January 2013
20th Anniversary
ALSO INSIDE: Music City Bowl champions
Clarke embraces leadership role • Cameroon native’s great opportunity • Unprecedented NCAA success
1993-2013
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CONTENTS
photo by Joe Howell
P.8 1993 Final Four Vanderbilt will host a women’s basketball alumni reunion on Sunday, Feb. 3, recognizing the 20th anniversary of reaching the school’s first NCAA semifinal.
P.12
P.19
Champions!
David Williams
The Vanderbilt Commodores won the 2012 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, defeating North Carolina State 38-24 at LP Field in Downtown Nashville. Senior tailback Zac Stacy was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his 107-yard rushing performance. The victory moved Vanderbilt to 9-4 overall, matching the single-season high for victories set twice previously (1915, 1904). It is also Vanderbilt’s seventh consecutive win, the Southeastern Conference’s longest current win streak and the program’s longest streak since an eight-game run to conclude the 1948 season.
Q&A with director of athletics.
P.2 P.15
Compliance corner
Tiffany Clarke
P.3
Senior post embraces leadership role on court, in community.
P.17 Unmatched success Football, basketball and baseball reach NCAA postseason play in consecutive years.
vucommodores.com
P.20 James Siakam Cameroon native hopes to bring opportunity back to home land.
National Commodore Club
P.7 Inside McGugin
P.23 It’s my turn Rod Williamson’s monthly column.
P.24 My game Basketball’s Christina Foggie.
C O M M O D O R E N AT I O N
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COMPLIANCE
CORNER Q:
School Spirit Sam, a National Commodore Club member, has added several members of the incoming recruiting class as friends on social networking sites, asking them to come to our institution and telling them what a great school we have. Is this permissible?
A:
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Compliance questions? Please contact: Candice Lee George Midgett Director of Compliance Compliance Coordinator 615/322-7992 615/322-2083 candice.lee@vanderbilt.edu george.d.midgett@vanderbilt.edu John Peach Andrew Turner Compliance Coordinator Recruiting/Compliance Coordinator 615/343-1060 615/322-4543 john.w.peach@vanderbilt.edu andrew.turner@vanderbilt.edu
Daniel Dubois Steve Green Lauren Holland Joe Howell Anne Rayner John Russell Susan Urmy
Contributors: Brandon Barca Andy Boggs Larry Leathers George Midgett Kyle Parkinson Weston Pletcher Emily Sane Michael Scholl Ryan Schulz
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Chancellor: Nicholas S. Zeppos Vice Chancellor for University Affairs: David Williams II Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs: Beth Fortune
Vanderbilt University Student Athletics’ Mission Statement We prepare student-athletes to become leaders and champions in life by placing the highest values on integrity, character, sportsmanship and victory. Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action university. ON THE COVER: The 1992-93 women’s basketball team will be honored during a 20-year annivesary celebration on Sunday, February 3. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to National Commodore Club, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, TN 37212. SUBSCRIPTION: To subscribe, contact Chris Weinman by e-mail at commodorenation@vanderbilt.edu ADVERTISEMENT: To advertise with Commodore Nation, please contact Vanderbilt IMG Sports & Entertainment Properties. Jeff Miller, general manager 615/322-4468; jeff.miller@imgworld.com
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SUPPORT
EXCELLENCE As a new restricted giving option for the National Commodore Club, the NCC Excellence Fund allows fans to be key contributors and gain more access to individual sports as we continue to build and improve the future of our programs. You have the opportunity to be involved with a host of activities through six giving levels.
Show your support today by making a gift to the NCC Excellence Fund for one or more of these programs: Men’s Basketball Men’s Tennis Women’s Tennis Men’s Golf Women’s Golf Visit NationalCommodoreClub.com or call (615) 322- 4114 for more information.
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ANCHOR DOWN Dear Commodore Nation,
Thank you for your support this season. Together, we have achieved great things at Vanderbilt. We went to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in 123 years of Vanderbilt Football. Vanderbilt’s five conference wins are the most SEC wins for the program since 1935. The team concluded the 2012 regular season with eight wins, the most regular season wins by a Commodore squad since 1982.
