanda Meyer all won at 4, 5 and 6 respectively. It was a masterful performance by this amazing group of women, who excel both on the court and in the classroom. The women also defeated No.16 Baylor on Friday, 6-1. Next up is the national team indoors starting Thursday. I’m going to catch up with Geoffrey in the next couple of weeks to get his insight on his program for the rest of this season. So far it’s super good. Will also talk to Men’s Golf coach Scott Limbaugh about his highly promising, talented team in the next couple of weeks. Be on the lookout for that.

 

Baseball

Also, I promise I will have the piece with Coach Corbin up in the next couple of days. Sorry for the delay, but I know you’ll enjoy hearing the great Corbs talk about his exciting 2018 team. Just a preview of it. Our junior class will be our leaders and our freshman class was the No.1 class in the country as ranked by Perfect Game and Baseball America, so the talent is off the charts good this season. We’ve only got one senior in lefty Paxton Stover, but Paxton shows good ability and will help us, and our sophomore class will be solid also. So I’ll have it for you in the next couple of days, I promise. 

New England Patriots (15-3) vs Philadelphia Eagles (15-3)

U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota (66,655)

Indoor Stadium. It’ll be a balmy 5 degrees outside at kickoff.

Sunday, 5:30 PM CT

NBC

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya

Lead Referee: Gene Steratore

National Anthem: Pink. There are odds on what color her hair will be. Blue, 5:4, Red, 2:1

Halftime: JT, Justin Timberlake

Over-Under for Trump tweets during Super Bowl: 5. I’m taking the over. 

Patriots by 4 1/2

Record: 2 weeks ago: 1-1, overall: 4-2

I’m an underdog guy. I went to Vanderbilt, I pull for underdogs. Nick Foles has done a super job in the playoffs for the Eagles. He has off the charts weapons in Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, tight end Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor. Running backs Jay Ajai and LaGarrette Blount are very good players. The oline for the Eagles is outstanding. Their defense is one of the best in the league, both in total and scoring defense and No.1 against the run. 

But it’s Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The greatest of all time, GOAT, tag for Brady gets a little tiresome, but it’s pretty accurate. He’s tough to beat. I do think this is going to be a good game though. The Eagles have embraced the underdog role wearing their German Shephard masks around. They’re a strong team. So I expect a good game much like the Falcons-Patriots last season when Brady and company made one of the most electric comebacks in NFL history. 

The Philadelphia defense will cause Brady some problems, but in the end I like Tom Terrific and Bill Belichick to win their 6th Super Bowl and tie the Patriots with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most all time. I know this isn’t a creative prediction, but sometimes you have to go with the obvious. I didn’t predict the NFL in the preseason because I thought it was pretty cut and dried that the Patriots were going to win it all. Same for the NBA because the Warriors are so dominant. But the Pats will be tested. In the end though, I like Belichick and Brady to hoist Lombardi Trophy number 6. 

Patriots 24, Eagles 21

MVP: Brady