In this series, we’ll look ahead at Mizzou’s opponents in the upcoming 2023-24 season. We’ll continue by previewing the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Date & Location: Feb. 3 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.
2022-23 Record: 22-15 overall (11-7 SEC)
NCAA Tournament Finish: N/A (Defeated Yale and Michigan in the first two rounds of the NIT, lost to UAB in the quarterfinals)
KEY LOSSES
Emmanuel Ansong (graduated), Malik Dia (transferred), Quentin Millora-Brown (transferred), Liam Robbins (graduated), Noah Shelby (transferred), Myles Stute (transferred), Trey Thomas (transferred), Jordan Wright (transferred)
KEY RETURNERS
KEY INCOMING TRANSFERS
Tasos Kamateros (South Dakota, 12.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 apg), Ven-Allen Lubin (Notre Dame, 6.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.4 apg), Evan Taylor (Lehigh, 14.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.1 apg), Jordan Williams (Texas A&M, redshirt)
KEY INCOMING FRESHMEN (rankings from Rivals.com)
Carter Lang (N/A), Malik Presley (N/A), Jason Rivera-Torres (N/A), JaQualon Roberts (N/A), Isaiah West (N/A)
OUTLOOK
Though the Commodores didn’t look like it through the early portions of the year, Vanderbilt proved to be one of the best teams in the SEC by the end of the season. Heading into February, Jerry Stackhouse’s squad sat 10-12 overall with a 3-6 record in league play and had just been dealt their biggest loss of the year, a 101-44 mollywhopping at the hands of Alabama, their third loss in a row.
But after trudging through the toughest part of its schedule, Vanderbilt came out on the other side a different team. The Commodores closed out the regular season on an 8-1 run, finishing sixth in the SEC. They went on to reach the semifinals of the conference tournament, dispatching LSU and Kentucky in the process, and just missed out on the NCAA tournament, going three rounds deep in the NIT instead.
Tyrin Lawrence was a big reason why. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 60.0% on 2-pointers and 46.9% on 3-pointers over the final 15 games of the year. Lawrence declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal after the season was over, but ultimately decided to go back to Vanderbilt for his senior year. His return is one of the biggest offseason wins in the entire conference, as he now looks poised to land on an All-SEC team.
Stackhouse’s job is to find the right pieces to build around him after the majority of the head coach’s rotation moved on. It begins with another pair of returners on the perimeter in Ezra Manjon and Colin Smith. Manjon was the team’s starting point guard on opening night last season but it took him a bit of time to adjust to playing at a high-major level after transferring in from UC Davis. The senior lost the starting job in December, then worked his way back into the lineup in February. The Commodores were 17-8 with him as a starter. Smith was another player who came on strong late in the year, supplanting upperclassman Myles Stute in the starting five as a freshman during the SEC tourney. Stackhouse is banking on even more production after a summer of development for Smith. Returning sophomore Paul Lewis should also carve out a role as Vandy’s backup point guard.
The Commodores will lean on a trio of transfers in its frontcourt. Ven Allen-Lubin was the No. 49-ranked recruit in the Class of 2022 and got his feet wet last year coming off the bench for Notre Dame. He’s the only one of Vanderbilt’s three transfers that brings high-major experience and will be called on for a much larger role than he saw with the Fighting Irish. Evan Taylor ranked 89th in the country draining 41.7% of his triples last season at Lehigh and has the size and versatility to play the two, three and four. And Tasos Kamateros should continue to provide the same floor-spacing element that former leading scorer Liam Robbins did from the center spot after shooting 40.1% from deep last year at South Dakota. Returning sophomore Lee Dort should also see an uptick in minutes and might be the team's best rim protector at 6-foot-10.
The rest of the team’s rotation will be filled out by a freshman class that features five high-upside three-stars and a redshirt walk-on. Jason Rivera-Torres is the most notable of the group as he stars in the Apple TV series “Swagger” and has been receiving praise over the summer. Rookie guard Isaiah West and forward Malik Presley had both received several high-major offers before suffering injuries during their high school careers. Big man Carter Lang and forward JaQualon Roberts round will be in the mix for playing time, as will Jordan Williams, who sat out last year at Texas A&M before joining the Commodores this offseason as a non-scholarship athlete.
Stackhouse will be looking to make it to the Big Dance this season for the first time as a head coach. Missouri edged out Vanderbilt at home in their last meeting, 85-82. Playing on the road against a restructured roster, the Tigers could be in for a tougher test this year.
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