Together, we will continue to change the culture and build something very special – a championship program at Vanderbilt. Thank you again. Anchor Down!
(615) 322-4114 James G. Franklin Head Football Coach
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Our journey is not yet complete. To be successful next season and beyond, we need each Commodore fan to be a game changer. Your commitment through the National Commodore Club and NCC GridIron Club helps us continue to improve our future.
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Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee ď‚Ť November 17, 2012
TailgateTime
NCC members Andie and David Hudgens
NCC members John and Mary Anthony
Thank you for coming early and soaking up the game day atmosphere at the National Commodore Club tailgate before our football game against the Tennessee Volunteers. We had a great time and turnout at the tailgate and game. We hope you will tailgate with us next season. For NCC tailgate information, NCC members Martha (AS 1956) and Buddy (AS 1956) Caldwell and Lou (AS 1956) and Pat Todd
visit NationalCommodoreClub.com. Anchor Down!
T H E D R I V E TO W I N
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Inside McGugin
By The Numbers
Notes from the athletic department
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players that reached the 1,000-point plateau during the 1992-93 women’s basketball season—the only previous year that more than two players have achieved that milestone.
I
t sometimes can be hard to keep up with classmates after graduation. Not so for a trio of former Commodores. Jeffery Taylor, Festus Ezeli and John Jenkins are all playing in the NBA this winter, and their paths have crossed numerous times. On December 10, Ezeli’s Golden State Warriors travelled to Taylor’s Charlotte Bobcats (right) and came away with a 104-96 victory. Later this month, the Bobcats will play host to Jenkins’ Atlanta Hawks squad (Jan. 23 on SportsSouth). l Construction has begun on a pair of gleaming new buildings at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. The $2.3 million additions include a 4,900 square foot clubhouse that will house men’s and women’s locker rooms to rival any facility in collegiate golf. The new package also includes a cutting edge instruction facility that will house both varsity teams along with a teaching area for the Vanderbilt Legends Club teaching professional. The practice facility could be ready for varsity use in April, while the clubhouse is expected to be completed by August.
NBAE/Getty Images
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Jeffery Taylor and Festus Ezeli in Charlotte last month.
l Collegiate Licensing Company reports that royalties for Vanderbilt licensed products are up a hefty 18 percent from a year ago (when it also reported an increase). The report concluded in September, so sales during football’s winning streak and the holiday season were not included, but according to a recent article in the Nashville Business Journal, Vanderbilt apparel outpaced other local teams—both collegiate and professional—on the merchandise shelves at Nashville Sports Seasons. n
Commodore student-athletes who have been named first-team All-Americans for their athletic or academic achievements, beginning with Ray Morrison in 1911.
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victories at Memorial Gymnasium for Head Coach Kevin Stallings through the end of the 2012 calendar year, tied with Roy Skinner for the most victories in the SEC’s most historic venue.
3,143
career rushing yards for Zac Stacy—who capped his career as VU’s all-time leading rusher with 107 yards to earn MVP honors at the 2012 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl.
Calendar
January highlights
Jan. 18 Men’s tennis vs. Butler The 2013 “Spring” sports schedule begins in the third week of January as Head Coach Ian Duvenhage’s men’s tennis team plays host to Butler on Friday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m. CT. The ‘Dores will welcome Michigan State to campus that Sunday before taking part in the ITA Kickoff in Athens, Ga., the following week.
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Jan. 24 Women’s basketball vs. Tennessee Vanderbilt will play host to the first meeting of this annual home-and-home intrastate series on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by SportSouth. The Commodores captured a 93-79 victory in last year’s game at Memorial Gymnasium, setting a record for points scored against their biggest rival.
Jan. 26 Men’s basketball at Missouri The men’s basketball team travels to Columbia, Mo., for its first Southeastern Conference matchup with new league member Missouri. Vanderbilt holds a 3-2 edge in the all-time series with the Tigers, a game that was first contested in Columbia in 1958.
