PREAMBLE: With the qualifications that Vanderbilt is often disingenuous, dysfunctional and unpredictable (all that gained through sourcing and personal experience), this is what I believe to be the truth as of Tuesday morning:

- I do not believe Candice Lee plans to move on from Jerry Stackhouse. She has consistently stayed in a lane of saying she plans to keep him, even since the weekend. I think the truth has been in front of us all along.

- While I suspect the buyout is in play, if I had to guess (based on info), I think she genuinely believes that resources have been part of the issue and that if Stack has them, he can be as successful as past coaches here. (Don't shoot the messenger here. I do not share that belief.)

- If I am wrong about the two things above, I do strongly suspect the throught of firing him is probably terrifying to her.

- I do not believe Daniel Diermeier is going to step in and tell her what to do. I could be wrong about that but based on recent information (and again, see the preamble at the top of the post) he has said he intends to let people do their jobs and is not into micromanaging, and I've got some sourcing to back that up.

- I do believe the public pressure of all this is getting to her. I think you all need to brace yourselves for the strong likelihood he will be retained but if so, I wonder about her ability to continue in this role if she goes through with keeping him. But that also raises the possibility that she could war-game it out and say, "Do I really want all that public pressure?" provided the payout to fire him isn't too costly to her. (My opinion: This is unlikely, she's seemed pretty dug in on this for months.)

- WILD CARD: Would Stack leave on his own? I don't know. It is clear he doesn't want to to do the job a college coach needs to do. But I don't see a path out that pays him anywhere close to the money he makes here now.

IF I AM OFF ON THIS, please refer to "PREAMBLE" because what I have is pretty well sourced.

1. The now infamous golf stories and moving shootarounds and being late, two of them this year.
2. Calls fan base Judases - further alienates fan base.
3. Weird senior day with no coach or parents (maybe this is his way, but it is strange) and Stackhouse watching from crow's nest by himself - not even with the team in locker room preparing.
4. ZERO 2025 recruits. ZERO. Appears to have stopped recruiting.
5. Rumored relationship with Nikki Gray.
6. What other weirdness am I missing?

I really think he wants out, but he's not leaving money on the table. If we had an AD who had any AD-related skills, she could fire him for cause, or give him the option of resigning and taking a much smaller amount. Then let him spend money fighting it in court. But then the language on the contract becomes public, and I am guessing Candice doesn't want that, because she is clueless. Of course, she didn't sign off on that contract extension by herself, so it's not ALL on her. The other issue is that she is so chummy with Stackhouse. If she doesn't fire him for cause due to just the above issues, then she is enabling all of it.