2008-09: Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings has taken the Commodore basketball program to unparalleled heights in his nine years at the helm, with success coming on the floor and in the classroom during his tenure. His teams have advanced to two Sweet 16 appearances in five years, and off the floor, every Vanderbilt senior basketball player has received a degree. His teams have also made Memorial Gym, already one of the most unique arenas in America, a hostile and very challenging place for opposing teams. The Commodores were a perfect 19-0 at home in 2007-08, and have won 33 out of their last 36 games at the hallowed hall.

The 2007-08 edition of the Commodores was one of the most successful teams of the Stallings era. Vanderbilt tied for the most wins in regular season history (25), advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year -- the first time since 1988-89 that has occurred -- won 10 games in the SEC for the second consecutive season, and saw one of the four-year seniors, Shan Foster, capture SEC Player of the Year honors, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and become the school's all-time leading scorer.

This kind of success comes as no surprise to the players who put on the Vanderbilt jersey when adjectives like competitive, personable, passionate, intense, honest, hard-working, knowledgeable and prepared describe their coach and the program they represent.

Nine seasons into his stay in Nashville, Stallings has Vanderbilt in rarefied air in college basketball circles with seven postseason appearances, two NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in 2004 and 2007, three NCAA Tournament berths and four 20-win seasons. Stallings became the first coach to take two Vanderbilt teams to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament since the 64-65 team format; and the Commodore mentor has had SEC Players of the Year on his squad in three out of his nine years in Nashville.

The list of accomplishments for the current Vanderbilt coach continues to grow:

• Stallings became the second Vanderbilt coach in school history to have three 20-win seasons (Roy Skinner) after the 2006-07 season. He now has four 20-win seasons. Skinner is the all-time leader with six 20-win campaigns.

• He was named SEC Coach of the Year by SEC Coaches in 2007, the first for a Vanderbilt coach since Eddie Fogler won the award in 1993. He is only the third coach ever to accomplish the feat at Vanderbilt.

• Currently stands at 293 career wins, seven away from 300.

• He has coached three SEC Players of the Year (coaches) - Dan Langhi in 1999-2000, Derrick Byars in 2006-07, and Shan Foster in 2007-08 (AP and Coaches).

• Now in 28th place amongst winningest coaches in the SEC (at SEC institutions) with 170 Vanderbilt wins.

• He coached two SEC Academic Honor Roll members in 2007-08 in Ross Neltner and Davis Nwankwo. It pushed his total number of SEC Academic Honor Roll selections to 25 during his nine-year tenure.

• He now has 293 career victories as a head coach, which makes him the sixth current SEC coach with 250 or more wins, and his 170 Vanderbilt wins ranks him third all-time in the Commodore record books behind Roy Skinner (278; 1959, 1962-76) and Bob Polk (197; 1948-58, 1960-61).

In fact, in his 30 years as a player or coach, success has followed Stallings throughout his basketball career as a player at Purdue, an assistant at both Purdue and Kansas and his previous head coaching position at Illinois State. During the time span, Stallings has been a part of 20 seasons with 20-or-more victories and a basketball season that concluded during postseason play 24 times. Since coming to Vanderbilt in April 1999, Stallings has compiled a 170-116 record, while moving his 15-year overall coaching mark to 293-179.

Stallings has guided the Commodores to postseason play in each of the last five seasons, including two Sweet 16 appearances in the last five years and back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2007 and 2008.

The 2003-04 campaign saw the Commodores advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 1993, reaching the Phoenix Regional Semifinals before bowing out to Connecticut, the eventual national champion; and in 2006-07, the Commodores knocked off George Washington and Washington State before dropping a 66-65 decision to Georgetown in the East Regional Semifinals.