Jan. 31 Women’s tennis vs. Northwestern Head Coach Geoff Macdonald’s Commodore women’s tennis team also opens play on Jan. 18 with the Miami Invitational. The ladies will then head to Oxford, Miss., for their ITA Kickoff event, Jan. 27-28. The first home match of the 2013 season features VU and Northwestern squaring off at the Currey Tennis Center on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 3 p.m.
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Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball Alumni Reunion featuring the 1993 Final Four team
vs. Vanderbilt vs. Ole Miss
Sunday, February 3 at 2 p.m. CT Memorial Gymnasium
20th Anniversary 1993-2013
T
his spring marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992-93 women’s basketball team that wrote its name all over the Vanderbilt record books, most notably by advancing to the NCAA Final Four. That group will be honored as part of an alumni reunion at the Vanderbilt-Ole Miss game on Sunday, Feb. 3, at Memorial Gymnasium. The former student-athletes on that squad echoed similar feelings about what made the group so special. “Team chemistry,” former shooting guard Julie Powell said. “Even though we were a collection of very talented individuals, we truly came together as a team and played unselfishly. We respected each other on and off the court, and were dedicated to a common vision of win-
Milestones during the 1992-93 Season 30-3 (school record for victories) 1st SEC Tournament Championship 1st NCAA Final Four 2nd WBCA All-American (Gillingham)
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ning a national championship. It was an amazing experience to be a member of this team and to become a part of VU sports history.” “I don’t know if there was one thing,” former point guard Rhonda (Blades) Brown said. “I think we all got along really well. I think there was a mutual respect. I was only a sophomore that year, but I had such high regard for the juniors and seniors that I played with, and I guess I would hope that they probably respected me for working hard. I’m sure I was a goof ball, being so young, but I was really competitive. And I think that’s another thing. We were all really, really competitive. Whether it was with our grades, off the court... we just wanted to win. It was a really talented team, too. Everybody was really good at what they did.” Heidi Gillingham (right, in front of 12,131 fans against Ohio State) was the second Commodore to earn first-team All-America honors.
NEARLY NINE-THOUSAND POINTS Seven student-athletes from the 1992-93 squad are members of Vanderbilt’s 1,000-point club, including four players who reached the 1,000-point plateau during that 30-win season. Gillingham* 1,593 Sam 1,537 Powell* 1,394 Lamb* 1,247 Cunningham 1,104 Blades 1,017 Jarrard* 1,003
(* reached during 1992-93 season)
“I just remember how we were so close as a team,” Misty (Lamb) Thompson said. “We had some awesome road trips. Every time we took a trip, it was like going out with your family, just hanging out. We worked so hard together, and we all had that common goal.” Former Head Coach Jim Foster, currently leading the Ohio State Buckeyes, was in his second season at Vanderbilt during that momentous year. “That’s a group of players that came very close to maximizing their potential,” Foster said. “We had a lot of interesting pieces that had to blend together, and we did that. We were able to accomplish a lot that season as a result. (In the NCAA Regional) a team that was very finesse-oriented had to win a couple games against Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana Tech that were anything but finesse games, they were very physical. And that team did what it needed to do to be successful.” Shelley Jarrard, currently the head coach at Westminster College, broke down the pieces that came together. “We had Heidi Gillingham. That’s special right there,” the former starting forward said. “She was a great player. Then we had a 6’2” floor player in Misty Lamb. We had shooters on the wings in our two and three spots (Julie Powell and Jarrard), and our point guard (Blades) was scrappy and tough, and could get to the basket and shoot threes, too. We were a tall team, and we played a matchup zone, which I think was tough for a lot of teams to go against with Heidi in the middle. We played together really well.” Jarrard credits Coach Foster with providing an impetus to get her into coaching. Rhonda Blades and Misty Lamb would also join the coaching ranks after graduating from Vanderbilt.
