Vanderbilt ready to keep investing in football after historic season and House settlement
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt has plenty of options for divvying up revenue sharing under the House settlement with a two-time national baseball champ and both men's and women's basketball coming off NCAA Tournament berths.
Combined with a record of more losing seasons than bowl berths seemingly would make for an easy decision to invest anywhere but football.
Not the Commodores.
'This is the SEC," Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee said Tuesday. "You have to invest and invest at a high level.'
The decision is tougher with the SEC's lone private university coming off one of its best all-around athletic seasons in years.
Lee wouldn't specify if Vanderbilt will follow the 75-15-5-5 formula that has emerged as a popular revenue-sharing plan with the House settlement that would send 75% of revenue-share money to football, followed by men's basketball, then women's basketball.
Investing more in football isn't just the cost of doing business in the Southeastern Conference. Lee and Chancellor Daniel Diermeier lured Clark Lea away from Notre Dame because they wanted to turn Vanderbilt into a consistent winner, which the Commodores haven't been in decades.
In 2021, Vanderbilt announced its biggest football stadium renovation in 40 years with a complete redesign and rebuild of each end zone. The south end zone will be ready for the season opener Aug. 30.
All the spending is easier to justify after 2024. With quarterback Diego Pavia, the Commodores went 7-5 and won their first bowl since 2013. The season's highlight was the program's first win over an AP No. 1-ranked team with the Commodores never trailing against Alabama last October.
Lea said last season's success is starting to break through the 'cynicism' around Vanderbilt football.
'We all see the opportunity that we have right now," Lea said. "And I think for those of us that have been in this really ... certainly for me this being year five, I'm so excited to feel like I have something at stake, to feel like chips are on the table.'
Football wasn't the only beneficiary of that initial $300 million investment. The north end zone now features the Huber Center, which opened last fall giving men's basketball and women's basketball each a floor complete with separate practice courts, locker rooms, film rooms and hangout areas for players.
The timing was perfect on a campus where women's soccer reached its first Sweet 16 and women's tennis hosted an NCAA regional:
— Vanderbilt men's basketball went 20-13 in coach Mark Byington's debut season earning the Commodores' first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.
— The women beat in-state rival Tennessee twice in a season for the first time, went 22-11 and earned a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. With Mikayla Blakes setting records as a freshman and Khamil Pierre back, coach Shea Ralph is targeting titles and the program's first Final Four since 1993.
Ralph said she's glad to be working at Vanderbilt for an athletic director who played women's basketball at the school. Lee graduated in 2000 after four seasons playing for coach Jim Foster. Ralph's concern now is how female athletes' fair-market value is assessed.
'Are we being compared to other women? Which is going to set us back,' Ralph said.
The practice court once shared now will be used by volleyball, Vanderbilt's 17th sport debuting this fall.
The south end zone will have a space that can be used by coach Tim Corbin and his baseball program, which just earned the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament. A training table in that end zone also will be open to all athletes.
'It's clear that we're trying to, yes, invest where you get the largest return on investment, but also invest where all of our student athletes can be positively impacted," Lee said.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
recommended
in this topic
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Aussie nurse loses savings in just 24 hours from ‘phone porting' scam — what it is and how to protect yourself
An Australian nurse had her life upended when scammers hijacked her phone number, drained her bank accounts and opened loans in her name — all within 24 hours. 'They were able to change my email, passwords,' Lee-Anne McLean told 9News. 'They broke into my social media and they opened bank loans.' And she doesn't know how they did it. 'I have security on my phone and my computer, so I'm not sure how they got all my personal information but I would really like to know.' Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Phone porting is a legitimate process that lets you keep your phone number when switching carriers, and it's typically protected by verification safeguards. But scammers have learned how to exploit it. 'To work around these protections, scammers will gather personal information about their target online, combing through social media posts, or purchasing information from cyber thieves or hackers,' according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If fraudsters have the right combination of personal information — which could include your address, birth date, Social Security number, PINs and passwords — they 'may be able to con the victim's phone company into believing the request to port out the number is from the authorized account holder,' says the FCC. Once the fraudster convinces your phone company to transfer your number, your phone goes offline — and theirs lights up with your messages and calls, often allowing them to bypass safety measures like two-factor authentication. 'Once the scammer has access, they attempt to drain the victim's bank accounts,' says the FCC. 'In another variation, the scammers may attempt to sell or ransom back to the victim access to their social media accounts.' This happened to Associated Press reporter Fatima Hussein in 2024, who woke up one morning to discover she didn't have cell service. 'Using my home Wi-Fi connection, I checked my email and discovered a notification that $20,000 was being transferred from my credit card to an unfamiliar Discover Bank account,' she explained in an article for the Financial Post. Hussein said it took 10 days to get her number back from Cricket Wireless. 'And that wasn't until I told company representatives that I was writing a story about my experience,' she wrote in the Financial Post. During that time, fraudsters had accessed her account three times and transferred $19,000 from her credit card to the same unfamiliar account, even after freezing her credit and changing all her passwords. Bank of America was working to reverse the $19,000 transfer. Neither McLean nor Hussein know how fraudsters got their information. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it In 2024 alone, SIM swapping scams led to nearly $26 million in reported losses, according to the FBI — and the real figure may be even higher, since many victims don't report. To minimize the risk, start by asking your wireless provider about port-out authorization. 