Vanderbilt Athletic Director had odd request for student section

Despite Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee's best efforts, the school is going to have to pay up again. The SEC fined Vanderbilt $500,000 for storming the court Saturday after the Commodores pulled off an upset over No. 9 Kentucky, beating the Wildcats 74-69. The fine is this large because this is Vanderbilt's third field/court-storming offense this academic year.

Knowing the fine was going to be huge, Lee came over to the Vanderbilt student section and begged the students not to storm the court, telling them the school could use the $500,000 for NIL to build an even better team. It didn't work.

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Following the upset of Alabama in October, Vanderbilt fans tore down the goalposts at FirstBank Stadium and took them on a two-mile walk to the Cumberland River. The goalposts were fished out and auctioned off to help the school cover the $100,000 fine levied upon them for rushing the field.

They were subsequently fined $250,000 after fans stormed the court following an upset of No. 6 Tennessee last week, holding off a late comeback by the Volunteers to win 76-75. Now, the fine has increased to $500,000, and there's no goalpost auction to help them cover it.

This isn't the last opportunity for Commodore fans to storm the court at Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt hosts No. 1 Auburn on February 11. Another court storming would raise Vanderbilt's total fined to $1.35 million. Lee will have to step up her begging of the student section if it looks like the Commodores are going to pull off another upset.

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