Vanderbilt Plans To Add Varsity Women’s Volleyball Team

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Vanderbilt vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director Candice Lee. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

With the Vandy United campaign continuing to grow, Vanderbilt University has announced its commitment to adding a varsity women’s volleyball program as its 17th varsity sport.

The sport will begin competition in the 2025–26 academic year. The Commodores were previously the only SEC school to not have a varsity volleyball team.

“Today’s announcement has been a long time coming. For some it’s one that people have been waiting to hear for more than four decades,” said Candice Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director in a press conference. “I’ve said from the beginning that Vandy United is about transforming and reimagining our athletics department. That includes sports sponsorship. It is with great excitement, pride and optimism that I say volleyball is back.”

After conducting a study, Vandy believes a 36-month timeline for implementation offers the program the best chance for sustainable and competitive success. They feel this particularly in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which will now sponsor 16 varsity volleyball programs starting in 2025 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas. This allows the university sufficient time to build the infrastructure and resources necessary to support the sport at a championship level.

“As we approach the 150th anniversary of Vanderbilt’s founding, we remain committed to the mission of helping student-athletes realize their full potential,” says Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. “To fully serve this purpose, the university must itself never stop growing and seeking new opportunities for excellence. Today’s announcement of volleyball as our 17th varsity sport serves as further proof that we are writing a new chapter for Vanderbilt Athletics. Youth participation rates make clear that the sport has strong roots in Tennessee, and we look forward to bringing elite collegiate volleyball to our community.”

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, volleyball has the second-most participants nationally among girls in high school sports and is the second-most popular high school sport for girls in Tennessee, with nearly 7,000 participants. At the NCAA level, nearly 350 schools currently sponsor Division I varsity programs, now including all 14 members of the SEC. Last season’s NCAA Division I championship match between Nebraska and Wisconsin drew a record 1.19 million viewers on ESPN.

Vanderbilt Athletics fielded a varsity-level volleyball team once before from 1979 to 1980. That team went 23-16 in its inaugural season, beat Sewanee for its first-ever win, beat Georgia for its first victory against an SEC opponent and placed second in the Division III state championship played at Maryville College.

The master architectural firm Populous, plan to include a renovation of the current basketball offices in Memorial Gymnasium for occupation by the volleyball program, as well as the addition of a volleyball locker room.

Vanderbilt’s Scotty Pippen Jr. To Enter 2022 NBA Draft

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Scotty Pippen Jr. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Junior Vanderbilt basketball star Scotty Pippen Jr. has announced via social media that he will be leaving school and entering the NBA Draft.

Pippen has had one of the most successful seasons in Commodore history this past season. He scored 736 points in 36 games played–the most points ever scored by a Vanderbilt basketball player. He led the SEC in points per game with 20.4 ppg, 162 assists and 70 steals.

“I want to thank coach [Jerry] Stackhouse, all my coaches, teammates, support staff and professors for being there for me and always believing in me,” said Pippen in his statement.

Pippen was named to the All-SEC First Team and helped lead the Commodores to the NIT quarterfinals, picking up wins over Belmont and Dayton.

The Los Angeles native scored 1,577 career points, standing 12th on Vandy’s scoring list. His 17.5 points per game during his three seasons in Nashville are good for fifth best in school history.

Next up for Pippen will be the NBA Draft Combine which takes place in Chicago from May 16-22.

The NBA Draft takes place on June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Vanderbilt Reveals Timelines For New Basketball Facility

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Graphic courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt University has relabeled the detailed plans for the men’s and women’s basketball operations center and practice facility as part of its Vandy United campaign.

Utility relocation work is scheduled to begin this summer and continue through the fall to support the construction of the north end zone facility. Construction activities for the building will begin during the upcoming football season and are expected to conclude before the start of the 2024 football season.

“We want to provide a championship-level experience to everyone we serve. That starts with the student-athletes but also includes our alumni, fans, donors, faculty and staff,” says Candice Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director.

Since publicly announcing the $300 million Vandy United campaign a little more than a year ago, Vanderbilt has worked closely with Populous, lead architect for the project, to refine and finalize designs for the initial phase.

