Nov. 5, 2014
Vanderbilt Gamenotes 
| Illinois-Springfield Notes
The 2014-15 edition of Vanderbilt basketball, the 16th under the Commodores’ all-time winningest coach Kevin Stallings, promises to be one full of youth, extreme promise, and the maturation of one of the SEC’s top big men in sophomore Damian Jones. That season begins on Thursday with an exhibition contest against Illinois-Springfield at Memorial Gym in a 7 p.m. tip off.
This year’s team, which will feature five freshmen competing for the three perimeter positions, will remind many of Vanderbilt teams of old under Stallings – skilled and smart basketball players that can knock down open shots at a high clip. Coupled with Jones in the middle and Stallings’ acumen of getting the most out of players with creative X’s and O’s, this year’s team has the potential to play the successful and exciting basketball that Commodore fans have become used to seeing.
Perimeter
New faces abound for the Commodores after the graduation of seniors Rod Odom and Kyle Fuller and the transfer of Dai-Jon Parker, with Coach Stallings relying on the services of five talented freshmen to take the reigns of the Vanderbilt backcourt.
New faces include guards Shelton Mitchell, Riley LaChance, and Wade Baldwin IV, and wings Matthew Fisher-Davis and Jeff Roberson. The Commodores’ class of 2014 was ranked number 24 according to Rivals.com and all will get a chance to show their skills right away.
Skills are aplenty for this group, with the group giving Coach Stallings a variety of different pieces to surround 2014 SEC-All-Freshman Team member Damian Jones, who will man the post for the Commodores, and will remind fans of Vanderbilt’s successful teams under Stallings. Hard nosed, skilled in the fundamentals, and extremely good shooting, from the perimeter and from the charity stripe, are characteristics of the class of 2014.
LaChance and Fisher-Davis are two of the best shooters entering college basketball in 2014, with LaChance converting on 48.6% of his attempts from three as a high school senior, while Fisher-Davis made 49.1% of his shots from three. Baldwin IV, is a combo guard who can play the one and the two and led his St. Joseph’s High School team to a 30-2 overall record as a senior. Mitchell, at 6’3, is a physical point guard with excellent passing skills, ball-handling abilities, and body control, while Roberson is a 6’6 slashing athlete with an excellent shooting touch from beyond-the-arc.
LaChance, from Brookfield, Wisc., averaged 23.0 points and 2.6 assists and was named a unanimous first-team All-State by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and the Associated Press. He was voted the top point guard in the state of Wisconsin by Wisconsin Hoops, and was the Player of the Year for Waukesha County. He also finished his career at Brookfield Central as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,643 points, the school’s single-season scoring leader with 543 points, and the all-time leader in steals with 188. LaChance finished fourth on the school’s all-time assist list with 267, and tied the school record for most points in a conference game in his senior season with 44 points.
Fisher-Davis played at Butler High School in Charlotte, N.C., and averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks per game.as a senior, and was named the SW4A Player of the Year and a member of the Charlotte Observer’s All-Observer team. He was also named as an All-County and an All-District selection, and was invited to play in the Team USA vs. Team Florida Game, as well as the North Carolina East/West All-Star Game.
Mitchell, at 6’3, is a big, physical point guard who is an excellent slasher and creator and was ranked as the 15th-best point guard in the class of 2014 according to Scout.com. Although he was injured for most of his senior campaign at Oak Hill Academy, he spent three seasons playing for Cuthbertson High School in North Carolina prior to his transfer to Oak Hill, where he averaged 19.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists and scored over 1,400 points. Mitchell was named the NCPreps.com 2A Player of the Year in his junior season at Cuthbertson, and was named the Region Player of the Year in the spring of 2013 by the Charlotte Observer.
Roberson, an athletic 6’6 wing, averaged 20.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in his senior season at the Kinkaid School in Houston, where he also departed as the school’s all-time leading scorer. He was named a finalist for the Guy V. Lewis Award, which is given to the top high school player in the city of Houston. As a senior, Roberson shot 66.8% from the floor, 48% from three-point range, and 78% from the free throw line, and was a four-time All-Southwest Preparatory Conference selection and a member of the All-Greater Houston Team.
Baldwin IV is a 6’3 combo guard from New Jersey who played for St. Joseph Metuchen and captured a state championship his senior season with the Falcons. He led his St. Joseph’s team to a 30-2 overall record and the Non-Public A New Jersey State Championship after averaging 15 points, 7.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals as a senior. He compiled a record of 57-7 in his junior and senior seasons, and departed St. Joseph’s with 1,727 career points and 104 three-point baskets. He was a first-team All-Middlesex County and first-team All-Area selection, as well as being named the Middlesex County Player of the Year. He was also named a second-team all-state selection.
Also in the backcourt is 6’0 junior guard Carter Josephs, who earned a scholarship over the summer. Josephs, from San Antonio, Texas, is a former walk-on who steadied the Commodore back court on several occasions last season when Vanderbilt was down to only two scholarship guards. He played in 20 games and started one and played significant minutes in the team’s last six games, averaging 16.3 minutes per game. He made his first career start at Ole Miss, and helped the Commodores to a win at Auburn on February 22, playing 16 minutes and dishing out nine assists. He also played 20 minutes against number one Florida, where he grabbed a career-high three rebounds and also added two assists and a steal.
Junior walk-on wing Nathan Watkins also returns. He played in nine games, including five out of the last six, and averaged 2.3 points and 0.9 rebounds per game. He scored the first point of his career against Northeastern (1/4), and played a career-high 16 minutes in a win at Auburn (2/22), where he helped contribute to the win with seven points and three rebounds.
6’4 guard Nolan Cressler, who was an all-Ivy League selection as a sophomore at Cornell last year after averaging 16.8 points per game, transferred to Vanderbilt over the summer and will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. 6’1 freshman guard Phillip McGloin is also in the backcourt after making the team as a walk on in October.
Inside
The Commodores are anchored in the post by 6’10 sophomore Damian Jones, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team a year ago. Jones played in all 31 games and started 28, and averaged 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. He scored in double-figures in 20 games, and scored a career-high 19 points on two occasions (Georgia State (11/12); at Missouri (2/19)). In his freshman campaign, he posted five double-doubles for the year and won SEC Freshman of the Week honors after averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in games against Missouri and Auburn.
Backing up Jones is 6’11 redshirt senior Josh Henderson, who is returning from an ACL injury he suffered eight games into the 2013-14 season against Marshall. Henderson averaged 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and started in three games. He scored in double-figures in three contests and scored a season-high 12 points at Texas on Dec. 2.
At the power forward position, redshirt James Siakam returns after playing in all 31 games and starting 28 in 2013-14. Siakam, who has played 70 games in his Vanderbilt career heading into 2014-15, averaged 7.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a junior. He hot 58.9% from the floor, which led the team and was second on the team in rebounds. He posted six games in double figures and had three double-doubles on the season, with two coming against Texas A&M. In the Commodores’ two wins over the Aggies last season, he was also a combined 22-27 from the free throw line.
Also returning at the four position is sophomore Luke Kornet, a 7’0 forward who played in 30 games as a true freshman and averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, and senior Shelby Moats, a 6’8 forward who averaged 1.5 points and 0.4 rebounds per game. Kornet, the son of Frank Kornet, a former Vanderbilt basketball standout of his own from 1986-89, has added 20 pounds to his frame heading into his sophomore campaign and will continue to stretch defenses with his ability to knock down three-point shots. Kornet may also see time at the five position. Moats, who graduated with his undergraduate degree in Economics in May of 2014 and is working towards his master’s degree, is a three-point threat at the four position and can provide energy and a rebounding presence in the paint.
