Are we sure this isn't a late April Fool's Day joke?

According to Vanderbilt's official athletic site, A.J. Ogilvy has hired an agent and will declare for the NBA Draft.

Here is the official statement from Coach Stallings.

"We certainly appreciate everything A.J. has done, both on and off the floor, at Vanderbilt," said Stallings. "He has had a very accomplished career, and will hopefully experience the same kind of success as a professional. A.J. has been instrumental in our two NCAA Tournament berths in the last three years and has demonstrated a very good work ethic from the very first day he walked on campus."

The question I have is the same that coach has:

"Hopefully his agent's projections of being a late first-round draft pick is accurate and he will have a long and prosperous NBA career," continued Stallings.

From everything I have read, Ogilvy has been projected as a late second round pick to not being drafted. Maybe he will work out well. I'll post a full recap of his Vanderbilt career and how this impacts the 2011 Dores tonight.

Looking back on Jermaine Beal’s career, which is now over (a thought that pains me to no end), I keep thinking to myself, did we really appreciate Dolla enough? He played on teams with at least 2 (and what may wind up being 5) of the greatest Commodores in history, and yet when talking about Beal or think about his career, I find myself constantly looking past what he did and looking at what his teammates did. And you know what? That may be his greatest strength of all.

Here's a collection of what was written about Vanderbilt's heartbreaking loss to Murray State. I didn't include a video of the final play, because I would have probably been sick the rest of the day.

Vanderbilt Blogs

Anchor of Gold - Quick Thoughts on the Worst Loss of the Season

Vanderbilt Sports Line - Bobby's Post-Game Murray State Thoughts

Anything but Gatorade - Recap: Day Uno

Barca Blog - On Second Thought...

Open 'Dores - I Have Nothing to Say

Save the Shield - Oops, we did it again

The Vanderbilt Vendidad - Ruminative Tendencies: Vanderbilt v. Murray State

The Professional

Jeff Lockridge/Tennessean - Vanderbilt loss is 'just heartbreaking'

Jeff Lockridge/Tennessean - Vanderbilt hi the wall in March

Vanderbilt fans can now live vicariously through the Saint Mary's Gaels. Omar Samhan dominated throughout to help upset 2-seed Villanova 75-68. Samhan scored 32 points on an extremely efficient 13-for-16 shooting day. If your brackets weren't messed up enough already, they surely are now.

Saint Mary's has a very good shot at the Elite Eight, playing the winner of Baylor-Old Dominion.

The Commodores handed the Gaels their first loss of the season in late November. Vanderbilt played the game on their way to the Maui Classic.

I guess its time for Vanderbilt fans to pull for Missouri, Murray State, and the Gaels. That's better than nothing.

It was great to be in San Jose for the NCAA Tournament yesterday. Other than Butler's domination of UTEP, every game was compelling and went down to the wire. I sadly witnessed Murray State's buzzer-beater against Vanderbilt, Washington gain respect for the Pac-10, and Montana almost shock New Mexico. I wanted to highlight a excellent performances by members of all eight teams. Some from freshman just starting to make their mark, and others from seniors who are trying to keep their college career alive. On to the stars of San Jose.

Murray State - Danero Thomas

Murray State is the early darling of the tournament. Thomas helped put them on the national map. His last-second shot sent Murray State into the second round of the Big Dance for the first time. The senior forward had 11 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes. He also was awarded with a nice profile by CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd. As much as that shot hurt me, it's impossible not to root for the Racers when the play Butler on Saturday.

Vanderbilt - John Jenkins

The freshman sharp-shooter almost carried the Commodores to a second half comeback. He went on a 5-0 late in the game to put Vanderbilt up by four. In the end, it was the Racers' destiny to advance. Jenkins ended up with a team-high 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. Jenkins has all the potential in the world, but needs to learn how to create his own shot. I really think he has the potential to be a pseudo-J.J. Redick. He will quickly challenge the legend of Shan Foster, to become one of the best shooters in school history.

