Tag: Vanderbilt University

Former NFL kicker Lawrence Tynes praises Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller

Two-time Super Bowl champ Lawrence Tynes thinks the world of what Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller has done

Sarah Fuller has kicked in two games for Vanderbilt, a squib kickoff, and two extra points. Her accomplishments have been praised by many and diminished by those who think the choice of the soccer goalkeeper was a stunt.

Former NFL kicker Lawrence Tynes won’t hear any of the nonsense.

Tynes, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers told the Boston Globe making any kick is an accomplishment.

Per the Globe:

“I think the most impressive thing she did, and It’s something I struggled with in college, was getting the ball off in 1.3 seconds,” longtime NFL kicker Lawrence Tynes told Globe columnist Tara Sullivan Monday. “People just see the kick, and because everyone can do that — I mean we kick at high schools locally and we see people doing it all the time, they’re having fun, making kicks from 30 or 40 yards — but from a game perspective, they would never get that kick off. Or it’s too low. She got the ball up and got it off in time, something that took me a year and a half to learn in college. That’s a long time, and I was a talented kicker.

“Kicking, to the world, has become something that everyone thinks they can do because we’re so good at what we do, we make it look easy. It’s like a golfer hitting wedges at Augusta, they hit it to 2 feet. That comes from millions of reps, thousands of hours of practice.”

Tynes also challenged anyone who is being critical to try doing it.

“Kicking is kicking,” said Tynes, a two-time Super Bowl winner who did not have a Power Five resume, having kicked for Troy State. “I think it’s awesome. It’s impressive. I didn’t get into it with people on social media, but I saw them. She put herself out there and she tried it. That’s the message. She put herself out there. She could have failed on those PATs, but she didn’t. Everyone says that they can make it. I call your bluff.”

Fuller. meanwhile, said it looks like her career on the gridiron has come to a close. Vanderbilt’s game with Georgia on Saturday has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

 

Vanderbilt’s Aaron Nesmith lands with Pelicans in CBS Sports 2020 NBA mock draft

In search of 3&D options, the New Orleans Pelicans may not need look further than Aaron Nesmith of Vanderbilt University.

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As the Pelicans look for 3&D options in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, there may not be a better name to look at than Aaron Nesmith of Vanderbilt. Though he missed half the season due to a stress fracture in his foot, the 14 games Nesmith did play for Vanderbilt this season were as impressive as any player in college basketball.

Nesmith would be an intriguing option for the Pelicans and a realistic one at that. CBS Sports’ Colin Ward-Henninger projected Nesmith to New Orleans in his latest mock draft with the No. 13 pick.

“The mission for the Pelicans is to surround Zion Williamson with shooting, and adding Nesmith, an elite 3-point marksman, is a perfect way to do that. His body, along with his jump shot, is NBA-ready, so he should be able to help the Pelicans in what they hope is a jump from intriguing young upstart to playoff staple. Nesmith isn’t ready to be a strong playmaker at the NBA level, but when it comes to hitting open shots and defending wings with that 6-10 wingspan, there aren’t many better in this draft.”

From a raw statistics standpoint, Nesmith’s numbers are impressive in their own right. Nesmith shot 52.2% from three on 8.2 attempts per game and 51.2% from the field on 14.6 attempts per game.

His advanced numbers pop off the page even more, though. Per Synergy, he was a 99th percentile offensive player in his 500 minutes this season, ranking in the 95th percentile in spot-ups, his most common action. On 83 catch-and-shoot opportunities, Nesmith ranked in the 100th percentile with a staggering 1.639 points per possession.

There was hardly a region Nesmith struggled in as a shooter this season. For a Pelicans team that lacked both consistent perimeter shooting and length on the wing, Nesmith could be the perfect choice in the draft.