Oct. 19, 2016
Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew, senior Luke Kornet, and junior Matthew Fisher-Davis made the 10-minute trek to Bridgestone Arena on Wedneday for SEC Tipoff 2017 – which, in essence, is the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
The trio of Commodores talked to folks from the SEC Network and local and national media, and filmed pieces for CBS, ESPN, and the SEC Network that will be seen throughout the year.
Coach Drew and the Media
A lot of the media visiting wanted to know how it’s going for him on West End.
“It’s going great,” said Drew. “Guys are working hard. I think we’re at that point of the season — I think everybody probably is — where we’re ready to play games against someone else to see what we really need to work on. As we get closer to the season, we’ll really fine-tune some of the stuff we’ve been working on the last couple of months.”
Nashville Star of the Show
It is safe to say that this trio of Commodores was happy to see the Tipoff event move to Nashville for the first time – and it was reflected on every turn.
One of the things that came up was food. It seems to be a comfortable topic for the Vanderbilt crew.
Coach Drew was asked what the toughest part of his job was at Vanderbilt. It was an easy response.
“Choosing where to eat,” said Drew. “There are so many good restaurants here.”
Dores meet with Finebaum
Coach Drew, Kornet, and Fisher-Davis each appeared live on the Paul Finebaum show on the SEC Network.
Vanderbilt picked sixth in SEC Preseason Poll
Many media members asked Coach Drew about being voted sixth by SEC media members in the preseason poll.
“I’m more concerned about our team just getting better,” said Drew. “When we came in the summer, we had a goal to get the best out of every player that we have. Everyday at practice, that’s what we work towards. Hopefully all our preparation will prepare us to have a great season. At the end of the day, I’m not as concerned with the polls as much as our team getting better.”
Luke and Matt get some swag
Both Luke and Matt came away with posters that the SEC used to alert people who was in each room. They seemed to like them.
Let the season begin!
Vanderbilt will play their first game of the season on November 11 at the Veterans Classic presented by Northwestern Mutual in Annapolis, Md., against Marquette, and the Commodores will play their first home game of the season against Belmont on November 15.