Major Awards

Liam Robbins and Jerry Stackhouse earn SEC awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse earned SEC Coach of the Year and student-athlete Liam Robbins secured SEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-SEC first team and All-SEC Defensive team, it was announced Monday by the conference office.

Stackhouse is Vandy’s first men’s basketball SEC Coach of the Year since 2010 and Robbins is the program’s first-ever SEC Defensive Player of the Year winner. The awards are voted on by the conference’s head coaches. Stackhouse tied with Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams for coach of the year honors.

It is the 11th time in program history a Vandy coach has earned the honor with Stackhouse joining the likes of Roy Skinner, Wayne Dobbs, C.M. Newton, Eddie Fogler and Kevin Stallings.

The Dores were selected 12th in the SEC Preseason Poll and finished tied for the fourth-best record in conference play at 11-7. Vandy’s 18 regular season wins are the most for the program since winning 19 in 2015-16.

Stackhouse led the Commodores to three wins over ranked opponents—No. 6 Tennessee, No. 15 Arkansas and No. 23 Kentucky—and a total of nine wins over Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings.

Robbins was a dominant force throughout the season, leading the Dores in points (15), rebounds (6.8) and blocks (3.2) per game.

Robbins is the first student-athlete in program history to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Year. This marks the 20th season of the award which was first issued in 2004. The last Commodore to earn a spot on the All-SEC Defensive Team was Luke Kornet in 2017.

The 7-foot graduate student currently ranks third in Division 1 with 3.15 blocks per game and fifth with 82 total blocks. He scored in double figures in 20 of 26 games played this season including a career-high 32 points in a road win at Florida.

SEC AWARDS

  • Jerry Stackhouse: SEC Co-Coach of the Year
  • Liam Robbins: All-SEC First Team, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-SEC Defensive Team