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Vanderbilt has won its last eight by a total of 82 runs, and that includes three wins each over the last two national champions as the Commodores are clicking in all phases. Chris Lee and Chip Fridrich break down what's going well.

Jim Hendry, Yankees executive, took Anthony Volpe and his parents out for dinner a few weeks before the 2019 major league draft. Volpe was a passionate Yankees fan and, more importantly, a star high school shortstop out of New Jersey who was about to help Delbarton win its second state title in three years.

Hendry wanted his employers to take the teenager with their first-round pick, No. 30 overall, and yet a considerable hurdle needed to be cleared before that was even possible because Volpe had verbally committed to go to Vanderbilt. If ever a kid seemed a perfect match for the academic and athletic rigors of a prestigious Division I university, it was Anthony Michael Volpe, the son of a urologist and an anesthesiologist who put a high value on higher education.

“Anthony profiled from Day 1 to be on the campus of Vanderbilt University,” his Delbarton coach, Bruce Shatel, told The Post. “He was a very high-end academic young man. He never got a B at Delbarton, and we are a very good school.

“Anthony was always on time for class and always presented himself well. His shirts were tucked in, his hair was always combed, he was bright-eyed and always ready to learn and enthusiastic about school, baseball, everything. He was all squared away.”

Oh, and his dear friend, teammate, and fellow top prospect Jack Leiter was heading to Vanderbilt. They planned on winning more championships together.

.......

Hendry’s communication skills paid off that night in the steakhouse. As the former coach at Creighton, who had taken his team to the 1991 College World Series, Hendry had only positive things to tell Volpe, his mother, Isabelle, and his father, Michael, about the college baseball experience.

Anthony VolpeCharles Wenzelberg / New York Post
But Hendry compared Volpe to one of the prospect’s favorite players, Astros All-Star Alex Bregman, who had played three years at LSU before being drafted second overall in 2015.

SEE ALSO​

Anthony Volpe wins competition to be Yankees’ Opening Day shortstop​

“So this is probably your only chance to be a Yankee,” Hendry told Volpe. “If we’re right and you become what we think you’ll become, then when you come out of Vanderbilt you’re going to be drafted way too high to be picked by the Yankees. We’re not going to be picking where Bregman was drafted.”

I live out of state and don't hear the local news most of you all do.

I was just wondering if Sneds retired from the PGA or is injured? I haven't seen his name in an event in a long time.

Who are the other Vandy grads now playing on the PGA Tour?

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WR prospect out of Gatlinburg that has some MAC, C-USA offers

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I can't make it tonight but Joey will be there to cover. Planning to be there for Friday/Saturday Georgia games barring anything else popping up.

Vandy scored double digits in 4 straight baseball games.

There was a decent amount of scrimmage work and a lot of attention to special teams today. Here's what I saw.

- QB is in really good hands. AJ Swann has been erratic at times but the strengths--tremendous arm, ability to put the ball where needed--are still there. Ken Seals, when I've been there, has been tremendous. I'm not sure I've seen Ken throw a pick yet.
- RB, no surprise here, looks like a position of concern. I'd guess Sedrick Alexander to be the best option right now, based on what I've seen. I liked Patrick Smith as a freshman but I just haven't seen any progression. (Again, I've missed a few practices.) Maybe that will come. It's not always easy to judge running backs in practice.
- The right side of the line did a good job today in opening running lanes.
- WR Will Sheppard just remains a holy headache to cover. If the ball's in the vicinity, it's almost a guarantee he'll make a play.
- TE Cole Spence, just about every time I look, seems to have three men following him. I don't know if that's an indictment on other guys, if I'm making a big thing out of a small sample size (my guess is I am), or if Spence is just that good, but it's been interesting. He's gonna be a good one.
- Special teams work was really spirited today. Guys singled out for praise included Ethan Crisp, Darren Agu and Nicholas Rinaldi. Rinaldi, as you know, is a walk-on and I continue to be impressed with the athleticism and speed of the walk-on group compared to past years.