In 2003-04, Vanderbilt set a school record with a 12-0 start, knocked off five nationally ranked opponents and advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament -- all of this before reaching the "Big Dance" and concluding its run with a 23-10 overall mark. In 2006-07, Vanderbilt had the SEC Player of the Year in Derrick Byars and knocked off seven ranked opponents during the year. In 2007-08, the Commodores tallied 25 regular season wins, which tied the 1992-93 team for the most in school history, and knocked off the No. 1 team in the nation for the second consecutive season.

In all, Stallings has coached in seven postseason tournaments, three NCAA tounaments and four NIT's. The Commodores reached the NIT in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006; and in 2005, the Commodores made the quarterfinals of the NIT, winning at Indiana and outlasting Wichita State at the buzzer before falling at Memphis, one step short of reaching the semifinal round in New York City.

Qualities of a Caring Coach

Throughout his tenure at Vanderbilt, Stallings has proven himself as a coach whose intensity from the bench and drive to compete matches his reputation as a talented tactician and his genuine concern for players. Since coming to Nashville, Stallings has embraced the Commodore basketball tradition while building a program based on quality players and dedicated students.

He has molded Commodore players into some of the finest in the SEC. Former Commodores Dan Langhi and Matt Freije blossomed under the direction of Stallings. Langhi earned the 2000 SEC Player of the Year award, while Freije became Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer. Derrick Byars became Stallings' second player of the year in 2007, and wing Shan Foster became his third in 2008. Both Byars and Foster were second-round selections in the 2007 and 2008 NBA Draft, respectively.

At the same time, Stallings makes sure his players perform in the classroom. At Vanderbilt, all 25 of his seniors either have earned or are currently working toward their college degree. While at Illinois State, five Redbirds achieved Academic All-America status; and all but two seniors earned their degree.

Since Stallings became head coach a Vanderbilt player has been named:
• All-SEC either by the Associated Press or the league's coaches 17 times
• SEC Player of the Week 13 times.
• Academic All-SEC 25 times.

Track Record for Success

Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, Stallings coached six seasons at Illinois State (1994-99) in his first head coaching opportunity. Following the most successful coach in school history, Stallings raised the program to higher standards taking four teams to postseason tournaments, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. He became the first men's basketball coach in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to win back-to-back regular season and conference tournament titles in 1997 and 1998. As the Redbirds head coach, Stallings averaged 21 wins a season, compiling a 123-63 record.

As an assistant coach, Stallings worked with two of the nation's most well-known and respected mentors - Gene Keady, his college coach at Purdue, and Roy Williams at Kansas.

After helping lead the Boilermakers as a player (1980-82) to three postseason tournament appearances, including a NCAA Final Four appearance in 1980, Stallings served as an assistant coach under Keady from 1983-88. On Keady's staff, Stallings helped direct Purdue to six NCAA Tournament appearances and three Big Ten championships while tallying a 140-44 overall record.

"More than anything, I think what Gene Keady taught me was that good teams have good players and great teams have great teammates," Stallings said. "I think his greatest strength was his ability to get a team to achieve as close to its potential as possible on a very consistent basis. That's because of his ability to motivate people to be a willing part of what he called `being a company man.' I believe in that and I believe in him. It's obvious that he was brilliant in that way."

Stallings left Purdue to join Williams' coaching staff at Kansas in 1989. Over the next five seasons, the Jayhawks made four NCAA Tournament appearances, enjoyed two trips to the Final Four, finished as the 1991 national runner-up and accumulated a 132-38 mark during Stallings' stay.

"The thorough nature in which Roy Williams approaches his job was the biggest aspect I took from my time at Kansas. Roy is very detailed, very organized and very meticulous. Not only is he a great coach and great recruiter, but he runs his program with precision and with great organization."

A 1978 graduate of Collinsville High School outside of St. Louis, Stallings played under the legendary Vergil Fletcher, who was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame during the 2004 summer.

Stallings earned his undergraduate degree in business management and marketing at Purdue in 1982 before receiving a Master's degree from Purdue in 1985.

Stallings and his wife Lisa have three children: Jacob (18), Alexa (14) and Jordyn (8).