As the calender turned from 2002, to 2003, Vanderbilt running back Kwane Doster began to get a lot of attention. After receiving several honors for his freshmen season, Doster had expectation, after expectation placed on him. After all, if he kept up the numbers he had posted his first year at Vanderbilt, with really only a handful of games where he was the starter, he was on pace to finish his career as the school's all-time leading rusher.

With the new year also came some changes. First was a new jersey number. After the graduation of some players in 2002, many numbers opened up, and Kwane, his friend Erik Davis, and linebacker Herdley Harrison took up numbers, 1, 2, and 4 respectively.

Besides the jersey number change, Kwane also added weight as well as muscle, and worked in the offseason to improve on his pass catching skills and become ready for the rigors of a full season as starter.

He made a couple of preseason watch lists, and was one of the "buzz" players the local and national media liked to focus on, when addressing Vanderbilt and the SEC. His first game out, was against the very team he had made a name for himself against, the year before, as Vanderbilt opened against Ole Miss.

Though in the game against the Rebels, Kwane started off looking strong, he suffered something that would plague him throughout most of his sophomore season, a fumble. The fumble he suffered overshadowed any good runs on that day, because it happened deep in Ole Miss territory, and was of several key missed scoring chances in the game, that would end up a 24-21 loss. Despite the Ole Miss defense keying in on Doster and making several key ankle tackles, limiting him to just 41 yards on 14 carries, Doster still made the Rebels pay in the kicking game. For the second straight time against the Rebels, Kwane gained over 100 return yards on 4 attempts, with the highlight being a 63 yard return.

In his next couple of games out, Kwane scored 2 touchdowns in games against Tennessee-Chattanooga and TCU, but he also fumbled the ball on a few occassions as well. With that, it seemed like Kwane might be suffering from that dreaded "Sophomore Slump". After starting the first four games, the Vanderbilt coaching staff decided to move Norval McKenzie back to the starting tailback spot, as his number of carries had continued to decrease.

Doster, a constant teammate, did not gripe, did not speak out, or feel sorry for himself. He just worked hard at getting better and keeping hold of the football, so that when called upon, he could be a valuable asset to the team.

After all, for Kwane, what was done on the football field was only half of what being a part of a team or a community was about.

"He genuinely cared about the people around him," says former Vandy offensive linemen Kenan Arkan. "I remember when I messed up my ankle pretty bad my junior year, Kwane stopped me in the hall one day, asked me what the trainers and doctors were saying and when I would be back to action. When I told him the prognosis was not especially good, he was genuinely upset for me, and expressed that he was sorry."

"I remember I was floored at the time because I had never really spoken with him much up to that point," says Arkan. "That is the one memory I will always take with me about Kwane. It was the first thing I thought about when I heard of his untimely death, and it is something I will never forget as long as I live. He may not have always expressed his thoughts through conversation, but he truly cared for all of his teammates."

Now the "backup" again, Kwane put up some 50 rushing yard performances against Georgia Tech and Mississippi State. Then against Navy, Doster combined with McKenzie to have over 147 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, but the Commodores still lost in the fourth quarter.

After a dropoff and injury sustained against Georgia the following week, Doster contributed in Vanderbilt's efforts against South Carolina and Florida, gaining 87 yards in the two games on 21 carries. Then he missed pretty much all of the Kentucky and Tennessee games.

Kwane's sophomore season, that started off with much praise and conversation, closed on a very modest, 90 carries for 386 yards final season total rushing.

And though Kwane still had a good season returning the ball on kickoffs, gaining 568 yards on 26 returns, he was a marked man based on the success he had had the year before. And at times it seemed to take it's toll, but Kwane didn't let it get him down.

"Everyone who ever saw him play knew how tough he was on and off the field based on how he played," says Kenan Arkan, who was a junior offensive linemen in 2003. "You would see him get hit pretty hard on kickoff return sometimes, and the other team would get up celebrating, and Kwane wouldn't fight back or try and trash talk back. He would just bust a 30, 40, or 50+ return on the next one, and let that be his trash talking. He was always looking to make a play, and he did it against some of the best defenses in the country."

Because of the struggles holding on to the football and defenses keying on Doster as well as the option attack, some expectations for Kwane, were tempered, and he knew he wanted to work harder towards his junior season.

He did so in the following spring practice sessions later in the school year, working to hold on to the football, find the lanes like he had did the year before, and get himself into the open field where he could be the explosive runner he was his freshmen year.

Off the field, Kwane appeared to not have gone through a "Sophomore Slump", as he was doing well in the classroom, continuing his formed friendships around campus, and enjoying his college years.

"I didn't see him much on campus, but I know he was a respected guy," says former teammate Kenan Arkan. "The general student body knew what he was capable of on the field, and he didn't have enemies or anything close from what I could tell. During his freshman year, people I knew would always come up and ask me about who the new running back was."

"When I did see him in Rand (student dining hall on main campus) he was always joking around with other guys on the team and regular students as well,"says Kenan Arkan. "He looked like he was the center of attention allot, and you could tell he made the transition from high school to college pretty well."

Kwane's 2003 season at Vanderbilt might not have been a great one on paper, but he didn't quit, he didn't give up, and he was looking forward to the next season.

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