Butler - Shelvin Mack

This one was pretty easy. Anytime a player goes 7-for-9 from behind the arc, the should be player of the game. Shelvin Mack matched his season-high with 25 points. He also added four rebounds and four assists. Mack will lead the Bulldogs into a second round contest against Murray State. If he shoots anything like he did on Thursday, they should easily advance to Salt Lake City and the Sweet 16.

UTEP - Derrick Caracter

Gotta love the big fella here. Derrick Caracter is 6'9 and weighs in at 275. He put in a great performance in UTEP's 77-59 loss to Butler. Caracter scored 20 points on an effecient shooting night (10-for-13). In a game that will be remembered for UTEP's second half disappearance, Caracter should get credit for a great performance.

Washington - Quincy Pondexter

Pondexter did a lot of good things against Marquette. Along with leading the Huskies back from a 15-point second half deficit, he also hit the game winner. He finished with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. His mouth got him into a little trouble, getting whistled for a technical. Even though it was a double-technical, you can't do that sort of stuff and expect your team to advance.

Marquette - Starting Five

This may be a bit of a cop out, but Marquette is a true team in every sense of the word. Sure they have a couple players who stand out, but they're basically going to war with five guys. Their starting five all played over 30 minutes and scored 74 of the team's 78 points! It's a shame we won't see any more of the crew. They're a hard-working group that seems to epitomize Big East basketball.

New Mexico - Dairese Gary

I could have chose two other for this spot. Roman Martinez scored a team-high 19 points, but only shot 3-for-10 from outside. He could have blown the game open if he was shooting better. Darington Hobson had a nice statistical line of 11 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. The reason I'm going with Gary is because of his clutch performance down the stretch. He missed a couple free-throws, but he was able to draw "cheap" fouls a number of times and kill Montana's momentum. You need a guy to take over late in games and Dairese Gary was able to take over that role.

Montana - Brian Qvale

Qvale put together my favorite performance of the first-round games. The 6-11 junior was a force down low that New Mexico couldn't control. On the season, he only averaged 10 points and seven rebounds. Against the Lobos, Qvale scored a season-high 26 points and brought down 13 rebounds. On a night were Anthony Johnson (19 ppg average) shot 1-for-12 from the field, the big fella put the team on his back. He hit 12 out of 16 shots and put on a clinic for moves in the post. I hope this gives him an edge that will carry over into his senior season.

Fight Cancer, Support Vanderbilt, and Eat Pizza

Sounds good to me! Wanted to pass this along in case any of your are thinking about pizza this weekend.

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Vanderbilt men's and women's coaches Kevin Stallings and Melanie Balcomb have teamed up with Papa John’s, the official pizza of the NCAA, to help raise money for The V Foundation and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, and are asking Vandy fans to help in the cause.

During the entire NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt fans can enter the coach’s unique promo code – STALLINGS or BALCOMB – to receive an extra-large, two-topping pizza for $12 online at www.papajohns.com, with $1 benefitting the two cancer charities. A complete list of the coaches’ promo codes, as well as each team’s donation total and standings, will be available on Papa John’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/papajohns so fans can see where they stack up against the rest of the field.

About The V Foundation for Cancer Research

The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $90 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. It awards 100 percent of all direct cash donations and net proceeds of events directly to cancer research and related programs. The Foundation, which has received seven consecutive top 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator, awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Board. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.

About the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund

The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund® is a 501 c(3) charitable organization committed to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women’s cancers through raising money for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying people for a common cause. Donations can be made at www.JimmyV.org or by calling 1-800-4JimmyV. All donations are tax deductible.  For more information, visit www.wbca.org/kayyowwbcacancerfund.asp.

Score at the break: Murray State 36, Vanderbilt 32

Encouraging things from the first half

• Jermaine Beal is trying to lead the charge
• Didn't let the game get away from them in the first
• Nice patchwork job at the end of the half with both Taylor and Ogilvy on the bench with two fouls
• Jeffery Taylor is in aggressive mode, taking it early and often to the basket