Vandy adds late edition to 2008 football class

Vanderbilt received another commitment last week from Akeem Cunningham, a 5'10 185 lbs defensive back prospect out of New Jersey who runs a 4.49 forty yard dash. Cunningham joins Akeem Dunham as the second Akeem in Vandy's 2008 recruiting class. What are the odds? To learn more about the commitment check out the Nashville City Paper as well as VandyMania.

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.

Why Vandy Lost to Siena...

While most of us here at Sports VU said we would be shocked if Siena beat Vandy, I think all of us were shocked on how bad Vanderbilt played on Friday night. In keeping with the Tampa tradition Friday, Siena joined Western Kentucky and San Diego upsetting the higher seed. With that said, Siena won the game because they did exactly what they needed to...run, force turnovers, and make shots. As well as Siena played, Vanderbilt certainly helped. Here are my reasons that Vandy lost this one:

1) No Defense- the Commodores have struggled to contain teams with good guards who can create off the dribble and today was no different. Fisher killed Vandy making 6-6 of his three point attempts, and Hansbrouck drove by whomever was guarding him all night ending the game with 30 points. I give props to Jamie Graham though. He played his heart out tonight and was our best perimeter defender tonight and the last few games.

2) Shan didn't show up and there was no third scorer - through most of this season, the Commodores have gone as far as Shan Foster was willing to take them and today Shan just didn't show up for some reason. He struggled all night and a lot of that has to be credited to Siena's defense. I know Shan was not satisfied by his performance, but he needs to remember that without him this team may not even be in the NCAA tourney. Also, as all of Commodore nation has known of late, Ogilvy and Foster can't do it all themselves. Vandy needs another guy to step up on the offensive end especially when Shan is struggling and tonight no one did.

3) Ogilvy wasn't utilized enough- With a huge size advantage with A.J. down low, Stallings and the guys needed to find ways to get A.J. the ball, and they didn't do it enough. A.J. is also to blame slightly as he did not play strong down low and looked to get fouled more than score. Sure A.J. had 18 but I think he could have had 30 if he would have played stronger and got some better looks. One must remember that he is just a freshman after all, and hopefully he will learn from this.

4) Vandy didn't shoot well- on a team with no real slashing presence, the Commodores must shoot the ball well to win games since their defense leaves something to be desired. Friday night the Commodores lacked the shooting touch shooting just 19% from three point range on 21 attempts and shooting 40% overall compared to Siena's 54% overall. If I could request one thing for next season, it would be for Vandy to recruit a guy who can create his own shot. We have shooters, we have a big, we need a guy who can carry us by getting to the basket when the bigs and shooters aren't on.

While this loss is very disappointing for all of Commodore nation, I would just like to salute the seniors for bringing this program to where it is today. They are the ones responsible for the success of the program and will be missed. As for the younger guys, it is time to step up. At times it looked like they were scared to take shots this year and with the loss of Shan, someone will have to step up and give A.J. some support.

With all this negativity, there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the above mentioned younger guys. Everyone assumes that A.J. Ogilvy will come back next year instead of declare for the draft and will probably be even better after experiencing a year of college basketball. The Commodores will bring in two outstanding recruits next year in Steve Tchiengang and Lance Goulbourne who should be able to step in and help right away, and the Commodores are still recruiting Brad Tinsley a point guard from Oregon, who has offers from schools such as Arizona and Kentucky, and Jeff Taylor a shooting guard/small forward, who has offers from Arizona and Texas. Here is some video of Tinsley:



Also, the Dores will have Festus Ezeli, an athletic center who red-shirted this year and had offers from UCLA and Ohio State last year, and Charles Hinkle, another red-shirt freshmen who is a deadly shooter. Hopefully, the coaching staff will be able to get Tinsley and Taylor to add to this great young core and provide a great young team for the future for us all to watch.

Thanks to the seniors once again, and I look forward to the bright future of Commodore basketball with a team next year that may not have a go-to-guy like Foster, but may be better overall and deeper.

Feel free to leave your comments about my article or the game below. I would like to hear what everyone else thought of the game.

Waiting in the Wings

Naturally, when a team starts 16-0 for the first time in school history one isn't exactly inclined to look into the future.

And while there will be no Shan Foster, Alex Gordon, Ross Neltner, or Alan Metcalfe suiting up for the Commodores next year, there are a few worthy recruits who could provide an immediate impact. To begin with, Steve Tchiengang (see right, and sorry, no pronunciation guide available) chose Vanderbilt over solid programs like Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame. Rivals tabs him as the No. 79 player in the class of 2008. He has a unique skill-set with a 6'8" frame that can bang inside coupled with the ability to knock down the 18-foot jumper.

Next on the list is Lance Goulbourne, a 6'7" forward for the Hun School in New Jersey. Goulbourne received offers from Marquette, Virginia, West Virginia, and Notre Dame. He's got a great stroke past the three point line, but his well-roundness enables him to score in quite a few ways.

Goulbourne is a particularly attractive recruit for the Dores because he will provide scoring from the bench, which has been an achilles heel for the 2007 Dores. The third and final member of the 2008 class is the 6'6" Jordan Smart, who will be walking on. Smart is appropriately named, as he turned down the top three academic institutions in the country--Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Smart is a proven shooter in nailing over 40% of his threes and 90% of his free throws. It remains to be seen whether he has the first step to get an open shot or the footwork to play defense.

Joining Tchiengang, Goulbourne, and Smart are Festus Ezeli and Charles Hinkle, who are both coming off red-shirt seasons. Hinkle is said to possess excellent three point shooting ability, but probably will see limited playing time. Even among the three new recruits for next year, Festus Ezeli is easily the most intriguing.

His gargantuan stature gives Vanderbilt a legitimate shot-blocking presence and a good partner for A.J. Ogilvy on the offensive glass. How Stallings divvies up playing time for a team that already has forwards Andre Walker and Darshawn McClellan will be interesting. It might be the first Vandy team in years to not only reverse the trend of guard laden Vanderbilt teams, but also to be oriented towards the front-court.

Check back later for the Class of 2009...