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This month will likely be a big one for Jr. Day visits. Scott and Barrett are a couple of guys that told us they will be on West End later this month. With Scott, Vanderbilt is recruiting him as a defensive back. Barrett has been to Vanderbilt multiple times already, including a couple of games this fall, he also swung by during his fall break as well.

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Matthews said he plans to visit Vanderbilt this spring and he's been hearing from new running backs coach Jayden Everett.

As we head into the SEC schedule, here are my takes on what we have seen so far.

Stackhouse wanted to improve the non-conference schedule. Of course, you can never be sure how good any one team can be projecting from one year to the next, or in the case of basketball sometimes projecting a few seasons ahead.

So, if we view the non-conference schedule through the lens of KenPom, and recognizing that KenPom’s rankings are still evolving to some extent, my own reaction, albeit with rose-colored glasses on, is that the collection of teams played (with a collective 109-69 record) represented an “ok” balance of challenging games coupled with some “creampuffs”, but, as shown below, pale in comparison to the level of competition we will face night-in-and-night-out” beginning on Tuesday:





Against the non-conference opponents, we carved out a few noteworthy statistics (Reminder: 363 D1 Teams):

• Robbins is 6th in the country in blocked shots @ 2.8 per game which is “remarkable” since his minutes have been constrained by his coach;
• Stute is 19th in the country in terms of % of made “3’s” @ 47.1% (even with his horrendous 1-8 night versus Alabama A&M);
• Stute is 32nd in the country in terms of # of made “3’s” per game @ 3.1;
• The team is 16th in terms of blocked shots per game;
• The Dores 12.8 assists per game ranks 246th;
• The team’s 5.2 steals per game ranks 323rd;
• Turnovers per game @ 12.6 per game ranks 208th;
• The team has 166 assists and 164 turnovers . . . not a formula to generate success on the court;
• The team is 215th in “3” point shooting % (@33.3%), or 8.4 per game, which means that Stack’s assertion that they have to hit 10-12 “3’s” per game in SEC games appears to be a “hope for” strategy to find success going forward [while the numbers (see below) say take more “2’s”]; and
• The team is (a woeful) 263rd in free throw % @ 68.3%, although a couple of players have moved their individual averages up to the mid-70’s range, plus to add to this poor performance, the Dores only make 10.8 free throws per game.

As many of us have speculated, there was no easy “fix” for losing 21 PPG from one player as illustrated below:




Can Stute stay out of foul trouble and try to do something else on the court other than shoot “3’s”?

Can the coach allow Robbins to play 25-27 minutes per game and against other good big men stay out of foul trouble?

Are Wright’s back and/or other ailments healed up, and, if so, can he become a consistent force on the court, e.g., move his PPG up, get his “3” point % up to the mid-30’s, etc?

Can Lawrence show up consistently and limit his all too frequent “mindless” and, at times, errors?

Can Manjon maintain his stellar shooting from “2” and get some effective support from Lewis (in order to keep Thomas out of the point guard role!)?

Can Smith emerge as an effective performer in conference play?

As an unexpected “bonus” (which might make a difference in a game or two), can Ansong give his team a consistent “energy” boost off the bench by grabbing some boards, running the floor and hitting an occasional bucket?

Can “Q” get back to how he played last year as opposed to what we have observed this season (albeit only a little better)?

What do I expect out of SEC play? Beyond the stats and the win-loss record to date, not much as . . .

• We have no “go to” scorer;
• We do not have enough players who can score;
• We only have one consistent threat from deep;
• We are a below average shooting team from “3”;
• We have no dominant rebounder;
• We do not have a stand out passer on the team;
• We do not have an accomplished driver who can either or both finish and dish;
• We do not have a “lock-down” defender on this team; and
• We do not play stand out defense as a team.

The guest line is presented by Michael Kendrick of The Kendrick Group. Michael is a local carpenter and a lifelong Vandy fan. He builds bookshelves, cabinets, picture frames, furniture and made-to-order items, including a display case for my prized Dale Murphy jersey. I have seen Michael’s work and he’s a true craftsman. If you’re in the market for custom woodwork, give Michael a call at 615.830.9458.

Today’s mailbag is sponsored by Sutherland & Belk, a family owned injury law firm. If you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident, give Taylor or Russell a call at 615-846-6200 to see what your rights are and if they can help.

The show, of course, is presented by Dr. Jody Jones, DDS.

Your all-time favorite podcast guest will join us sometime next week.

Sometime later tonight, I will be dropping a detailed post ranking the attractiveness of all of our football staff. All of the female staffers will be in last because I don’t want to objectify them. Early top contenders are Barton and Alex Bailey, we’ll see how the list shakes out

The new logo might be coming for baseball gear. The campus bookstore is now selling these:

Pretty incredible original offer list, including Alabama. Second year is sophomore.

Looks like he is from Madison Alabama. New portal entry.

Former three star from all services.


Feels like a solid potential addition.

I was with the brother of a pretty influential P5 coach tonight at dinner and he mentioned Clark was indeed offered the HCIW position at ND. He said Clark is really really well regarded as an up and coming coach.

The listing at this link appears to display 11 players transferring from Missouri.

No more

Played today for Bama ! Didn’t opt out and didn’t get hurt ! Much respect for this kid ! Way to go Bryce !

Nm

Barton’s a good looking guy. Deleting a thread because of this acknowledgment is some sort of ism or phobic

Small private school (12k students) putting the wood to Michigan.

I've been saying Michigan has been a fraud for while. When the game started they talked about how great minter has been for Michigan and how he was a bryles award finalist

Would've never known he was that good watching what he did with our guys

Jesse Perry is another 2024 in-state prospect to keep an eye on. Vandy just recently offered during a visit. More on him above

Before departing for Liberty, Chadwell accomplished a record of 31-6 during the last three seasons.

If Chadwell had no baggage beyond the info publicly available regarding NCAA infractions, it seems likely he would have been an attractive candidate for a P5 school. However, he certainly received a very nice contract at Liberty.

I’m going with the hypnotoad. Ohio State should have beat UGA. Frogs beat the team that pummeled OSU. No defensive struggle here.

In addition to Vanderbilt, Pyle has a ton of offers including Stanford, Duke, Kansas State, Ole Miss, USC, etc. He talks about his relationship with Blazek and more.

Congrats Chris. Thank you for your persistence.

This is very difficult to imagine happening in the SEC considering the conference financial contribution.

Is there any possible way they stay together as a class for the next 3/4 years?

They are going to have to endure a lot in order to do so but....

They could be our first legit chance to win in bball/football in the last/next decade.

Bennett having a bad game. Not seeing the field and OSU defense really prepared.

Give credit to OSU.

Coming from someone who knows their stuff.

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We may have our agreements and disagreements on this board from time to time, but we all love the ‘Dores and I suspect we’d all really like each other if this entire board got together for a tailgate. Here’s to a great 2023!

Found this article after reading the post on Arnold's closing. If you were around Nashville back then, I am sure you will enjoy this read. I would do almost anything to bring this park back. Maybe Gaylord will get a conscious 40 years later and rebuild it 😀