NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In what was a trying and unconventional season, Vanderbilt left the floor for the final time Thursday feeling dissatisfied – but not discouraged.
The Commodores ended their season at 9-16 after a 69-63 loss to fifth-seeded Florida at the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Vandy led that contest with as little as 7:56 to play and trailed by just one with 1:40 left.
While head coach Jerry Stackhouse’s team ended the campaign with a loss, they also ended it having done something that hadn’t been done since 2017 – they won a postseason game in what was another small step in moving the program back in the right direction.
“Talking to those guys, we knew we could play with any team that’s playing in this conference,” Stackhouse said. “ ‘Let’s try to go and do something special.’ That was the conversations that we had.
“It was heads down in our locker room. Guys are disappointed because they know we had a chance to play another day and we just didn’t get it done. It wasn’t in the cards this time. But I’m super proud of these guys, super proud of their efforts.”
Vanderbilt won fewer total games (9) than a did a season ago, but had a higher winning percentage. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out an early-season tournament for Vandy and made for a constantly-changing SEC slate. Vandy’s 25 games play was its fewest since the 1963-64 season.
Stackhouse’s team also ended the year by playing three road games in five days – one of which was a rousing, 78-64 win at Cincinnati.
Vandy started the season 4-2 before beginning SEC play. It then dropped six in a row (three of those losses were by a combined 13 points) before beating South Carolina on Jan. 30.
The Dores went 1-4 over the next five, but all four loses were by an average of 4.3 points. Confidence seemed to be growing and more wins may have been on the horizon – then star forward Dylan Disu was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Vanderbilt, without Disu, still ended the season by winning three of its final six.
“These guys really dealt with a lot this year,” Stackhouse said. “Every day they came to the gym, stayed together, tried to work hard, work on their game, with a lot of doubt, naysayers about who we were, what these kids were. They just kept going. Super proud of them.
“Can’t wait to get a little bit of time off, let their legs breathe a little bit for probably 10 or 11 days, then we’ll get right back in the gym and start trying to get better to try to take it a step further next season.”
Along with Disu (15 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (20.8 ppg, 4.9 apg), Vanderbilt certainly seems to have the foundation to make a significant move up the SEC ladder in 2021-22.
Sophomore Jordan Wright, who has started 15 straight games going into next year, continues to prove his worth as a scorer and rebounder and freshmen Issac McBride and Trey Thomas showed growth as 3-point threats and reserve point guards.
Freshman guard Myles Stute also got valuable minutes in his first season in black and gold and center Quentin Millora-Brown evolved in his role as defender and rebounder. Tyrin Lawrence would have also been a major part of the rotation if not for a knee injury that ended his freshman season.
“Those guys actually playing the year, having another year under their belt, they’re just going to get better,” Stackhouse said. “They’re going to have more confidence in each other, more confidence in what they’re able to accomplish together.
“That was kind of our goal. When we first saw this group, we were like, ‘Man, this is a group that we feel like we can get old with, we can grow together.’ ”
On Thursday, Maxwell Evans, Clevon Brown and Ejike Obinna may have played their final games as Commodores. The trio of seniors helped bridge the gap during a coaching transition and coax along the youngsters in the program.
Evans was one of the team’s top 3-point shooters during his tenure and Brown was one of Vanderbilt’s all-time best shot blockers.
“The program is for sure heading in an upward trend,” Evans said. “Coach Stack does an amazing job coaching – every one of the coaches (does). I’m just very curious to see how it will be next year.
“We grew up a lot. Starting off, it was kind of rough. I think everyone got the hang of things, great leadership from all the guys, including (Brown) and myself. They just have to grow up competing in the SEC. I think they did a very good job of that.”
Stackhouse said the goals for the program do not change moving forward – he wants the Commodores to annually be an NCAA Tournament team. And while it was good to finally win again in the SEC Tournament, no one will be complacent this offseason thinking that is the standard.
With the hopes of playing a full schedule in 2021-22 and with the return fo so many key players, optimism is high for the Commodores moving forward.
“We got to feel good about where we are. We know we still got a ways to go, a long way to go from my mindset of where ultimately where we want to be,” Stackhouse said. “It’s not just noise to me to talk about. We want to get back to where we make sure we’re back in the tournament and making a run in the tournament.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
