Nov. 1, 2012
The 2012-13 Vanderbilt men’s basketball season gets underway this Friday with an exhibition game against St. Xavier (Ill.) at Memorial Gym, with the action set to tip off at 7 p.m.
The reigning 2012 SEC Tournament champions face off against Division II St. Xavier, who posted a 23-9 overall record and returns its leading scorer, rebounder, and blocked shot leader (Brad Karp) and also its leading assist man in Roosevelt Green. St. Xavier, out of Chicago, is the alma mater of Vanderbilt assistant coach Tom Richardson, who played for St. Xavier from 1974-77.
The Commodores return a very young, but talented, squad from last season’s team, with sophomore point guard Kedren Johnson the leading scorer returning from a year ago at 3.1 points per contest. Junior forward Rod Odom also returns after playing in all 36 games a year ago.
Other news and notes as the Commodores prepare to host St. Xavier.
SEC – The Commodores are the reigning SEC Tournament champions after defeating number-one ranked Kentucky in the SEC Championship in 2012. It was Vanderbilt’s first tournament title since 1951.
3 – Vanderbilt has been to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, the first time that has been accomplished in the history of the program.
7 -The Commodores’ seven 20-win seasons in the last nine years is only third in the SEC to Florida, who has had nine, and Kentucky, who has had eight. Other school totals: Miss. St. (6), Tennessee (5), Ole Miss (4), South Carolina (4), LSU (3), Alabama (3), Arkansas (3), Auburn (1), Georgia (1).
25 -Vanderbilt’s 25 wins in 2011-12 was the most since the 2007-08 season and the second-most win total since the 1992-93 season.
6 – The Commodore’ top six scorers must be replaced from a year ago, and 88% of its total scoring output.
NBA – Vanderbilt had three players drafted in the first 31 picks of the 2012 NBA Draft, the first time that has happened in program history. Junior guard John Jenkins was drafted 23rd by the Atlanta Hawks, senior Festus Ezeli was drafted 30th by the Golden State Warriors, and senior forward Jeffery Taylor was drafted 31st by the Charlotte Bobcats.
3.1 – Vanderbilt’s leading returning scoring total from an individual player. Kedren Johnson averaged 3.1 points per game in 36 contests last season. Johnson has the potential to score, if his high school career is of any indication. The Lewisburg, Tenn., native averaged 27.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in his senior season at Marshall County High School, where he departed as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
832 – Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 832 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV for the longest streak in Division I basketball. Vanderbilt, UNLV and Princeton are the only three schools in college basketball to have made at least one 3-pointer in every game played since the 3-point line was implemented.
3 – Postseason titles for Vanderbilt – the 1951 SEC Championship, the 1990 NIT Title, and the 2012 SEC Championship.
1 of 6 – Programs to place all four revenue sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball) in postseason play in 2011-12 academic year.
79 – This is Vanderbilt’s 79th season in the SEC – the Commodores have a 657-641 against current members of the SEC.
1996-97 – The Commodores are represented by three countries on this year’s roster – the United States, Cameroon (James Siakam), and Germany (Kevin Bright) – to continue Vanderbilt’s line of foreign players. VU has had a player from outside of the United States on its roster for every season dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. The countries represented in the last 16 years are the Ivory Coast, Poland, Austria, England, Australia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sweden, and Germany.
Lists – With the departure of last year’s class, the Commodores saw most of its production leave. In fact, two members of the all-time top 10 scoring list (Taylor, Jenkins), the second all-time leading assist man (Brad Tinsley), and the sixth-leading rebounder (Taylor) departed. Taylor was also third on the all-time free throws made list, while Jenkins was 2nd on three’s made list.
Tickets
Season tickets are still available by calling 615-322-GOLD, by logging on to vucommodores.com, or by visiting the McGugin Center ticket office. There are also single-game tickets available for Friday at a cost of $22.
