PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

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PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by BrentVU »

Just before Christmas on this board, we noted that Derek Kee had announced he would be "continuing his education" at Vanderbilt. It looks like all the paperwork is now in place and he is "committed" to the Commodores as a preferred walk-on for this fall. (The school cannot acknowledge PWO's until they enroll.)

Kee is another one of those multiple-sports types that Barton Simmons loves... a 6-5 195 wide receiver from Trenton (Tenn.) Peabody High School... a tall, rangy, very athletic receiver who high-points the long ball. His team won state championships his freshman and sophomore year. He also played DB. In basketball he does it all... rebounds, blocks shots, handles the ball, shoots from outside, dunks on folks; last year Peabody was a state championship finalist. In track he sprints and specializes in the long jump.

I found some stats showing he had 345 yards receiving but only played in four games his senior season... which may mean he is overcoming some kind of injury. He also had a 92-yard kickoff return for TD, which leads off the senior film below.

Welcome to Nashville! I think he's probably the first Vanderbilt football player in recent times ever to come out of Gibson County.




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Re: PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by BrentVU »

Image
Peabody's Derek Kee (4) guards the ball against TCA'S Braden Sallee (21) and Noah Mauldin (15) during the first quarter at Peabody High School in Trenton, Tenn., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020
Stephanie Amador / The Jackson Sun
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Re: PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by charlestonalum »

Sounds like a good recruit
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Re: PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by Go Vandy! »

I'm probably the only person that doesn't know this: PWO's don't count against scholarship limits?
Correct, they’re “walking on”, in other words paying their own way.

Any student can walk on and join the team, but things have developed to the point that really good players get invitations from the coaches to walk on, thus the term “preferred” walk-on, or PWO. Players who get these invitations and commit get a spot held for them. Thus you see HS players making a big deal out of a PWO commitment, but the school can’t acknowledge it. I believe the maximum players a team can have on a roster is 108, and last year VU had the full number at start of fall.

Of course a PWO commitment is not binding; a PWO can change his mind up to the point he enrolls for classes.
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Re: PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by Seadog73 »

I know a young man going to Auburn as a PWO. The deal at Auburn is - he is expected to be there for the first summer session in early June, live in the athletic dorm with the team, eat meals with the team, have his own locker, train like a scholarship player all summer, dress for all home games, travel and dress for two road games. Don't know about VU, but that's Auburn.
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Re: PWO WR Derek Kee makes commitment to Vandy official

Post by vandy05 »

Seadog73 wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 7:19 pm I know a young man going to Auburn as a PWO. The deal at Auburn is - he is expected to be there for the first summer session in early June, live in the athletic dorm with the team, eat meals with the team, have his own locker, train like a scholarship player all summer, dress for all home games, travel and dress for two road games. Don't know about VU, but that's Auburn.
Same at VU. I don't know that those walk-on players are expected to dress for all home games and/or travel to a certain number of road games. You can dress as many players as you want for a non-conference game and bring as many as you want, but budget considerations often play. As for away conference games, you're limited in the number you can dress. Limit is 60 from what I can see (though it was expanded for the 2020 Covid year). For freshman who aren't playing, traveling to a road game is often an earned privilege given the roster limits. Programs will often bring a player to his home state. So if VU travels to UF for a game, they'll bring freshman who are from Florida. For home games I think its unlimited, but you want to do what makes sense in terms of managing team meals, meetings the night before, game day routine, etc.
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