This Week on West End

Looking ahead to what's on deck for the Commodores this week

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Each week This Week on West End takes a closer look at what’s in store for the Commodores in the coming days.

It’s finally basketball season in Nashville as the Vanderbilt men’s team hopes to make its 2020-21 debut this weekend.

Vandy, under the direction of second-year head coach Jerry Stackhouse, will face Valparaiso on Friday – that game time is yet to be announced. Stackhouse returns four sophomores who played significant roles in 2019-20, has three now-eligible transfers and a pair of veterans in Maxwell Evans and Clevon Brown.

Here’s more of all the other happenings around West End this week:

Football

Vanderbilt, previously scheduled to host rival Tennessee on Saturday, will now travel to Missouri. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Columbia, Missouri, and the game will be televised live on SEC Network Alternate.

The Commodores (0-7, 0-7 SEC) fell 38-17 to No. 6 Florida this past Saturday, a game in which head coach Derek Mason’s team led 7-0 and 10-7. Quarterback Ken Seals threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns and Cam Johnson had seven receptions for 93 yards for Vandy.

Missouri (3-3, 3-3 SEC) is coming off a 17-10 win over South Carolina and is 3-1 in its last four games.

Saturday will mark the 12th meeting between the two programs. Vandy won last season’s matchup 21-14 in Nashville.

 

Men’s basketball

Vanderbilt will play the first of nine scheduled nonconference games Friday when it welcomes Valparaiso to Memorial Gymnasium.

Coming off an 11-win season, Stackhouse brings back point guard Scottie Pippen, forward Dylan Disu and Evans, a shooting guard, to help lead a team with more depth that the 2019-20 campaign. Transfers D.J. Harvey, Quentin Millora-Brown and Issac McBride are all also eligible for the Commodores.

Vandy will have to find a way to account for the missing production of Aaron Nesmith and Saben Lee, both of whom were selected in last week’s 2020 NBA Draft.