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    • Three Bold Predictions for Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Mark Byington
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    Three Bold Predictions for Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball Mark Byington

    Umito Posted on

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    Vanderbilt basketball is a completely blank slate for the 2024-25 season.

    It’s hard to know anything for sure about the Commodores after coach Jerry Stackhouse was replaced by Marc Byington by James Madison. With only one scholarship player returning from the 2023-24 team, the little-used JQ Roberts, Vanderbilt will have a whole new look. Gone are late Stackhouse-era stalwarts like Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence. Instead, new names like AJ Hoggard, Devin McGlockton and Jason Edwards are the headliners.

    The Commodores open their season at home against Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday (7 p.m. CT, SEC Network+).

    Here are three bold predictions for the 2024-25 season:

    Vanderbilt will score 100 points at least once, but will also give up 100 points at least once

    Vanderbilt is built to score a lot of points. Byington said the Commodores will be one of the fastest teams in the country and there are plenty of players on the roster with good scoring histories: Edwards, McGlockton and Tyler Nickel.

    Defense is another problem. Not only do higher tempo teams give up more points in general, but it’s also concerning that Vanderbilt doesn’t have anyone over 6-foot-8 available. (Kijani Wright is 6-9, but is out indefinitely due to a medical issue.) The projection system Torvik uses is based on the Commodores’ roster that they will have the 24th-best offense in the country, but only the 145th best defense. .

    Vanderbilt won’t finish last in the SEC

    Nearly every poll, whether by media or coaches, has Vanderbilt dead last in the SEC. Part of that is probably because the Commodores only return one player from a season ago, so it’s almost impossible to project the team. The analytical projection systems agree, as Vanderbilt is also ranked as the worst team in the conference in KenPom (up 28 places) and Torvik (up 76 places).

    But the Commodores’ style of play and shooting should lead to them winning games they’re not expected to win. On hot shooting nights, they might be hard to beat.

    This doesn’t currently look like an NCAA Tournament team, but it doesn’t look like a team that will finish last, either.

    SEC MEDIA DAYS: Why Mark Byington says Vanderbilt basketball is not in rebuilding year

    No more nonsense in Quadrant 4 games

    One of Vanderbilt’s problems under Stackhouse was that the team still didn’t seem ready to play early in the season. The Commodores frequently lost games to Quad 4 opponents like Grambling State and Presbyterian.

    As such, even the idea that Vanderbilt will win all of its Quad 4 games is a bold prediction. But Byington is a longtime midrange coach and knows how tough these games can be. With so many transfers, he paid special attention to building chemistry within the team during the offseason.

    Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

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