You all know my stance, for a while, has been that Jerry Stackhouse will likely keep his job for next year. That's sourced and unless there has been a well-orchestrated private plan going on very quietly behind the scenes prior to the last week or two, I feel confident that was accurate.
That said, there's been a lot of chatter in the air about Vanderbilt potentially moving on from Jerry Stackhouse, including a thing or two that's piqued my curiousity.
Now... before people start getting hopes up, I've done this for 21 years, I've seen and heard everything, and my morning reminds me a bit of the aftermath of Derek Mason's UNLV game, where people were texting me that "I think Turner's moving on from Mason, maybe even today!" and all kinds of stuff like that. And as you know, Mason not only got the rest of that year, but the next one, too.
So again, having been there and done that and gotten caught up in it myself thinking I was on to something, I'd temper expectations. I have learned not to look through those filters and rely more on what I hear from people who know how it REALLY works.
That said...
1. My best source has said, for a while, that some sort of (my term here, and for lack of a better one) "public spectacle" with attendance could get him fired. This source believes that a complete gym takeover, maybe coupled with a blowout, could be a tipping point.
Well, I got a text from a UT friend of mine today who can usually get tickets through the official UT pass list. He couldn't make that happen today. Asked me if I had any connections to tickets today (which I don't) and then said he's finding tickets very hard to get. I also had another well-connected friend who got a similar request from two UT boosters. So I guess the game is either sold out or for some reason, Vanderbilt is holding back an allotment of tickets (I don't know if that's a thing, I haven't heard it's a thing, I'm just trying to account for all the possibilities here.). I see tickets on the secondary market are pricey, I don't see an appetite for Vanderbilt fans to go, so, I think we have a good idea what's coming, I'm just not sure exactly how massive the takeover will be.
2. Back to the same source, this person believes that Stackhouse's public criticism of the admin over admissions standards will not go well and said he'd be surprised if he didn't get called into a sit-down with school officials and get a scolding over that. And if you notice, Stack abruptly started talking about "we can recruit five stars" this week, which isn't proof of anything but it is interesting.
3. The thing that got Stephanie White in the end, I'm told, wasn't the losses, it was the constant churn of players. I know Stack ran QMB off before later realizing he couldn't find an adequate replacement and begging him to come back. He was cross-ways with Jordan Wright last year and Jordan left. Myles Stute left, Malik Dia left, you've seen the list, we've talked about that. I have to think that's coming into focus as the other things add up.
AGAIN... I do not know of anything imminent. History has taught me to be skeptical of Vanderbilt making a change when every other school in the country would, and there are 179 reasons for them to move on and yet they don't. But there are breaking points to everything, and I try to be prepared, and just wanted to keep you in the loop of what's out there and if something happened, the things that might have been catalysts for change.
That said, there's been a lot of chatter in the air about Vanderbilt potentially moving on from Jerry Stackhouse, including a thing or two that's piqued my curiousity.
Now... before people start getting hopes up, I've done this for 21 years, I've seen and heard everything, and my morning reminds me a bit of the aftermath of Derek Mason's UNLV game, where people were texting me that "I think Turner's moving on from Mason, maybe even today!" and all kinds of stuff like that. And as you know, Mason not only got the rest of that year, but the next one, too.
So again, having been there and done that and gotten caught up in it myself thinking I was on to something, I'd temper expectations. I have learned not to look through those filters and rely more on what I hear from people who know how it REALLY works.
That said...
1. My best source has said, for a while, that some sort of (my term here, and for lack of a better one) "public spectacle" with attendance could get him fired. This source believes that a complete gym takeover, maybe coupled with a blowout, could be a tipping point.
Well, I got a text from a UT friend of mine today who can usually get tickets through the official UT pass list. He couldn't make that happen today. Asked me if I had any connections to tickets today (which I don't) and then said he's finding tickets very hard to get. I also had another well-connected friend who got a similar request from two UT boosters. So I guess the game is either sold out or for some reason, Vanderbilt is holding back an allotment of tickets (I don't know if that's a thing, I haven't heard it's a thing, I'm just trying to account for all the possibilities here.). I see tickets on the secondary market are pricey, I don't see an appetite for Vanderbilt fans to go, so, I think we have a good idea what's coming, I'm just not sure exactly how massive the takeover will be.
2. Back to the same source, this person believes that Stackhouse's public criticism of the admin over admissions standards will not go well and said he'd be surprised if he didn't get called into a sit-down with school officials and get a scolding over that. And if you notice, Stack abruptly started talking about "we can recruit five stars" this week, which isn't proof of anything but it is interesting.
3. The thing that got Stephanie White in the end, I'm told, wasn't the losses, it was the constant churn of players. I know Stack ran QMB off before later realizing he couldn't find an adequate replacement and begging him to come back. He was cross-ways with Jordan Wright last year and Jordan left. Myles Stute left, Malik Dia left, you've seen the list, we've talked about that. I have to think that's coming into focus as the other things add up.
AGAIN... I do not know of anything imminent. History has taught me to be skeptical of Vanderbilt making a change when every other school in the country would, and there are 179 reasons for them to move on and yet they don't. But there are breaking points to everything, and I try to be prepared, and just wanted to keep you in the loop of what's out there and if something happened, the things that might have been catalysts for change.