Guys not playing today include LB Errington Truesdell, S John Howse IV, DE/LB BJ Diakate, DB Steven Sannenola and K Jacob Curie.

I have a lot on my plate with personal matters right now and can't make Pro Day today but hope to be back at practice Tuesday. I was a little distracted trying to take care of some of that from practice but hopefully Thursday is a new and better day.

With the news of Lawrence and Wright



Disclaimer: said a bit tongue and cheek

I have two outfield seats in Section N, row 2 for Friday night. They’re free to first one to respond.

Jordan Bell is an Interesting prospect that recently visited Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt plans to evaluate him this spring, and he is likely one that will have to camp this summer. He plays quarterback, but he seems to check all of the boxes physically.

I was shocked to learn about what happened this morning. I went to church at Covenant for six years and am just heartbroken to hear what happened there. It's unimaginable. Please keep everyone there in your prayers.

Vanderbilt wins first match 2-0 over Valpo.

Vanderbilt is expected to have a solid list of visitors on campus this Saturday, here they are...

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I'll start. I bet we will be left with only 4 or 5 players. Not kidding. It will rival the LSU exodus from last year. Not that bad but close.

@drew_toennies with more on Isiah Canion, a rising WR target that was at Vanderbilt over the weekend

I wanted to let the emotional side of the my reaction to the end of the season to dissipate to a substantial degree before providing a few thoughts about this year and next year.

2022-23: To state the obvious, the season encompassed a number of extreme “highs” and “lows”, as well as a period of mediocrity, which I will not recount here because we all know what they were.

On a comparative basis when considering the 2017-18 to 2021-22, I would grade the season as “close to excellent”, but that’s not the correct way to look at things in my view. Because, when I judge the season in the context of not making the NCAA tourney, albeit in the coach’s 4th year, then I give it a “good” rating, only by giving an overweight to how the last 1/3 of the season played out (and, admittedly, bringing emotion into the equation stoked, in particular, by victories over UT and UK as well as additional doses of Memorial Magic “sprinkled over” the Auburn and Mississippi State games down the stretch).

Just a perspective about how I viewed the season which may influence how we feel about the team looking forward. Usually, we like our teams to finish strong after a slow start because it gives us something to look forward to as the next season approaches (assuming all of the players don’t move on) and leaves us with some positive vibes. In contrast, teams that start strong and then fade down the stretch does not leave many of us with a good feeling as we look to the future . . . more likely a feeling of frustration. However, when some of us dissect this year and prior years’ performances, we see “slow starts” and “strong finishes” with multiple possible reasons given for this pattern. We must “break” this cycle if we are to succeed next year. In my book, “success” means NCAA Tourney berth, and no less!


2023-24: In light of the portal activity in progress and yet to play out, plus one player’s prospective NBA tryout, there is no way I can speculate about next year’s team’s performance absent a full roster. However, I do want to point out the uphill climb the team (however, it is constructed over the next month or so) will face to compete in the SEC portion of the schedule . . . 2/3 of all games pre-NCAA tourney. If I am correct, and, admittedly, I could be wrong here, will we not play Auburn, Mississippi State and Arkansas on the road next year . . . with all 3 contests this year resulting in a win for VU? [I did not include Ole Miss “yet” into this grouping but am wary of the portal results Beard “the tampering maestro” might be able to achieve, albeit in only a few months.] [Further, I have assumed we have home and away with UF, UK and UT.] And, we will probably play Alabama once next year and I don’t know if this will be at home or away. If I was a total optimist, I could say that home games with aTm and MO give us the chance to turn the tables on these opponents, but I think the home/away scales are weighted in the wrong direction here. [I know that I did not address uSc, LSU and UGA.] On the surface, and only if I am correct with my assumption, we have a real tough road to success here which only amplifies the importance of the non-conference schedule.

Let me know what you think and where I went astray here.