Expectations of Freshmen Unreasonable

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Augustus Gilchrist. No? How about Demetri McCamey, still nobody? Alexis Wangmene? For those of you not related to the three aforementioned players, they are the ones that occupied the spots in last years recruiting rankings that are currently held by future Commodores Jeff Taylor, Lance Goulbourne, and Steve Tchiengang.

If you think that’s just cherry-picking the rankings and that randomly those spots were occupied by underachievers consider this: of the players ranked from 50-150 on Rivals.com, 10 contributed to tournament teams and one of those enrolled a year early (Daniel Hackett). Of the ten, only two were featured players, DeJuan Blair and Robbie Hummel.

The point is expectations must be lowered. Many of the posts and comments on this site have made it seem like these guys are going to step in right away and replace a good amount of the points lost by the graduations of Shan Foster, Alex Gordon, and Ross Neltner. That’s just not going to happen. Freshmen who aren’t top recruits very rarely come in and immediately put up big numbers on good teams. Given time they may develop into front line players, just a quick glance at the 2005 Rivals 150 shows future 1^st round picks such as Chris Douglas-Roberts and Darren Collison ranked 75^th or lower, but even guys like that did not produce as freshman, combined they averaged less than 14 points.

So, yes, Taylor might go off for 31 in one game like McCamey somehow did against Indiana, but expecting these three to be consistent producers is unreasonable and unfair. If this year’s team is going to go dancing it is more likely to be because of the improvements made by Andre Walker and Darshawn McClellan than by big contributions from the trio of heralded freshmen.

There’s still reason to be excited about Stallings’ best recruiting class since arriving in Nashville, they will most likely lead the Commodores to another Sweet 16, but chances are it won’t be in 2009.

Jeff Taylor commits to Vandy

Jeff Taylor, a 6'7" 198-pound swingman from New Mexico, committed to Vanderbilt Monday, The Tennessean reported. Taylor chose the Commodores over the Texas Longhorn, and also had interest from the likes of UCLA and Gonzaga.

Taylor is only listed as a three-star recruit by rivals.com, but his offers seem to suggest that he is better than that. Like A.J. Ogilvy, Taylor also has international experience as he played for the Swedish National team.

Taylor should add a nice dimension to the Commodores as he is long, athletic and can get to the basket off the dribble just like fellow Commodore commitment Lance Goulbourne. Between the two of them, the Commodores will hopefully add what they so badly needed last season in players that can create off the dribble and get to the basket. Both Goulbourne and Taylor need to add some weight to bang with the wings of the SEC, but Goulbourne said in his interview he realized he needed to add bulk, and I am sure Taylor realizes the same.

Here is a must-hear interview with Russ Gilmore, Jeff Taylor's coach, who talks about Jeff's game.



The Commodores are still waiting on word from point guard Brad Tinsley, their last target in the 2008 class. Tinsley is probably an even more important target because of the departure of Keegan Bell. Tinsley visited two weekends ago and word is that the visit went very well.

If the Commodores can secure Tinsley, the recruiting class will be the best in Stallings tenure at Vanderbilt as he will have beat out the likes of Texas, Arizona, Marquette, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Southern Cal, Oregon and Notre Dame for recruits and have three of the top 100 players in the nation according to ESPN in Taylor (#73), Goulbourne (# 87), and Tinsley (#95).

Regardless of whether Tinsley commits (which I hope/think he will), Stallings has brought this program a long way since he arrived in Nashville and is starting to build a perennial powerhouse at Vanderbilt. There is a lot to look forward to right now if you are a Commodore basketball fan, so enjoy...

Here is some footage of Taylor. The video is not the greatest because it is a game not highlights, but Taylor is number 44.

Basketball Recruiting Update...

With the departure of four seniors, including Shan Foster, who rivals.com named a first-team All American, most Commodore fans seem to think the basketball team will be worse next year based on our recent poll here at The Sports VU.

However, as Lee Corso might say, "not so fast my friends". Vanderbilt has already signed Steve Tchiengang, a 6'8" power forward who should fill in for the departure of Ross Neltner, and Lance Goulbourne, a 6'7" small forward who some close to the program have already compared to Shan Foster. Both are widely considered top 100 players in the nation.

While both of these players are sure to be stars for the program, the more exciting news is that coach Kevin Stallings and company are not done with their recruiting for next season after a disappointing exit from the NCAA Tournament. Just this past week, both Brad Tinsley, a 6'3" point guard from Oregon and Jeff Taylor, a 6'7" shooting guard/small forward from New Mexico, narrowed their lists of offers down, and the Commodores made both players' top three according to Rivals.com.

Tinsley is still considering seven programs including USC, Butler and Arizona State, but he favors three: Vanderbilt, Oregon and Wake Forest. Tinsley has scheduled a visit to Vanderbilt for the weekend of April 12. Tinsley is ranked as the 18th best point guard in the 2008 class by rivals.com and is a four-star prospect.

Taylor has narrowed his list down to three: Vanderbilt, Texas and Gonzaga. While Vanderbilt is still in the hunt, Taylor has family in Texas which may influence his decision. If Vanderbilt could get commitments from these two players not only would the Commodores bring in the best basketball recruiting class of the Kevin Stallings era but they would also be in good position to return to the NCAA Tournament next year despite having a young team.

Check back with The Sports VU as we will continue to update you on these two prospects.

Commodore Banter (3/26)

Vanderbilt athletes continue to rake in conference player of the week honors. Lacrosse defender Sasha Cielak did just that this week.

The Sports VU's own Jarred Amato offered his take on the baseball team's 7-3 win over Belmont. You can also to his thoughts on the game in today's podcast with Andrew Hard (on the right).

High School senior Jeff Taylor, who really emerged as a player to be reckoned with in New Mexico hoops, will decide between Vanderbilt, Gonzaga, and Texas.

Champions of all sports have been invited to the White House, including Vanderbilt's bowlers.

Vanderbilt and MTSU decided to renew their rivalry, agreeing to play four games starting in 2015.

In case you missed our...

• Q&A's with Jamont Gordon, Caleb Cotham, Curt Casali, Merideth Marsh,Jonathan White, Christina Wirth.
• Ask a 'Dore with Parker Hanks and Josie Earnest.
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