'Every major wireless has some sort of additional security for accounts or for port-out authorization that customers can set up, like a unique pin, or add verification questions, which will make it more difficult for someone to port out your phone,' according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Be on the lookout for phishing scams, which can lead to phone porting scams. A phishing scam takes place when fraudsters try to trick you into giving away personal information, typically by posing as a legitimate individual or business (such as an HR manager or your bank). They may contact you via text, email or phone. Never give away any personal information to a call or email from an unknown contact. Hang up (or ignore the email) and contact the individual or business with a trusted phone number or even an in-person visit. 'Typically, loss of service on your device — your phone going dark or only allowing 911 calls — is the first sign this has happened,' according to the FCC. If this has happened to you, time is of the essence. Contact your phone company and bank, and place a fraud alert on your credit reports. Aside from filing a police report, you can also file a complaint with the FCC. But for victims like McLean or Hussein, recovery can be a long, difficult process. 'My days are basically taken up by trying to prove who I am again,' McLean told 9News, 'and piece by piece trying to put my life back together.' Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now This tiny hot Costco item has skyrocketed 74% in price in under 2 years — but now the retail giant is restricting purchases. Here's how to buy the coveted asset in bulk Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air India faces turbulence as plane crash prompts deeper checks and disruptions
NEW DELHI (AP) — Air India is facing fresh turbulence following last week's fatal crash as additional safety inspections on its Dreamliner fleet have led to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety. India's aviation safety regulator ordered deeper checks on Boeing 787 aircrafts operated by the airline soon after its London-bound flight crashed during take-off in Ahmedabad city June 12, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew. The precautionary inspections, including closure of airspace in some middle eastern countries, have strained Air India operations across domestic and international routes. Since the crash, Air India has cancelled operations of a total of 83 wide-body flights, including 66 Dreamliner, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation safety regulator. 'There is a cascading impact operationally. We are being extra cautious and doing extra checks beyond the usual,' a company executive familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. The company on Tuesday announced cancellation of multiple flights, including one from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Another from Delhi to Paris was cancelled as a mandatory pre-flight check identified an unidentified issue, the airline said in a statement. In a statement Tuesday, the aviation directorate said surveillance conducted on Air India's Dreamliner fleet so far has found no 'major safety concerns.' The aircrafts and its associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards, the directorate said, adding that of the 33 aircrafts, 24 have completed the inspections, while four were undergoing long-term maintenance. The rest were expected to finish the safety checks soon. The regulator, however, raised concerns about maintenance-related issues reported by the airline and advised it to 'strictly adhere to regulations.' It asked Air India to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations and ground handling units and ensure adequate availability of spares to mitigate flight delays. Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the U.K., the U.S. and officials from Boeing. Aviation experts say the crash poses a temporary challenge for Air India, which was in midst of transforming itself from a financially troubled airline to a profitable venture. 'If you ask me whether the accident will derail the ambitious growth plans, no way. There can be no looking back,' said Jitender Bhargava, a former Air India executive director. The company already has placed huge orders for new aircrafts to expand operations. The present challenge was to boost the morale of employees and passengers through confidence building measures, Bhargava said. 'The faster you make people forget this one-off accident, the better it is,' Bhargava said. Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. The $2.4 billion deal was seen as the government's effort to sell off a loss-making, state-run businesses. It also was in some ways a homecoming for Air India, which was launched by the Tata family in 1932. Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes worth over $70 billion, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines Tata held stakes in. The company additionally has committed millions of dollars to digital overhauls of aircrafts and refurbishing interiors of more than five dozen legacy planes. Air India has ordered nearly three dozen trainer aircrafts and set up one of South Asia's largest training academy for professionals.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US unemployment claims dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels, the Labor Department said Wednesday. U.S. jobless claims ticked down from 250,000 the week before. Economists had expected last week's claims to match that at 250,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose to 245,500, the highest since August 2023. The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits the week of June 7 slid to 1.95 million. Weekly unemployment claim are a proxy for layoffs and mostly have stayed within a healthy band of 200,000 to 250,000 since the economy recovered from a brief but painful COVID-19 recession in 2020, which temporarily wiped out millions of jobs. In recent weeks, however, claims have stayed at the high end of range, adding to evidence that U.S. job market is decelerating after years of strong hiring. So far this year, employers are adding a decent but far from spectacular 124,000 jobs a month, down from an average 168,000 last year and an average of nearly 400,000 from 2021 through 2023. The hiring slowdown is partly the drawn-out result of 11 interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023. But Trump's aggressive and often-erratic trade policies — including 10% taxes on imports from almost every country on earth — are also weighing on the economy, paralyzing businesses and worrying consumers who fear they'll mean higher prices. Carl Weinberg of High Frequency Economics is worried that claims remain elevated compared with recent years, when employment has remained very low by historical standards. 'We believe firms have been 'hoarding' workers to ensure that they don't lay off skilled and trained workers by mistake, especially with the labor market still very close to full employment,' Weinberg wrote. "With uncertainty still high ... companies have remained hesitant about layoffs. That may be changing.'' The Fed, satisfied that an inflation was coming down, cut rates three times last year. But the central bank has turned cautious in 2025, worried that Trump's tariffs will rekindle inflationary pressures. The Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged as it wraps up a two-day meeting Wednesday.
