TAMPA, Fla. — After arriving in Florida on Monday, Vanderbilt used Tuesday to prepare to the fullest for Wednesday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament opener against Georgia at 7:30 p.m. CT at AMALIE Arena.
Vandy (15-15) began the morning with a film session before heading over to Jesuit High School. It was there that the Commodores practiced for an hour and 45 minutes, polished offensive and defensive sets and reviewed the scouting report for the Bulldogs.
After the session, Vanderbilt returned to its team hotel on the banks of the Hillsborough River and enjoyed some down time.
A Visit From Coach Z
David Zimroth, a former assistant basketball coach at Georgia, Florida State and South Florida, checked in on the Dores and head coach Jerry Stackhouse at Tuesday’s practice.
Zimroth was on the coaching staff at Florida State in the late 1980s and coached Tony Dawson – the older brother of Stackhouse. Dawson averaged 19.4 points and 7.2 rebounds his final two seasons at Florida State before a long career in professional basketball.
Welcome to AMALIE
At 4:55 p.m. CT Tuesday, the Commodores got to check out AMALIE Arena for the first time.
This year’s site of the SEC Tournament is also home to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Vandy held a shoot-around there for 40 minutes.
AMALIE Arena was built in 1996 and has hosted two NHL All-Star games, the NCAA women’s basketball Final Four and the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, among other events. The 2009 SEC Tournament was held there — an event won by Mississippi State. Vandy lost 82-75 to Alabama in the first round that year.
In 2008, Vanderbilt played an NCAA Tournament game in the venue and lost 83-62 to Siena.
Gift Guide
The Commodores were treated to a gift of their choosing after Tuesday night’s workout.
Each Vandy student-athlete was able to peruse an off-court suite in which they could pick one gift. Options included, but were not limited to, noise-canceling headphones, a watch, wireless headphones and a wireless speaker.
Each student-athlete participating in this week’s event was afforded the option to receive a gift.
All-SEC Times Two
Vanderbilt junior guard Scotty Pippen Jr. was named a First-Team All-SEC selection not once, but twice, Tuesday.
Pippen was part of the nine-man First Team as voted on by the league’s coaches. Later in the day it was announced that The Associated Press had chosen Pippen as part of the five-man All-SEC First Team.
Pippen earned both of those honors as a sophomore in 2021 and became the first Commodore to repeat those recognitions since Billy McCaffrey in 1993 and 1994.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
