Vanderbilt Basketball: Tales of Commodore Hardwood History

By Bill Traughber

Vanderbilt basketball has come a long way since the beginnings of organized team play in 1893. Vanderbilt athletic historian Bill Traughber leads the charge through Commodore history, from the Old Gym to the 2012 NCAA Tournament, complete with memories from players and coaches.Experience the program's turning point from the court of the 1947 98-29 loss to Kentucky that sent a clear message: time to play ball or drop it. The first full-time head coach, Bob Polk, soon arrived and built Vanderbilt basketball into the national contender it is today. Feel the magic of Memorial Gymnasium and get on your feet to cheer for impossible buzzer-beaters and thrilling victories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Oct 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781614237242

Bill Traughber

Bill Traughber is a researcher and writer of Nashville sports history. He has been a published writer for twelve years. The Nashville-born writer's work has appeared in Athlon's Baseball Annual, Nashville Sports Weekly, Titans Exclusive, Big Orange Illustrated, the City Paper, Tennessee Titans Season Review 2001, 2, Sports Nashville, Nashville Retrospect and the National Pastime (SABR). His stories have also appeared in these additional publications: Nashville Sounds 2004, 9 yearly programs; Nashville Sounds 2007, 9 media guides; Brentwood Academy 2004, 9 football programs; Vanderbilt University 2004, 9 football programs; and Vanderbilt 2008, 9 baseball media guides. His work has appeared on several websites, including www.nashvillesounds.com and www.vucommodores.com. As a member of the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, he was presented with these awards: 2003 Best Feature Writer (Division II); 2005 Best Feature Writer (Division III); 2006 Best Feature Writer (Division III); 2007 Third Place Feature Writer (Division III); 2008 Second Place Feature Writer (Division III); 2008 Third Place Writer of the Year (Division III); 2009 Best Feature Writer (Division III); and 2009 Second Place Writer of the Year (Division III). His memberships include the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA), the Nashville Sports Council, the Society of American Baseball Researchers (SABR), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the Intercollegiate Football Researchers Association (IFRA). Traughber's stories have taken him to Cooperstown, New York; Anchorage, Alaska; and the White House in Washington, D.C. He resides in Brentwood, Tennessee.

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PREFACE

My earliest recollections of Vanderbilt basketball came when I was about eleven years old. I was walking into a 7-11-type market in Green Hills with my older sister and twin brother. This must have been about 1965. Inside the market, we came across Clyde Lee and another Vanderbilt basketball player. Lee was well known and very popular in Nashville. I recall we were talking about how they towered over us. Vanderbilt basketball was huge in those days.

I do remember looking in a telephone book for Lee’s address to send a letter asking for an autograph. There were a few C. Lees listed, and I never received a response. I realized later that he lived in a dorm on campus. I probably sent the letter to the wrong Lee. But I knew who Clyde Lee was.

In that time, Nashville sports were lacking. There was no professional minor-league baseball team, NFL team nor NHL team. The old Nashville Dixie Flyers hockey club was in existence and successful on the ice but not in attendance. Memorial Gym was a much more pleasant sports venue than the Municipal Auditorium. Vanderbilt football was not finding success on the gridiron, but the basketball ’Dores were displaying their best records in school history.

I have an old, torn game program from the 1965–66 season, but I don’t remember going to games at that time. I would attend games once in a while and always listened on the radio. I purchased season tickets during the C.M. Newton and Eddie Fogler eras, which were exciting times in Memorial Gymnasium.

I had a big sports day on December 5, 1987, when I watched my high school football team, Brentwood Academy, win a state championship on Dudley Field. After, I walked over to Memorial Gym and witnessed the Commodores upset Dean Smith and his No. 1–ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.

Later that basketball season, Vanderbilt went through a stretch of games when it was just dominating the competition at home. I was so excited just walking toward Memorial Gym from the parking lot in anticipation of some great college basketball. Will Perdue, Barry Booker, Frank Kornet and Barry Goheen were part of those exciting times.

