Vandagriff comes from family of athletes

Published 12:06 pm Thursday, December 14, 2023

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Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff’s decision to play at Kentucky gives offensive coordinator Liam Coen another player with Will Levis-like skills except that he might be an even more accurate passer.

However, Vandagriff’s father, Greg, says his son is not the most talented athlete in the family. Instead, it is high school senior Audrey, an Alabama softball signee. She hit .641 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs as a senior. She scored 82 runs in 37 games, was never caught stealing and did not commit an error in center field.

She is the 18th-ranked player in the 2024 recruiting class and a three-time first-team all-stater who was named Alabama player of the year in 2023.

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If that’s not enough, she won the 100- and 200-meter dash state track championships both as a sophomore and junior.

“Our youngest child is the best athlete in the family. She is a 6-footer who also plays basketball,” Greg Vandagriff said. “She will hit leadoff and play center field for Alabama. She has run the 100 in 11.9 and hopes to get that down to 11.6.”

Brock Vandagriff’s other sister, Anna Greer (AG), is a sophomore volleyball player at Eastern Kentucky University who made the all-Atlantic Sun Conference second team this year. She averaged 2.85 kills and 0.52 blocks per set. She ranked 10th in the ASUN in attack percentage with the fifth-best mark ever at Eastern.

Greg Vandagriff played football at Tennessee Wesleyan, while his wife, Kelly, played basketball and softball at Southern Union.

Brock Vandagriff was also a multi-sport athlete.

“It was his eighth birthday and he had never hit a home run. He hit three that day,” Greg Vandagriff said. “He’s always been really talented. I think he actually was better at baseball than football.”

Greg Vandagriff said having a child playing a Division I sport at three different schools is exciting but challenging at the same time.

“You are super excited about no school bills but also concerned about the gas bill to (drive) watch them all,” the father laughed and said. “But all that is a good-bad problem. It is wonderful we will see her (AG) more often as we go to see him play at Kentucky. It is sad he will be six hours away but that’s part of life. Hopefully in two years he will be in the NFL and that will be another good-bad problem.”

Greg Vandagriff says he feels blessed to have three children who are Division I athletes.

“As a father you want to give kids a business. I could not give them an insurance agency. I do not own one,” Vandagriff, a two-time state champion coach, said. “I am a coach and teaching PE. But competing is something I know about. My theory was I am going to help you be an athlete and the things you learn will help make you successful in life.”