By Brett Hait, bhait@nashvillecitypaper.com
TAMPA, Fla. – The Vanderbilt basketball team arrived in this warm and breezy coastal city Wednesday night ostensibly to win a game on Friday.
Look closer, though, and it becomes clear the Commodores are carrying a banner of deeper significance.
History can be written this month, the kind of history that causes record books to be re-printed and teams to forever be etched into the memories and consciousness of its fans.
This is only the second Commodore to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. They are situated at the highest seed, No. 4, the school has received in 15 years.
This is also Vanderbilt’s third tournament appearance in five years. Peruse the sometimes-sparse school record book, and it becomes quickly apparent that such a streak is noteworthy.
In nearly every way, the golden age of Commodore basketball might be in full bloom.
“I think this may very well be the best five-year stretch in Vanderbilt history by the time this season is over,” said former Commodore guard Barry Booker, now a college basketball TV analyst.
Kevin Stallings never had a doubt he could win at Vanderbilt when he accepted the school’s head-coaching position in 1999.
In 30 seasons as a player and coach, his teams have made 25 tournament appearances, including 16 NCAA berths and three Final Fours.
He had been a successful head coach at Illinois State and had been involved in plenty of victories as an assistant at Kansas and Purdue. The same formula, he figured, would bear fruit in Nashville.
In Stallings’ first four seasons, the Commodores failed to make a single NCAA Tournament appearance. The nadir came with an 11-18 record during the 2002-03 season.
Suddenly, a puzzled Stallings wondered how he had gone from living a charmed life at Illinois State, Kansas and Purdue to becoming a whipping boy of many Vanderbilt fans.

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