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Misty Lamb (above) shoots over a Tennessee defender in front of a sold-out crowd (top left). Julie Powell (below) cut down the nets after VU claimed its first SEC Tournament title.
“Jim Foster was a great coach and a great leader. He really brought us together. We had a good, confident, winning staff. Our intangibles were good and we just wanted to win. We were competitive.” Foster will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this spring. “It means I’ve had a lot of very good players and some really good assistant coaches,” Foster said. “That Vanderbilt team was definitely a reflection of that. Misty and Shelley were players who made big baskets and could be counted on in the clutch. We had a young point guard (Blades) and Heidi was the anchor of our defense, but Misty, Shelley and Julie Powell— also on the perimeter—were just very, very solid, steady, good basketball players.”
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HONOR ROLL Accolades for the 1992-93 Commodores: Kodak All-American Gillingham NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team Gillingham NCAA Tournament All-Region Team Jarrard Cunningham First-team All-SEC Jarrard Gillingham Second-team All-SEC Powell SEC All-Tournament Team Lamb Cunningham (MVP) SEC Academic Honor Roll Blades Gillingham Jarrard Lamb King Powell USBWA Coach of the Year Jim Foster
Milestones flew by during the 1992-93 campaign so quickly that it was hard to keep up. The game that stands out to Brown was VU’s regional final victory over Louisiana Tech on the home court of Stephen F. Austin (whom the Commodores had defeated in the Sweet 16). “I honestly don’t know all the milestones,” Brown said. “One reason we were probably pretty good is because people didn’t tell us a whole lot. And there wasn’t the internet. If we were on ESPN, we didn’t know about it. And I didn’t read the paper. “But the game we won in Nacogdoches (Texas), with five minutes left I can remember realizing it was so close for us to go to the Final Four. If we could just win that game, we could do something that we’d never done before. They were really good, and they were Louisiana Tech, who always went to the Final Four (they had made seven previous appearances). We were Vanderbilt who’d never been before.” For many of the players on that year’s squad, the biggest memory is a bittersweet one. The Commodores played host to Tennessee in a January 30 matchup that pitted No. 1 Vanderbilt against the second-ranked Lady Vols. Fans flocked to Memorial Gymnasium in such great numbers that the Fire Marshal was forced to shut the door, leaving thenChancellor Joe B. Wyatt to watch via closedcircuit television from the Stadium Club above the Kensington Place Garage. “Although winning the SEC Tournament was huge, my favorite memory was stepping onto the Memorial Gym floor before the VU-UT game,” Powell said. “The excitement and electricity in the gym were beyond description,
and it was truly an unforgettable environment in which to play a women’s basketball game.” Vanderbilt was undefeated heading into that UT game before narrowly losing to the Lady Vols. But Vanderbilt had a number of big wins already on its resume. The Commodores’ first big splash of the year came on January 7. The athletic department ran a promotion with local Jim Dandy Markets to give away free tickets for the matchup with nationally ranked Ohio State. A total of 12,131 fans were on hand, more than double the school’s previous record crowd, to watch Misty Lamb and Heidi Gillingham score 20 points apiece before Shelley Jarrard connected on a pair of three-pointers in the final minute to secure the 70-67 victory. In the 10 days following that victory, the 1993 squad set a pair of records that still stand for VU. On January 14, one day after the Commodore men defeated No. 1 Kentucky, the women scored a school record 124 points in a win over Oral Roberts. Three days later, Vanderbilt notched its largest margin of victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent by defeating Mississippi State by 64 points, 108-44. n
Point guard Rhonda Blades (right) and her Vanderbilt squad played a home NCAA Tournament game at Belmont due to a scheduling conflict at Memorial Gymnasium. Shelley Jarrard (left) dribbles between two Texas Tech defenders during the NCAA Final Four at the sold-out Omni in Atlanta.