Speaking of Goheen, what a clutch player. In January 1989 against Georgia, Goheen banked a mid-court shot at the buzzer just before halftime. I am sad to say I missed that. I had left my seat early to beat the crowd to the concession stand. As I was walking down the stairs (my season ticket seats were in 3L), I heard the gymnasium explode with cheers. A man exiting his sitting level below mine grabbed me and was shouting about that miracle shot by Goheen. He couldn’t believe it.

But later in that same game, with Vandy down by two points in the final seconds, Booker brought the ball down and passed to Goheen. Goheen dribbled, looked up at the clock and stepped back behind the 3-point line. I was screaming, Shoot, shoot! I wanted overtime. But Goheen made the 3-pointer to win the game.

It was at this time that Vanderbilt was offering a contest for Vanderbilt fans. At home games, fans could fill out a slip of paper with their name and seat location. Three people were chosen to a shooting contest at halftime. I will admit I stuffed the entry box with several entry slips. American Airlines sponsored the contest, with a prize of free airfare for two. Each contestant had a shot from mid-court for a trip to Australia, one from the 3-point line for a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and one from the foul line for airline tickets to choose from Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego. Only one contestant could win. I had California on my mind. After the game started, a couple of guys wearing American Airlines shirts arrived at my section. I just knew they were looking for me. They told me to be at the floor level near the visitors’ bench a few minutes before halftime.

So there were two other guys and I at halftime on the floor of Memorial Gymnasium, which was packed. Vandy was playing Mississippi State. Nobody came close to making the mid-court shot. I made a try at the top of the 3-point line—straight up. I swished it through the goal—nothing but nylon. The fans cheered. I kept saying to myself, I won, I won. And I did! The last two guys missed their shots. The representatives gave me an envelope with airline ticket information. That summer, I received the free airline tickets and stayed in San Juan for a week. I can say my career shooting average in Memorial Gymnasium is 50 percent. That was my Memorial Magic moment.

When Eddie Fogler arrived on campus, he took the Commodores up another level. That 1992–93 SEC championship was great. Billy McCaffrey was special teaming with another transfer, Chris Lawson. I was very disappointed when Fogler left Vanderbilt for South Carolina. I did send Fogler a wooden plaque with the Commodores’ home court markings to be signed. SEC championships are nearly impossible to win.

I gave up my season tickets but still followed the team closely. Then I became a contributing writer for vucommodores.com, writing Vanderbilt sports history stories (Commodore History Corner). With a media pass, I am able to watch Vanderbilt basketball up close. My fondest memories in recent years are upsets over No. 1 Florida and No. 1 Tennessee. And when Coach Kevin Stallings would not give Florida’s Joakim Noah the basketball after a turnover near the Vanderbilt bench was entertaining.

Though it is always a great moment to beat Tennessee and Kentucky, Shan Foster’s amazing shooting performance (forty-two points) on Senior Night 2008 was unbelievable. Going into the media room after games is special (and a good place to kill time as outside traffic clears). You can see these athletes as college men instead of performers on the court. I will say that Shan Foster was the flashiest dresser and caught the attention from the media.

I’d like to thank the following people in the Vanderbilt Athletic Communications office for assisting me with this book and in the past on my stories: Rod Williamson (director), Andy Boggs (men’s basketball contact), Michael Scholl (women’s basketball contact), Ryan Schulz, Chris Weinman, Kyle Parkinson, Brandon Barca, Larry Leathers, Brock Williams (director of sports operation) and Eric Jones (Vanderbilt ticket manager). I’d like to give special thanks to Barry Booker for writing such a complimentary foreword to this project and Molly Blatt, Coach Stallings’s administrative assistant.

The Vanderbilt University Special Collections and Archives helped me with photographs for this project and other previous stories for vucommodores.com. I want to thank Henry Shipman and Philip Nagy (digital imaging specialists) and Juanita Murray (director).

These would be the members of my all-time Vanderbilt basketball team, judged from the times I’ve followed closely: Will Perdue, Billy McCaffrey, John Jenkins, Shan Foster and Dan Langhi. The bench would be phenomenal.