“This is the first step in a transformation. It will be iconic and beautiful, yet effective and efficient,” Lee continues. “I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to impact Vanderbilt Athletics and help position our student-athletes and community for success.”

The new basketball facility will be located beyond the north end zone of Vanderbilt Stadium and encompass 90,000 square feet and four floors. Design plans include two practice courts, locker rooms and offices for women’s head coach Shea Ralph, men’s head coach Jerry Stackhouse and their respective staffs.

“We truly see Vandy United as our stake in the ground,” says Ralph. “It marks the beginning of a new era and is proof of our commitment to elevate the best student-athlete experience in college athletics and take our fan experience to the next level.”

The student-athletes will also have access to a weight room, training room and equipment area to be used by both teams, as well as a dedicated nutrition space.

“For our program, being able to have world-class facilities from the standpoint of training, getting all the top equipment, being able to have more [practice] courts—they all create more opportunity for our student-athletes to get better in their development,” says Stackhouse. “Their [Candice Lee’s and Chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s] commitment and the commitment of all the coaches to take our programs to the next level are unmatched. You’re going to see that in the future with our new buildings and new equipment we’ll have available for our student-athletes.”

The building will be connected to Memorial Gymnasium, the Commodores’ home court, which now features newly renovated game day locker rooms for both teams. This connection also will allow fans and patrons access to both facilities on game days.

“We are excited about so many aspects of Vanderbilt basketball,” Lee adds. “Watching day to day, we see how Coach Stackhouse and Coach Ralph interact and support each other. This building represents the tone of those programs. Everybody has their own space, but there is a shared aspect. And it is connected to the broader athletics footprint that supports all our student-athletes.”

As part of the north end zone upgrades associated with the project, the concourses will connect to allow fans to move around Vanderbilt Stadium with ease. There will be terrace and balcony viewing areas on the upper levels of the basketball center for guests during football game days.

Hall Family Donates $5.5 Million to Vandy United Campaign

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Pictured (L-R): Vanderbilt vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director Candice Storey Lee; Chairman & CEO of Hall Capital Fred Hall; Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier.

Fred and Karen Hall, along with their daughter Allie Hall have made a massive donation of $5.5 million to the Vandy United campaign to help support the success of the Commodores baseball program.

The Hall family’s gift will go towards improvements in both the student-athlete and fan experience at Hawkins Field. The donation will help fund the new lighting system for the playing field, as well as a new sound system, new seats and graphics for the facility.

Their past support helped build the indoor practice and multipurpose facility that has helped Vanderbilt student-athletes realize their potential for the past decade.

“We are grateful to the Hall family for this generous gift and their steadfast support through the years,” says Candice Lee, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director. “Vandy United is our vision for the future of Vanderbilt Athletics. We want student-athletes to grow into champions. We know our blueprint works because we watched the VandyBoys make Hawkins Field the center of the college baseball world across two national championships and five College World Series appearances in 10 seasons. With their gift, the Halls ensure that the VandyBoys and our fans continue to enjoy college baseball’s best home-field advantage.”

An ardent VandyBoys fan who travels the country with former classmates and fraternity brothers to support the team, Hall is a member of the Campaign Cabinet for Athletics. The Halls, for whom the David Williams II Recreation and Wellness Center video board is named, are longstanding donors to the Gridiron Club and Champions’ Circle.

“I just want to help both Vanderbilt and Tim Corbin achieve. With that winning tradition, it made it easy,” says Hall, BA’74, chairman and CEO of Hall Capital.

Ranked as one of the 15 best college baseball stadiums by StadiumJourney.com in 2019, Hawkins Field recently benefited from the addition of new premium seating options for the 2022 season.

“Fred Hall and his family have been tremendous supporters of our program for a long time,” says baseball head coach Tim Corbin. “His friendship and emotion for our players, staff and VandyBoys program are at the very top. We are all very grateful for the Halls’ generosity and Fred’s affinity for our university and baseball program.”

