NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While much of Vanderbilt’s confidence this preseason stems from an influx of talent and better depth than seasons past, another crucial factor has been the emergence of leadership and camaraderie.
During a recent film session, third-year head coach Jerry Stackhouse noticed how the Commodores were talking, encouraging and supporting each other after an offensive set.
“Those are just the type of things that when you start seeing those things with your group, you know they’re pulling for each other and good things are on the horizon,” Stackhouse said.
Despite a bevy of newcomers, experience is on Vandy’s side this season.
Stackhouse recently cited the efforts of Scotty Pippen, Jordan Wright and Quentin Millora-Brown as elder Commodores who have stepped forward in leadership roles. Even sophomores Tyrin Lawrence, Myles Stute and Trey Thomas have a vital year under their belt, helping them comprehend and meet expectations.
Millora-Brown indicated that the individual growth helped expedite the growth of the whole.
“I feel like we’re all coming together a lot more this year,” the senior said. “I feel like everyone is excited about this year and what we have and I think we all think that there’s something special here with what we have. [The upperclassmen] have to be the leaders. We have to show the new guys how to do things off the court and on the court. We got to set that example for them going forward just so that way they know ‘OK, this is what we do, this is how we do it, this is what we’re about.’”
Millora-Brown, a former transfer from Rice, also knows what it’s like to come to Vanderbilt from a different institution. The challenges can be daunting.
He uses that experience to lend a helping hand to Liam Robbins (Minnestoa), Rodney Chatman (Dayton), Terran Frank (Texas Christian) and Jamaine Mann (Garnder-Webb), who all began their collegiate careers elsewhere.
As newcomers and veterans continue to meld off the court, on-court cohesion follows alongside. Vanderbilt recently competed in two closed scrimmages against high-level Division I programs, and internal reports from those contests were positive.
As the Nov. 10 opener against Alabama State approaches, the Commodores are excited to see how they fare against someone other than themselves.
“It’s tough for us right now because we’re getting pretty good at what we want we want to do defensively and what we want to offensively,” Stackhouse said. “It’s real evenly matched right now, kind of balanced. They’re competing, they’re getting it and they’re learning. And we’re excited about where we are right now.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.