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Clarke’s experience helps younger players, students By Chris Weinman
T
photos by Joe Howell
iffany Clarke is living the dream of any second-semester college senior. Needing only three credit hours to fulfill her degree requirements, the Duluth, Ga., native is enrolled in just one class this spring to complete her human and organizational development major. That class—Dr. Deborah Tobey’s HOD 2750, Managing Organizational Change—meets two mornings per week. But don’t expect Clarke to be sitting on her hands all semester. The 6’0” post player makes sure to keep herself busy in the time she finds away from Memorial Gymnasium. Clarke serves as the community service chair of Vanderbilt’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and plans to find a professional internship. Clarke has never had a problem finding things to do since coming to Vanderbilt. She took part in the United States Olympic Committee’s F.L.A.M.E. (Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere) program, which encourages minority college students to further their personal and professional growth, in the summer of 2011. As a junior, Clarke volunteered at Nashville’s Cockrill Elementary School. This past September, when she and her teammates took a group trip to read to kindergarteners at nearby Eakin Elementary School, Clarke took the initiative to ask if the school could use more help, and she returns there regularly to tutor students. You might expect that a Peabody senior with such experience working with children would be preparing for a career in education, but that is likely not the case for Clarke. “Nothing like that,” Clarke said. “I want to work in sports management or maybe public relations. I just like kids. I have a 7-year-old brother and my sister just turned 10.” Six 18-year-old sisters were added to Clarke’s Vanderbilt family this fall, when six freshmen joined Head Coach Melanie Balcomb’s Commodore squad. As the squad’s lone senior forward, Clarke’s desire to mentor youth has been quite an asset for the women’s basketball team this season. “Before I was able to lead by example and not say as much,” Clarke said. “Especially with me being the only upperclassmen post, coach told me, ‘You’re the senior. You have to be more vocal and do more of the coaching.’ And that’s something I had to definitely step into because
I’m more of the quiet one. Now I have to be the more vocal, talk to my teammates, lead them, tell them what I need from them. I’ve had to step outside my comfort zone that way.” Clarke has worked to mentor all of her younger teammates, and especially the four freshmen post players. She says teammates call Dayton, Ohio, native Rayte’a Long her “little sister.” Long appreciates what Clarke has meant to the team in practice. “She’s like a big sister off the court,” Long said. “On the court, though, you handle business and she makes sure of that. I think she’s done a great job pushing us to be better every day. She challenges us in so many ways, physically and mentally. It’s tough banging against her but it’s what you have to do if you want to be better as a team.” Clarke is having a strong close to her Vanderbilt career. Wearing the No. 34, Clarke recently became 34th Commodore to score more than 1,000 points in her career when she went for 22 points in a 67-45 victory over Hartford on December 6. Clarke averaged 15.8 points per game to lead the Commodores in scoring during non-conference play, barely edging out teammate Christina Foggie, the Southeastern Conference’s reigning scoring champion. A second-team All-SEC preseason selection, Clarke also has been tabbed a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for “Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School,” the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 10 finalists for the award will be named this month, and fan voting at seniorclassaward.com will factor in to naming the winner. Postseason honors are nothing new for Clarke. She was named an SEC All-Freshman honoree in 2010, earned All-SEC Tournament recognition in 2011, and was recognized as second-team All-SEC by league coaches last year. This season, the senior hopes she can lead the Commodores not only to their 14th straight trip to NCAA Tournament, but to their first appearance in the event’s second weekend since 2009. n
Senior Tiffany Clarke has taken a more vocal role as a leader this season.
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Unmatched Success
The number of schools where the baseball and men’s and women’s basketball teams played in the NCAA Tournament
8 6 2011
2012
Vanderbilt Florida State Georgia Kansas State North Carolina Texas Texas A&M UCLA
schools accomplished this feat
AND
Vanderbilt Baylor Florida Louisville Michigan State Purdue
the football team was invited to a bowl.
1
school accomplished this feat
schools accomplished this feat
2 years in a row
And there’s more!
• Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team made its fifth NCAA appearance in the last six years. • Vanderbilt’s bowling team advanced to the semifinals at the NCAA Championships. • The women’s golf team placed 11th at the NCAA Championships.
