NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jerry Stackhouse era officially begins this Wednesday night when the Commodores welcome Southeast Missouri to Memorial Gym for the regular season opener for both teams. The game will begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed online on SEC Network Plus. Commodore fans can also tune into the game on the Vanderbilt IMG Radio Network with Joe Fisher and Tim Thompson on WLAC 1510 AM and 98.3 FM, and online on vucommodores.com and the vucommodores app.
1,000 T-Shirts
The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a “Stack’s House” t-shirt to celebrate the new era of Vanderbilt basketball. Tickets for the game can be purchased for as low as $10 at vucommodores.com.
Vanderbilt Basketball Quick Hitters
• This is the 116th year of Vanderbilt basketball, with the first season taking place in 1900-01. There were no teams in 1904-05 and 1905-06.
• New head coach Jerry Stackhouse is the 28th men’s basketball coach in the history of Vanderbilt basketball. He is the first African-American Commodore men’s basketball head coach and is one of two current African-American head coaches in the Southeastern Conference (Cuonzo Martin, Missouri).
• Stackhouse has been a star player at every level of basketball. He was a 1993 McDonald’s All-American in high school and an All-American at North Carolina in 1995. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, a two-time All-Star and earned the 2000-01 scoring title. In his 18-year NBA career, he scored 16,409 points while playing for the 76ers, Pistons, Wizards, Mavericks, Bucks, Heat, Hawks and Nets.
• His prior coaching stints have all come in the NBA or the NBA G League. He was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-19, and was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors’ G-League franchise, Raptors 905, in 2016-17 and 2017-18, where his teams won one championship (2017) and advanced to the finals (2018) in another. He was also named the G-League Coach of the Year in 2016-17.
• The Commodores have three SEC regular season titles, two conference tournament titles and 15 NCAA Tournament appearances in the history of the program.
• The Commodores return six letter winners from 2018-19, with junior Saben Lee leading the way for the Commodores a year ago. Lee averaged 12.7 points per game and led the team with 3.8 assists per contest. Sophomore Aaron Nesmith also averaged double figures a year ago with 11.0 points per game. Other letter winners returning include junior guard Maxwell Evans, junior forward Matthew Moyer, senior forward Clevon Brown, and junior guard Isaiah Rice. Redshirt sophomore Ejike Obinna returns to the floor after redshirting last season.
• Nesmith was recently named to the preseason All-SEC second-team by the league’s coaches.
• Vanderbilt welcomes freshmen Dylan Disu, Scotty Pippen Jr., Jordan Wright, and Oton Jankovic to the fold, as well as transfers DJ Harvey (Notre Dame) and Quentin Millora-Brown (Rice). Harvey and Millora-Brown will redshirt the 2019-20 campaign.
• Saben Lee was one of seven major conference underclassmen in 2018-19 with 400+ points, 100+ rebounds and 100+ assists, and is the only one in the SEC. (Terence Davis and Grant Williams were the only others in the SEC to reach those numbers.)
• Vanderbilt defeated Clark Atlanta, 95-55, in their only exhibition game of the season. Junior guard Saben Lee tallied 19 points to lead five players in double figures. Sophomore Aaron Nesmith (17 points), freshman Scotty Pippen Jr. (15 points), junior Matthew Moyer (10 points), and freshman Dylan Disu (10 points) also scored in double figures.
• The Commodores own a 1-0 record against the Redhawks, but are familiar with Southeast Missouri coach Rick Ray, who coached at Mississippi State from 2012-2015. Vanderbilt is 3-2 all-time against Rick Ray-coached teams.
• The Commodores have had five first-round NBA Draft picks since 2012, the second-most in the SEC in that time span – Darius Garland (5th, Cleveland Cavaliers), Wade Baldwin IV (17th, Memphis Grizzlies), Damian Jones (30th, Golden State Warriors), and John Jenkins (23rd, Atlanta) and Festus Ezeli (30th, Golden State). Garland, Jones, and former standout Luke Kornet (Chicago Bulls) are all active players in the NBA.
• Memorial Gym, the SEC’s oldest faciilty, will see its 68th regular-season opener on Wednesday. Vanderbilt is 60-7 in home openers, and have won 12 consecutive home openers, dating back to an 86-70 loss to Georgetown on November 15, 2006.
• The Commodores are one of only three schools (UNLV and Princeton) to have made a three-point basket since the inception of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
With a made three against Southeast Missouri, Vanderbilt will move to 1,065 consecutive games with a three-pointer.
About Southeast Missouri
Series Record: Vanderbilt leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 12/5/01, Vanderbilt win, 76-71
Record at Vanderbilt: 1-0
Record at SEMO: NA
Record at Neutral Site: NA
Coach Stackhouse vs. SEMO: First Meeting
Media Information
Vanderbilt vs. Southeast Missouri
Nashville, Tenn. – Memorial Gym – 7 p.m. CDT
TV: SEC Network Plus
TV Talent: Kevin Ingram (pxp), Shan Foster (analyst)
Radio: Vanderbilt Radio Network from Learfield/IMG College, vucommodores.com
Radio Talent: Joe Fisher (pxp), Tim Thompson (analyst)
Live Stats: VandyStats.com
Twitter Updates: @VandyMBB
Notes: @VandyNotes
