Why Candice Storey Lee Doesn't Believe Vanderbilt Athletics has "Arrived," but Believes in its Direction

Vanderbilt Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee stood on the turf at FirstBank Stadium, looked at the students running onto the field behind her and shook Vanderbilt tight end’s coach Jeff Lepak’s hand emphatically. Her football program had just knocked off No. 1 Alabama and she wanted to take it all in.

A few months later, she sat in her usual first-row seat parallel from the basket and next to the Vanderbilt tunnel alongside star artist Jelly Roll as she watched her men’s basketball team take down Tennessee. In the following weeks, she’d travel all over the country to watch that program and her women’s one play in the NCAA Tournament.

Four days prior to those tournament games, Storey Lee had been named the 2024-25 Athletic Director of the Year by The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

In most statistical regards, the 2024-25 academic year was the best in recent memory for Storey Lee’s department. Her football program finished 7-6 with a bowl win. Her basketball programs were both ranked for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. Her baseball team was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

She wants you to know that she’s not taking that for granted, but also isn’t satisfied with the progress that her department showed.

“When you look at the 2024-25 season, you’re looking at a great year,” Storey Lee told Vandy on SI. “We’re really proud of it, but I want to be clear. We’re not proud of it as like ‘Ok, we’ve arrived’ we’re proud of it as ‘this is a marker, this is a metric that shows we’re making progress.’”

Vanderbilt didn’t hit its ultimate goals of deep postseason runs in basketball and baseball as well as a College Football Playoff appearance. But, it improved from 2-10 to 7-6 in football, 9-23 to 20-13 in men’s basketball. 75% of Vanderbilt’s athletic programs competed in the NCAA Tournament or Championships–depending on their postseason format–as well.

Storey Lee has higher aspirations for what her athletic department can achieve, but is encouraged by the results that she feels are gratifying when considering what she believes to be the improvement of what’s gone on inside the building.

“I love the fact that we’re able to start the progress and I think that sometimes when you’re in it every day you see progress that the external world doesn’t really get an opportunity to see,” Storey Lee said. “Sometimes the external world is literally just judging progress based on wins and losses, and that’s an important metric. We know that so it felt great to have more wins and more visibility, but I do want to be clear that our goal is to continue to compete and win at the highest level. I feel like we’re on our way.”

Perhaps some would’ve called her crazy for it, but Storey Lee believed that Vanderbilt was on its way even before the on-field and on-court results started to follow it. The Vanderbilt Athletic Director has always believed heavily in the concept of riding out her “journey” that will include ups and downs in the results that her programs are generating.

In that journey, she’s continued to work. She’s continued to try to surround herself with the people that she believes can help. She’s worked at trying to assist her coaches in any way she can. Perhaps some of that is noticeable now.

“We’ve been laying the groundwork for a long time,” Storey Lee said. “Hopefully we’re starting to reap. It’s really hard work, you cannot take [the seasons] for granted and that’s an important message, too.”