• Vanderbilt’s women’s tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. •T he women’s cross country team qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row —a first in school history. • Vanderbilt finished 51st in the Directors’ Cup.
Accomplished with student-athlete grade point average at all-time school best.
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EARN A GRADUATE DEGREE FROM VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
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A.D.’s Q&A: Williams reflects on 2012 success, looks ahead to prospects for 2013 Commodore Nation: What is your take on the unique success that Vanderbilt has had in putting all four revenue sports–football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball–into NCAA postseason play two consecutive years? David Williams: If you were to ask me—or any sports fan—who were the eight schools in 2011 that were able to achieve this, you immediately think Texas, Ohio State, Florida, Stanford, Alabama and so on. Then move to 2012 and know that just six got it done with only one repeater, you’d think, “This must be an athletic powerhouse.” When you realize that only Vanderbilt can make this claim—all four teams for two consecutive years—astounding. I’m surprised at how few other teams have done this even once, so it has to be difficult. It is remarkable for us to achieve it, especially when it required our football program—the most difficult of all programs to change—to make the grade. To put all four sports into NCAA postseason two years running requires balance and consistency.
And finally, to put this into true context, add the fact that we graduate our student-athletes. Every Commodore fan should take pride in this special achievement.
bus to Tennessee State’s indoor facility; soon we won’t have to do that. I also believe fans will see some exciting results with some of our Olympic teams.
CN: It’s January, 2013. What do you think Commodore fans will be talking about in January, 2014?
CN: What do you see as the bigger challenges 2013 might present?
DW: It’s going to be an interesting year! Next season could be one of our most important football seasons. We have a chance to start the season rated in the Top 25, something that has not happened in decades. Can we keep that ranking through the season? By 2014 our fans will be able to see how our renovated football stadium will look as we will have fully developed the plan. And we will have had two grand openings of our multipurpose facility—one during Halloween for the new addition which contains the turf field and the other about this time of year for the renovations in the Recreation Center. When it rained during our preparations for the Music City Bowl we had to
DW: The big thing is we have to keep moving forward, we can’t afford to get complacent and let whatever success we’ve experienced get in the way of bigger accomplishments. We have entered into an era when “good” simply isn’t good enough. We are talking about championships. We also have an ever-watchful eye toward financials; things continue to become more expensive and we have to generate revenue to make progress. Finally, our competition also improves but people are noticing us. I was talking the other day with the head of ESPN and his point was that if you are in the SEC and can win nine football games, you are considered a power. They are watching us progress. n
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Siakam’s great opportunity By Chris Weinman
Growing up in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, it was the national sport of soccer that captured Siakam’s imagination. But after watching his two older brothers excel on the hardwood and earn scholarships to attend college in America, he knew he would have to forgo his first love in order to improve his future. “I still think that I’m actually a better soccer player,” he said. “But the opportunities weren’t as big as coming to the U.S. to play basketball, so I had to give it up.” In a family of six children, James is the third of Tchamo and Victoire Siakam’s four sons. When James was 11 years old, his oldest brother, Boris, moved to the United States for his senior year of high school. Boris attended Caverna High School in Horse Cave, Ky. (about 100 miles north of Nashville), before signing a National Letter of Intent in 2004 to play basketball at Western Kentucky University. It was still two more years before James started playing basketball, at the age of 14. “When I decided to play basketball it was kind of late. I saw my brother travel around playing so I thought that would be a great opportunity to actually showcase my talent,” Siakam said. “I could jump, block shots and I was going for offensive rebounds like crazy. That was what was impressive about my game when I first started.” By this time, James’ other older brother, Christian, also had made his way to America. Christian completed his senior year of high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved on to pursue a degree in international studies while playing basketball at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). It was decided that James would follow in his brothers’ footsteps and leave Cameroon in 2007. And while basketball played an important role in getting him to America, Siakam’s No. 1 goal in coming to the U.S. was to better his education. “(The decision to come to the United States) was definitely based on the academics,” Siakam said. “My dad thought it was a good opportunity to come to the U.S. and study, and be able
