My head spins every time I try to figure out which lineup starts, who gets the majority of minutes and most importantly, who we want on the floor with the game on the line.

My guesses are as follows:

Starters

AJ Hoggard - PG (28 mpg)
Jason Edwards - Bucket Getter (28 mpg)
Tyler Nickel - Wing (25 mpg)
Devin McGlockton - Stretch 4 (22 mpg)
Wright - Forward (20 mpg)

Grant Huffman - PG (20 mpg)
Chris Manon - Bucket Getter (20 mpg)
Jalen Carey - Forward (20 mpg)
MJ Collins - Combo Guard (18 mpg)
Alex Hemenway (12 mpg)

JQ Roberts - Forward (5 mpg)
Tyler Tanner - PG (2 mpg)
Karis Bilal - Combo (2 mpg)

If any of you are paying attention at this point, you'll notice that I have a total of 222 mpg, which can't happen mathematically unless we set some records for multiple overtime games. This is what I struggle so much with. We have several guys worthy of 20 or more mpg but a few of them will ultimately have to be more like 15 mpg.

Who plays when it matters?

I struggle with this too. I think we all probably assume we are going to ride or die with AJ Hoggard and Jason Edwards. That is a damn good starting spot to have a backcourt with two guys that can score at all 3 levels and get their own shots. But where do we go from there? I assume matchups will largely answer my questions. Do we use Manon over Nickel? Do we need a 3rd ballhandler and we bring in Huffman for a 3 guard lineup? Is MJ Collins a lockdown defender and if so, are we playing him to put the opposing team's best player on lock?

I tend to think that of the bigs, Devin McGlockton is the one we can trust the most to defend and rebound and give you something offensively.

So I'm at Hoggard, Edwards, and McGlockton in crunch time and then go with matchups from there. Wright if you need more defense and rebounding, Carey if you need more offense. Tyler Nickel vs Chris Manon and or MJ Collins is probably the one I struggle with the most. I really really like Manon's offensive game, anybody know if he can defend?

I do not think Tanner or Bilal get any minutes in the last 10 minutes of games unless we're up by 15 or more. JQ Roberts will have to make major improvements to his game to see any meaningful minutes. The only way I see him playing more than 5 mpg is injuries to a big, or if we need fouls and or depth on a bad matchup for us. I hope he improves though because he does have athletic upside.

Conclusion

I am thinking we have 3 guys that will play big minutes in Hoggard, Edwards and McGlockton. Beyond that, I'd say Nickel, and Manon will be next in mpg followed by Huffman, Carey, Wright, Collins and down from there...

I think Buyington's most difficult task will be managing egos and minutes with this group. I do think his pace and style will give us a lot of blowout wins and also a need to play a lot of guys but when it becomes nutcutting time, we have about 9 guys that probably deserve to be on the floor based on past results. This is a great problem to have as this may very well be the deepest Vanderbilt team of my life, but it's going to take a great leader to make sure it's managed properly.

Any thoughts by the basketball loving VU fans?

@Chris Lee @Joey Dwyer @VUSmackdown @thepeopleschampion13 @VUMatt23 @jfchatiii @VandyFan_23 @DoreFan @Smashville @WestNashDore

Between the Cape and Team USA our young guys are pretty highly thought of.

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My friend Will @MLSMoves will be joining the football coverage team as a contributor beginning this summer. He's been a lifelong Vandy fan and lives in enemy territory in East Tennessee, so I think y'all will enjoy listening to his perspective. Our goal is to release a podcast each week with Joey, Will, and myself to break down the latest topics surrounding Vanderbilt Football. The first episode will be published tomorrow on our podcast feed and the YouTube channel. We've got a lot more fun plans for our football coverage heading into the fall so stay tuned for more updates!

Super excited to welcome our new basketball contributor Brandon Bigsby to the team.

Brandon is a good friend of mine, fellow sports media major at Lipscomb and is someone Alaina and I in particular have a lot of belief in. Here's a guy (Cris Collinsworth voice) that loves the game and grew up around this program. I'm sure his enthusiasm will bleed over into his coverage, although I've got a lot of confidence that he'll be objective. Brandon is one of the guys that I talk with consistently about the men's program. He knows it better than most. We're not exactly sure what his role will be, but Alaina, Billy and I want him to be a focal point of our basketball coverage as we aim to expand it. He'll be doing stories and podcasts with us on both programs. We want him on camera as much as possible, he's excellent there.

Brandon ultimately wants to be a play-by-play guy. He's done a good bit of basketball play-by-play and color on Lipscomb's radio station, he's done Lipscomb Academy football, he's done E-sports. He's also written a bit for the Lipscomb paper.

You guys will really enjoy the addition, as will we. Brandon and I are filming a podcast today. Looking to add a weekly basketball pod with him, Billy and I like we're doing for football with Will while also getting him on with Alaina whenever she wants to do one.

Here's some of his work:
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Coming off a Vandy official this past weekend

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Anyone else is going to be cheering for the Purple Aces tomorrow? How sweet it would be if...

Sounds like he left on good terms and is liked as a teammate

For what it is worth, my sister in law (who lives in Nashville) shared that she met the guy who has the contract to put turf down. Apparently, he has had (the opportunity) to reinstall it SEVERAL times during this process because the city, in more than one occasion, has made Vandy tear out and redo new sewer work (because the job done did not meet city approval).

Often referred to as the greatest baseball player ever. Truly a phenomenal talent. “The Catch” is still one of the greatest plays ever. Tremendous athlete and gentleman.

For those who like me hunger for any MBB news during this famine following the Portal Feast ....

Here are the number of possessions played by each of our incoming transfers ... and a few outgoing ones for comparison. Anyone surprised high or low by any particular players?

Devin McGlockton 1822

Grant Huffman 1737

Jason Edwards 1703

AJ Hoggard 1665

MJ Collins 1598

(Tyrin Lawrence 1473)

Tyler Nickel 1357

(Ven-Allen Lubin 1237)

Chris Manon 1106

Jaylen Carey 913

Kijani Wright 545

I saw yesterday that Vandy Great Bill Ligon passed away! Great memories of watching him play! RIP Bill Ligon!

'79 Rose Bowl, with the dulcet tones of O.J. doing color. Somehow fitting.

Saw this on Twitter ...

Maybe we could have done a state of the art 30,000 seater for $150 mil?

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VandyBoys:

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NFL:

Jordan Matthews: New England Patriots (Injured Reserve)

Zach Cunningham: Houston Texans

Andre Hal: Houston Texans

Casey Hayward: Los Angeles Chargers

Stephen Weatherly: Minnesota Vikings

Will Holden: Free Agent

Spencer Pulley: New York Giants

Wesley Johnson: Free Agent

Adam Butler: New England Patriots

Oren Burks: Green Bay Packers

Ralph Webb: New England Patriots (Practice Squad)

Trent Sherfield: Arizona Cardinals

CJ Duncan: Free Agent

Nifae Lealao: Free Agent

Caleb Scott: Seattle Seahawks (Practice Squad)

Jonathan Wynn: Free Agent

Tre Herndon: Jacksonville Jaguars

Emmanuel Smith: Free Agent

Kenny Ladler: Washington Redskins (Practice Squad)

NBA:

Luke Kornet: New York Knicks

Damien Jones: Golden State Warriors

Wade Baldwin: Portland Trailblazers

Festus Ezeli: Free Agent

If I have missed anyone, feel free to add them. @kerrigjl if you want to pin this up top, that would be awesome!!