Terrence Jones took over in Baton Rouge today as the Wildcats rolled LSU at home 74-50. Jones poured in 27 in the win. Kentucky stays undefeated in SEC play at 7-0. The Cats will play the Vols at home on Tuesday.
Johnny O’Bryant III had 12 in the loss and snagged 9 boards for the Tigers.
We jumped the gun yesterday reporting that Kevin McCoy was coming to Vandy. Our apologies go to Kevin and we hope he lands in Nashville but if he chooses UCF we know he will do big things there as well. McCoy tweeted yesterday that he hasn’t made his final decision but it was down to Vandy and UCF.
Guys….Im srrry but I am still UNDECIDED….#UCF vs #VU!!! Havent committed!
— Kevo McCoy (@K_McCoy78) January 28, 2012
After seeing some of his tweets yesterday we thought McCoy had made the decision to come to West End.
#DORE State of Mind! #BlackNGold! Im bout to #AnchorDOWN!!! #VU!
— Kevo McCoy (@K_McCoy78) January 27, 2012
@chiucfgal I will never….I BLEED Black&Gold!
— Kevo McCoy (@K_McCoy78) January 27, 2012
McCoy is supposed to be in Nashville this weekend so hopefully he will decide he likes it and will want to stick around for four years.
Armwood RT Kevin McCoy has chosen Vanderbilt over Central Florida. McCoy will be in Nashville this weekend on an official visit. McCoy broke the news on Twitter today;
#DORE State of Mind! #BlackNGold! Im bout to #AnchorDOWN!!! #VU!
— Kevo McCoy (@K_McCoy78) January 27, 2012
McCoy is a high school teammate of backup QB Josh Grady so the Vanderbilt connection must have paid off. The big right tackle played on a very good team and was being pursued by Auburn and Louisville before he whittled his decision down to UCF and Vandy.
Signing day is Feb. 1st and this is the most anticipated signing class in recent Vanderbilt history. James Franklin has done a great job snapping up recruits from other big name schools.
A shakeup at defensive coordinator at Arkansas costs the Razorbacks a linebacker. Jakarri Thomas decommited from Arkansas after Willy Robinson left the program last month. After a visit to Nashville last week Thomas decided to commit to Vanderbilt. He will sign his letter of intent on Feb. 1st with the rest of the recruits James Franklin is bringing in.
Thomas played linebacker and with a 4.5 40 he could convert to safety and make an immediate impact in the secondary.
Chris Moody from Henry County High School in McDonough, Georgia has decided on Vanderbilt. The 3 star athlete made his decision during an official visit over the weekend. Moody is a versatile player who could play corner, safety, or possibly even quarterback.
Moody picked the Commodores over South Carolina, North Carolina State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech. National Signing Day is on Feb. 1st. That’s when Moody will put the pen to paper and officially become a Dore.
Back in 2008 the gang here at VandyPride conducted some interviews from some notable competitors in the SEC. Terrence Jones was a linebacker at Alabama under Mike Shula. We talked to Terrance about his time in Tuscaloosa and playing in the SEC.
Terrence, thanks for talking to us today. Tell us what you’ve been up to lately?
Lately I’ve been finishing up my degree at the U.A. I graduate in August. I’m considering following Joe Kine to Texas A&M to be a graduate assistant to him if I don’t make any football team whether its the NFL, AFL, Canadian, or AAFL.
Tell us a little about the AAFL.
The AAFL is a football league comprised of former Division 1 athletes who have recieved a four year degree. It’s different from the NFL because it will be played in the spring time.
Why did you decide to come to Alabama? Surely you had other schools pursuing you what was special about Tuscaloosa?
I came to Alabama for a few reasons. One reason was that I was going to have the opportunity to play in front of my family, friends, and people who have followed my career through high school. Secondly because of the rich tradition of playing at the University of Alabama. Alabama always had a reputation of producing pretty good linebackers and that also lured me to stay home. Thirdly, I just wasn’t an Auburn fan. Auburn may have recruited me the hardest. I tried to convince myself that Auburn was the place for me but my heart was with Alabama. I had pretty much every school in the SEC after me and big schools from other conferences but Alabama was the place for me. Finally, one of my best friend at the time Leron McClain also was going to Alabama. We had been playing together since the 8th grade and I thought it would be cool to play college together also.
What are you most proud of from your time at Alabama?
I am most proud of the fact that I helped to maintain the football program. I came in at a time when we were going through so much. I had gotten recruited by Fran, committed to Price, and played for Shula. Although our record wasn’t good like we would’ve hoped. I am proud to say I played at the University of Alabama.
Do you keep in touch with your former teammates?
I keep in touch with a few of the guys on a regular basis. I talk to Demeco Ryans, Freddie Roach, and Juwan Simpson like everyday. Ken Darby calls whenever he is in town. I ran into Leron the other day in the mall. By me still being in school here i am able to be with the guys who signed with me but redshirted like Matt Cadell, Demarcus Waldrop, Tyrone Prothro, also a couple younger guy like DJ Hall,Antoine Caldwell. Lionel Mitchell and Nick Walker. I developed many friendships with alot of guys on the team. Many of us became like brothers. We did a lot of things together. I guess you can say I’m just a cool guy that everyone likes.
What did you think of Alabama’s decision to schedule Hawaii as it’s last game in 2003 since we couldn’t go to a bowl game?