to come back home and make an impact. As you probably know, back home Cameroon doesn’t have the greatest economy. He thought maybe studying in the United States would be a great opportunity. He started talking to my brother, who knew a lot of people, and my brother had some friends who were willing to give me an opportunity based on my academics strictly.” So James moved from the west coast of Africa to a northwestern suburb of Atlanta, where he enrolled at Marietta’s Covenant Christian Ministries Academy, a boarding school. In his only season in Marietta, the Crusaders’ elite squad won the 2008 NACA (National Association of Christian Athletes) national championship. That summer, Siakam transferred to Brehm Preparatory School in Carbondale, Illinois. He competed for a traveling AAU team, the Illinois Titans, and began to catch the eye of college recruiters. “When I looked at college coaches, recruiting-wise, you basically feel like you’re hearing the same person over and over,” Siakam said. “There must be something extra that you’re looking for. They want you to showcase your abilities basketball-wise, but I was most concerned with who will be looking for your best interest as a person. I definitely found it in Vanderbilt.” His decision was made easier during his final year at Brehm, where he averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks per game. In December of 2009 at the State Farm Tournament of Champions, Siakam suffered six fractures when he took a knee to face during a game. Some thought the injury might prevent him from returning to the game. But Siakam says the coach recruiting him to Vanderbilt, former Commodore assistant Dan Muller (currently the head coach at Illinois State University), kept checking in on him despite his unclear future. “When I had to have facial surgery, all the coaches that were looking at me got scared away,” Siakam said. “They thought I was not
Photo by john russell
It was not the dream of playing major college basketball that brought James Siakam to the United States nearly six years ago. Instead, it was the dream of attending college and bettering his education that brought Siakam to basketball.
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Joe HoweLl
going to play anymore. But coach Muller was there. He was checking on me, not even talking about basketball, just checking on me and knowing how I was doing. I thought that was really impressive.” Siakam committed to the Commodores during the late signing period in April, 2010. Arriving on campus that fall, he again took a cue from one of his brothers by redshirting (Christian sat out during his first year in Indianapolis, and he went on to average 9.0 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game over his junior and senior seasons at IUPUI). After appearing in just 13 games a year ago, Siakam has averaged more than 11 minutes per game through the first third of the 2012-13 season. He led the Commodores in points and rebounds against Marist in the Old Spice Classic. While the transition to college can be tough on its own, Siakam has endured it all while being away from his family. The entire Siakam family, in fact, has not been together in years. James last saw his father in 2010 when Boris got married in Kentucky. James’ mother has returned once since then, after Boris’ wife Krystal gave birth to their first child. James has not
James Siakam began playing basketball in 2006.
seen his younger brother, Pascal, since coming to the U.S. back in 2007. “It’s been pretty tough,” Siakam said. “I want to say I’m used to but I’m really not. Sometimes I just miss my family. But it helps to have my brothers around. They’re both players overseas now, so they’re not here the whole year.” Boris and Christian play pro basketball in Bahrain’s Premier League. James has two older sisters: Raissa lives in Washington, D.C.; Vanessa in South Africa. Pascal is a student in Texas. “He came to the United States about a
month ago,” James said. “He’s playing basketball. I don’t know much about his playing ability, because when I left he was still playing soccer.” If his brothers are any indication, Pascal has an excellent opportunity to prosper as a basketball player in America. As for James, even as he is working hard to become a better basketball player, he is excited about the prospect of returning to his homeland to give back. He cites countryman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who attended UCLA before being selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft, as the perfect example of how he would like to help out back home. “He went to the NBA and came back [to Cameroon],” Siakam said. “He’s helping out other kids by directing camps and stuff like that. I think that’s a great thing to do. That’s probably the best example I can think of. I think there’s a great opportunity for me also. If I can create a business back home to give people the opportunity to get jobs. Because we have a lot of people who are willing to work, just not a lot of opportunity as far as work goes.” n
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It’s My Turn By Rod Williamson
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s it just me or are you also craving good news and positive actions? I thought so. We survived a December of unspeakable horror, our politics feel uncivil and we make our way through a world where anonymous internet insults, rude drivers and predictions of doom run rampant. There’s a negative vibe. “We sure could use a little good news today,” as Anne Murray sang too many years ago. America is a competitive nation; it always has been and hopefully always will be. We compete in many venues, most certainly in sports. It’s a healthy thing; good for what ails us. Ball coaches have rightfully adopted the mantra, “We will enjoy this victory for 24 hours and then put it aside and focus on our next game.” Let’s visit about that just a bit. I make a motion that while we let our sports teams limit their celebrations to a few hours, the rest of us have the option—and perhaps the obligation—to remember the positives and recall them at our whim to enjoy. One starting point would be to notice and acknowledge the many good things in our lives. Let those responsible for making them happen know of our appreciation. This is tougher than you suspect. About a year ago we were inspired by this guy who had written a thank-you letter a day, stamped and mailed it and repeated the process for an entire year. Three-hundred sixty-five hand-written thank you notes! He wrote a book about his experience.