The 2012–13 season can prove to be historic for both Kevin Stallings and Melanie Balcomb. Stallings is eighteen wins away from passing Roy Skinner as the men’s all-time winningest coach, while Balcomb is nineteen victories away from passing Jim Foster to become the women’s all-time winningest coach.

There is something very special about Vanderbilt basketball and Memorial Gymnasium. It cannot be challenged that Vanderbilt basketball has a tradition and a history. It is sacred.

CHAPTER 1

VANDERBILT WAS FIRST COLLEGE TEAM IN 1893

In the fall of 1891, Dr. James Naismith needed an indoor sport to avoid the bitter winter weather in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was asked to instruct the physical activities for the participants of the Young Men’s Christian Association Training School (later Springfield College). At that time, the YMCA was a base for training physical instructors and general secretaries for the YMCAs within the United States. Outdoor sports, such as football and rugby, failed to be converted to indoor sports. A small gymnasium was not equipped for a game requiring an enormous playing area.

Naismith’s solution was to invent the game of basket ball. Peach baskets were secured from the custodian and hung from the gym’s balcony, which just happened to be ten feet from the floor. Naismith devised a set of rules that required nine players on a team and a soccer ball. The number of players on a team was derived to accommodate the eighteen students in Naismith’s original class.

The new game began to spread within the United States and was the winter sport for the YMCAs in the country. Eventually, colleges and athletic clubs acquired the game for their activity. Nashville, with its YMCA and athletic clubs, was quick to learn the game. Vanderbilt’s interest in the game was evident when the university’s newspaper, Hustler, printed the rules in its December 21, 1893 edition. At the time, football, baseball and track were the featured sports on the Commodore campus.

The Old Gym built in 1880 still exists today and housed Vanderbilt student basketball games. The first recorded basketball game played by Vanderbilt as a team is mentioned in the Comet, the university’s yearbook. The Comet reviews the 1893 season, which consisted solely of a 9–6 victory over the Nashville YMCA. Also included in this yearbook are the names and positions of the nine Vanderbilt players. That Vanderbilt game was played on February 7, 1893, which credits the Commodores with being the first college to field a basketball team and play an organized game. With the caption The Vanderbilts Won, the Republican Banner reported on the historic game:

This article is from the February 8, 1893 issue of the Republican Banner and reveals Vanderbilt’s first organized basketball game, defeating the YMCA 9–6. Courtesy of the author.

The game of basket ball at the Y.M.C.A. gymnasium last night between the Vanderbilts and the Association team was witnessed by a large audience, who greatly enjoyed the first public exhibition of this new game. The game in many of its features resembles football, but not nearly so dangerous to life and limb. Nine men constitute a team. At each end of the hall is a shallow bag, the mouth of which is held open by a metal hoop a foot or so in diameter. The bag is fastened securely to the wall about five or six feet from the floor, and the object is to put the ball into the opponent’s goal. A goal counts three points. The game last night resulted in favor of Vanderbilt by a score of 9 to 6.

Basketball became popular for several years as an intramural winter game on the Vanderbilt campus. The University League was formed, containing teams from the dental school and undergraduate students. Then, in February 1899, Dr. William L. Dudley, the Athletic Association’s president, sent a letter to Hustler expressing his concerns. Dudley’s letter was printed as follows:

The Executive Committee of the Athletic Association desires to express the hope that all students who expect to be candidates for the track, baseball and football teams of the university, in fact, all who have athletic ability, will avoid the game of basketball as played in our gymnasium.

Our athletics have had bitter experiences with this game in the past, and therefore the committee desires to give warning in due time.

The gymnasium is not adapted to the game, and the practice of playing it in their gymnasium suits is considered unsafe by all experts.

This game cost us the track championship of the Southern tournament last year and it is hoped that this year we may have winning teams in the field. To bring this result about we must have hearty cooperation of every student, and no chances should be taken in a game like basketball in which there is nothing at