Vanderbilt is 523-177-1 at Hawkins Field since the facility opened in 2002. A home base for two national championships and five College World Series appearances, the Commodores have won 67 of 82 three-game series at The Hawk since 2011.

“The Vandy United campaign reimagines and refocuses our university community’s core commitment to help student-athletes grow and achieve at the highest levels,” says Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. “Coach Tim Corbin and the VandyBoys exemplify what it is possible to achieve when we strive for unequaled excellence, and this wonderful gift by the Hall Family serves as further proof that our alumni and devoted donors share our bold vision for the future.”

Vanderbilt Athletics Ups Chris Ham To Associate AD, Sport Performance & Student-Athlete Well-Being

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Chris Ham. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt Vice chancellor for Athletics Candice Lee has announced that Chris Ham has been promoted to the role of Associate Athletic Director for Sport Performance and Student-Athlete Well-Being.

Ham’s areas of oversight include applied sports science, athletic training, mental health, nutrition and strength and conditioning. Ham came to Vanderbilt to join the baseball program in 2007 as an athletic trainer, and in 2014 was promoted to sport performance coach. He was an integral part of the Commodores’ success on the diamond while also being responsible for all aspects of student-athlete training and performance.

In 15 years of training and sport performance, Ham has helped develop 25 Major League Baseball players and more than 100 professional baseball players.

A 2005 graduate of Illinois, Ham worked as a graduate assistant at both Vanderbilt and Belmont from 2005–07.

Along with Ham, Vanderbilt has announced that Tyler Clark has been named Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Science and Sport Performance, and Walker Grisanti is now the full-time strength and conditioning coach for the baseball program. Hunter Reeser will join the Vanderbilt baseball program as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Most-Watched Season Finale in Nearly Two Decades

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South Carolina’s women’s basketball team celebrating its NCAA Tournament Championship. Photo: Courtesy of ESPN

South Carolina’s 64-49 win over UConn in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship became the most-watched women’s title game since 2004, racking in 4.85 million viewers on Sunday night (April 3).

The championship was the fourth largest audience to watch a women’s championship game since ESPN began exclusively airing the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in 1996.

“ESPN’s commitment to women’s basketball has never been stronger and this year’s viewership numbers are a clear indication of the growing popularity of the sport and the NCAA Women’s Tournament,” says Nick Dawson, ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions. “Since ESPN began exclusively televising this event more than two decades ago, we have consistently strived to raise the bar in our presentation, and we are particularly gratified by our expanded coverage and the introduction of new elements like the MegaCast this year. We look forward to working with the NCAA to further enhance our presentation in the years ahead.”

The 4.85 million viewers tuning in across ESPN networks Sunday was the most-watched cable program of the day, an audience increase of 18% year-over-year and 30% from 2019. The matchup peaked from 9-9:15 p.m. CT with 5.91 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, as South Carolina captured its second national title during ESPN’s MegaCast presentation.

The 2022 NCAA Women’s Final Four is the most-watched Final Four weekend since 2012, averaging 3.46 million viewers. The audience for the trio of games throughout the weekend was up 20% from 2021.

The full NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament averaged 634,000 viewers per game, up 16% from last year’s coverage. The total hours of consumption were up 6% year-over-year, with viewers devouring 74.6 million hours of content across ESPN platforms, roughly 4.1 million more hours compared to 2021.

The 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament experienced several additional viewership milestones throughout, including:

  • The most-consumed early rounds on record
  • The most-watched early round window in more than 10 years
  • The most-watched Sweet 16 game on cable since 2017
  • The most-watched Elite Eight round in more than 10 years
  • The most-watched Elite Eight game in more than 10 years

TSU Considers Adding Artificial Turf At Hale Stadium, Set To Visit Notre Dame In Season Opener

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Hale Stadium. Photo: Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics

Since adding former Tennessee Titan Eddie George as its head football coach in 2021, Tennessee State University Athletics has been trying to grow as much as possible. Recently, the Tigers are asking fans to fill out a survey regarding the possibility of adding artificial turf to Hale Stadium.