I thought by scheduling Hawaii was a good idea. It gave us players the opportunity to go to Hawaii first of all and the chance to make something out of a miserable season.
I’d like to ask you about some of the games you played in.
You were there for Prothro’s infamous catch against Southern Miss. in 2005 What did you think when you saw it that night?
When I saw Prothro’s catch I said “unbelievable, he is the real deal”. It’s the best catch I have ever seen.
Also in 2005, your junior year we crushed #3 Florida at home 31-3. What did that game mean to you?
That Florida game made our season. I knew when we beat them that we had a pretty good team. That was by far to me the best Bryant Denny atmosphere I have ever played in.
A few weeks later was the huge game game at home against UT. I remember UT was about to score and then all of the sudden their fulback fumbled the ball out of the end zone. What were you thinking as you watched that unfold in front of you?
Watching them drive the ball down there about to score I was thinking “man here go our season”. Then Roman goes and knocked the ball loose and it was crazy. I couldnt believe it.
The LSU overtime game that year was heartbreaking. You actually came off the bench and had pretty good game. What do you remember about playing against JeMarcus Russell that afternoon?
I was pumped for this game. Coach Kines had said it was going to take everybody and he looked right at me when he said it. I just remember him sending me on a blitz every play. I got to JaMarcus a couple of times. The tackle held me a few times but it never got called. We were one play away from winning that game.
Your senior year you had a big game against Vandy. For some reason Vandy always plays us close. Do you remember what you were thinking when Tiffin kicked that field goal with a few seconds left to win the game?
Yeah Vandy always plays us close for some reason. Vandy had a pretty good team and that game came down to the wire. I was holding my breathe hoping that Tiffin would nail it for us. It was a big win for us. Glad that Tiffin was able to pull it out.
What do you remember about the Bowl game with Oklahoma State? Coming back from 14 down in the 4th quarter to tie it I was sure we were going to win.
This is one game that I hate the most and blame myself. I went on the blitz the running back chipped me and then rolled out and caught the screen. I couldnt get to him when he chipped me then when I was finally going to get him a lineman came and cut me. I took this loss personal. It was the first time when I felt like I caused us the game.
Thanks again Terrence, is there anything else you’d like to say to the Crimson Tide fans out there?
I want them to not look at the 2003-2006 seasons as failures. There were a lot of young men who loved Alabama and put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that progam. We gave it all we had.
Roll Tide!!!
After blowing an 11 point halftime lead Vandy wound up down 7 in the second half before rallying and taking the Bulldogs to overtime. Dee Bost hit a layup with 2 seconds left to give Mississippi State a 3 point lead. John Jenkins missed a three pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs the win.
John Jenkins had 21 in the loss for the Dores.
It was a disappointing game for the Commodores who led big at halftime only to come out flat and give up the lead. Vandy will need to make a run the next few weeks to get their momentum back.
UT comes to town on Tuesday fresh off a big upset win over UConn.
Alabama gave Kentucky a scare in Lexington but the Wildcats held on for a 77-71 win. Terrence Jones led Kentucky with 15 points but points were hard come by against Alabama’s defense. Anthony Davis had 11 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Kentucky improves to 5-0 in league play and will face Georgia on the road on Tuesday.
Ensworth star Cory Batey has decided he’s ‘All In’ and has canceled a visit to Minnesota and committed to Vanderbilt according to a tweet by Tennessean Vanderbilt reporter Jeff Lockridge.
Batey has been recruited by some other schools such as Kentucky and Arkansas State as well as Minnesota. The 6′ receiver caught 47 passes for 687 yards last fall. In addition to offense Batey also played corner. He runs a 4.41 in the forty and will make a great addition to the defense or offense.
At the 2010 De’Vinner Elite Football Showcase Combine at D1 Sports in Cool Springs Batey actually did better than future teammate, Brian Kimbrow. The Showcase combined scores from the 40, shuttle drill, vertical leap and a powerball throw.
Batey committed to James Franklin in the summer but Minnesota never gave up and even got Batey to schedule a visit. Tee Martin also tried to steal him away and get him to come to Kentucky but luckily for us the big time athlete will be on West End next year.
The SEC responded to Kevin Stallings’ criticism over Vanderbilt’s schedule compared to Kentucky’s. Kentucky hasn’t had to play a Thursday and Saturday game in the same week in two years while others in the conference have to do it several times in a season. In fact the Dores do it this week when we play on the road at Alabama tonight and then have to come home to play Mississippi State Saturday.
According to the SEC via Tennessean.com;
“The SEC’s athletics directors have established a set of parameters to follow when building the men’s basketball schedule. These parameters are in place to ensure that the schedule is as equitable as possible and enables the SEC to fulfill its contractual obligations with television. We make our best effort to balance out the Thursday-Saturday tandem among all of the teams. Last year we began moving some Thursday games to Tuesday to alleviate some of the issues with the quick turnaround. Now we are playing two games Tuesday night with an ESPNU game that leads inot the ESPN Super Tuesday matchup.
We try to get every team at least one game and no more than four games on Thursday night. The key issues is avoiding teams playing on the road for both parts of a Thursday-Saturday tandem.”
Kevin Stallings will likely be in the commissioners doghouse for being so outspoken but he does raise a valid point. Kentucky will always get a few perks because they are in demand by ESPN and CBS. Vandy isn’t a proven ratings draw so we won’t get the extra days off UK gets.
