Vanderbilt’s International Invasion (Seriousness Level: Low)

I’ve been a bit skeptical about Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball team. As my good friend Jon pointed out, they didn’t seem to have a go-to guy in the clutch like last year. Well after tonight’s game, I don’t think it matters. A couple fun things regarding Vandy’s great come-from-behind win at DePaul:

Vandy trailed 58-40 early in the second half.
Vandy trailed by 10 with less than 5 minutes left in the game.
Vandy is the first 10-win team in the country

I’m not one for hyperbole, but this win was one of the gutsiest I’ve seen in a long time. They could have packed it in numerous times and refused. I’m official sold as this team being able to handle about any situation thrown at them. At this point, they look to be a lock for a 16-0 record before SEC play. I’ll be randomly talking about this team throughout the season, so if you want to join the bandwagon, here are my favorite three players:

Andrew Ogilvy #4, Center: One of the top freshmen in the country. Period. From ESPN’s feature piece on him. “One NBA player personnel director told ESPN.com this week that Ogilvy already solidly projects in the 14 to 20 range of the first round if he chooses to make himself available for June's NBA draft.” He’s an extremely athletic big man who hits free throws. Oh yeah, and he’s from Australia. He’s half kola bear and two-thirds kangaroo. What’s not to like.

Shan Foster #32, Shooting Forward: Probably the heart and soul of the team. He’s passion on the sidelines either inspires his team or really ticks them off. I’m hoping it’s the former. He really doesn’t have a great ability to create his own shot, which bothered me last year. But with Ogilvy down low, double teams have to come from somewhere. And with coach Stallings knack for ball movement, he has the opportunity to stand and shoot a lot. Good times.

Alan Metcalfe #11, Forward/Center: I’ve liked this guy for a couple years. He’s always seemed to be a very hard worker. He’s from England and I remember hearing that he’s a boxer, so I like to imagine him as one of the gypsies from “Snatch”. From now on let’s call him Mikey O’Neil. I’ve never heard him talk, so I hope his voice is either A: a garbled mess or B: VERY high pitched like David Beckham. Either way, Ogilvy seems to get in foul trouble a bit, and in tonight’s game Englishman stepped in and put up 18, most coming in the first half.