The purpose of the surgery is to gauge if fan attendance and participation would increase if TSU added artificial turf to its football stadium.

“In an attempt to make William J. Hale Stadium more versatile in the areas of competition, practice and other special events, the University is exploring artificial turf,” says the opening statement in the survey.

Hale Stadium is 69 years old and seats 10,000. The Tigers split their home season between Hale and Nissan Stadium after getting renovations in 2012.

In 2021, TSU finished its season 5-6 with a conference record of 3-3 in George’s first season as head coach.

This upcoming season, the Tigers will be making a trip up to South Bend to face independent powerhouse Notre Dame on Sept. 3 to kickoff their season. It is set to air on NBC for a national audience.

“TSU and Notre Dame are two iconic programs that have helped shape today’s college athletics landscape,” shares Dr. Mikki Allen, TSU Director of Athletics. “We are setting the foundation for long-term success under Coach George’s leadership. The goal is that TSU will be a destination program for the next generation of student-athletes to come.”

This will mark the first time in program history the Irish will face a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) when the Tigers make their trip to South Bend for the Irish’s 2023 home opener.

Tennessee Sweeps Vanderbilt Behind Dominant Pitching Performances

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Drew Beam. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vanderbilt baseball has consistently been the best baseball program in the state of Tennessee for nearly a decade. But this past weekend, the University of Tennessee completed a sweep of the Vandy Boys in a performance that was nothing short of dominance.

This was the first time Vanderbilt has been swept in back-to-back SEC series since 2018, and the first time the team was swept by Tennessee since 2009, which was also played at Hawkins Field.

“I think we’re a well-rounded team and that’s been a work in progress for the last few years,” said Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello. “I feel like we had it last year but maybe this year they’re just a little better.”

The Volunteers are ranked No. 1 nationally and have the best ERA among all DI baseball teams as well as the most home runs. This was on full display all weekend as Tennessee outscored Vanderbilt 16-4 behind excellent pitching from Chase Burns, Chase Dollander and Drew Beam. Beam was near perfect on Sunday’s series closer as he threw a complete game, allowing only two hits in 110 pitches thrown.

“You really just got to congratulate Tennessee,” said Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin postgame. “They were the better team in every way. It’s a good team, a really good team.”

Tennessee started things off on Friday’s series opener, winning 6-2 behind at-bats from Trey Lipscomb and Jordan Beck.

Jordan Beck. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Vandy pitcher Chris McElvain struck out the first two Volunteer batters in the first inning until Beck took McElvain deep. In a crazy turn of events, the umpires inspected Beck’s bat and determined that it was not an official bat allowed by the NCAA, forcing him to be called out and cancelling out the home run.

This wouldn’t mean much later on when Luc Lipcius hit a 2-run home run in the second inning. The Commodores scored once more in the fifth inning on an RBI fielder’s choice, but a four-run fifth inning for the Vols behind a 2-run RBI double from Beck solidified its dominant series opener. Throughout Friday night’s game, the Commodores outfield had trouble locating fly balls in the new stadium lights.

Saturday was a similar story as the Vols took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Lipscomb set the tone for Tennessee’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. Beck also notched a multi-hit effort, going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Vols pitcher Chase Dollander pitched a strong eight innings giving up only three hits and two runs–another amazing performance from the Volunteers pitching staff.

Sunday’s matinee was a bit closer for the first few innings as Commodore pitcher Patrick Reilly went five innings, only giving up a solo home run to Drew Gilbert in the fourth inning. Christian Little and Thomas Shultz gave up an additional four runs in the last three innings.

The star of the show was Drew Beam, who put on a pitching clinic. He only gave up two hits the entire game, both of which came before the fifth inning. He retired 16 straight batters between the fifth and ninth inning.

His performance earned him a SEC Pitcher of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Next up, Tennessee will host Lipscomb in Knoxville on Tuesday, April 5 and Missouri over the weekend on April 8-10.

Vanderbilt will look to bounce back after the frustrating series as they face Austin Peay on Tuesday before heading to Auburn for a weekend series against Auburn University.