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There is plenty to celebrate if we can just slow down and pay attention.
We bought a roll of stamps, sat down to write our first such note and darned if we didn’t draw a near blank. We had emailed this person, called that one and somehow writing didn’t seem natural. Would this guy think a note was odd? And who else to write? We’re embarrassed to say how many thank-you notes we produced, but there are still plenty of stamps in the roll. There is plenty to celebrate if we can just slow down and pay attention. A teacher’s assistant at an area high school took a couple dozen mentally challenged kids—some in wheelchairs, some non-verbal, others profoundly autistic and several battling other tough issues—and put on a musical that moved some in the proud audience of family, friends and school officials to tears. That’s worth remembering. We recently took a call from a guy wanting to donate to one of our teams. He identified himself as a long-time fan of another SEC school and said he had been searching for months to support “something good, something positive and I realized the answer was right under my nose—I want to support Vanderbilt Athletics and this particular team.” The waiter at breakfast, the weekend plumber, the helpful clerk, the piano teacher, your work partner, the volunteer soccer coach—to whom are you thankful? Sure, one can find life’s negative vibe but let’s not wallow in it. Let’s give it the 24-hour rule and move on to much more important things. n
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My Game
Christina Foggie
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hristina Foggie is the Southeastern Conference’s reigning scoring champion after averaging 17.7 points per game as a sophomore last season. Growing up in the Philadelphia suburb of Mount Laurel, N.J., Foggie was a child model who appeared in catalogs, magazines and as the daughter of Denzel Washington’s character in Philadelphia. Commodore Nation: How did it come about that you were a child model? Christina Foggie: My older brother (James) was a model. I guess my mom saw an ad in a paper: “Your kid could be a model.” So she brought my brother over and got him involved with an agency. When I was born they put me in with that. It was a nice little start to something growing up that I did until I was about eight. Then I started turning to sports. CN: You had to choose one or the other? FOGGIE: Kind of, yeah. I guess I got to the point where I was ready to make my own decisions about what I wanted to do and I was really into sports, so I started doing that. CN: Do you ever wonder “what if” you had continued modeling? FOGGIE: Not really, because sports worked out so well for me. I made the right decision. CN: You appeared in the movie Philadelphia?
FOGGIE: Yeah. I was one, so I don’t remember. But I can watch it and say “Oh, that is me.” The first time I ever saw the whole movie actually was only about five years ago, but my mom used to show me the clip. CN: What were some of your other jobs? FOGGIE: One of the home parenting magazines, I was a baby model on the cover of that. And I was in a lot of clothing ads, like J. C. Penney, and sporting goods, modeling Eagles gear and stuff like that. n
PHOTO BY Joe Howell
A young Foggie with actress Lisa Summerour on the set of the Denzel Washington/Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia. Summerour and Foggie appeared as the wife and daughter of Washington’s character, Joe Miller.
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