2013-14 Preseason Notes Commodores Advance to SEC Semifinals For Fourth Consecutive Season Vanderbilt who won six out of their last eight games in 2013, advanced to their fourth consecutive SEC Tournament Semifinals as the number 10 seed at the 2013 tournament in Nashville. The Commodores knocked off number seven seed Arkansas in the second round and number two Kentucky in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual SEC Champion Ole Miss in the semifinals. The Commodores won their first SEC Tournament Championship in 2012 since 1951.
Vanderbilt Returns Three Starters After losing their top six players at the end of 2012, Vanderbilt played with a very young squad in 2012-13 (no seniors, ranked 322 in KenPom.com’s experience rankings), and returns three starters for 2013-14 and eight letterwinners. The two starters lost were point guard Kedren Johnson, the team’s leading scorer from 2012-13, who is suspended for the 2013-14 season after a violation of university policy, and Kevin Bright, who decided to return home to Germany to sign a professional contract. The Commodores also lost the services of freshman Sheldon Jeter, who elected to transfer.
Stallings Wins Number 400, Closes In On Becoming AllTime Winningest Vanderbilt Coach Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, who is in his 15th season as Commodore head coach, has 277 career victories with the Black and Gold, and trails all-time coaching leader Roy Skinner by only one win. The Commodores’ mentor notched his 400th career win of his 20-year career against Kentucky in the SEC Quarterfinals in Nashville in 2013. Coach Stallings is also the all-time wins leader at Memorial Gym with 187 wins
Stallings’ Success Coach Stallings has had seven 20-win seasons in the last nine, with six NCAA tournament appearances and two Sweet 16’s (2004 and 2007). Stallings has the most 20-win campaigns in Vanderbilt history, and is the first Commodore coach to lead Vanderbilt to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments (2010, 2011, 2012).
European Vacation In August, the Commodores ventured to Greece and Italy for a 10-day tour of the two countries, which included two games against a French Division I All-Star team in Greece and two against an Italian Division III squad in Rome. Vanderbilt came away 4-0 on the trip. Freshman Damian Jones, who only played in the two games in Greece because of a school obligation, led the team with 13 points per game. In four games, Eric McClellan averaged 12.3 points per game, Rod Odom 11.5 points per contest, Dai-Jon Parker 10.3 per game, and Josh Henderson 10.0 points per game.
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Vanderbilt Basketball 2013-14
International Presence The Commodores are represented by two countries on this year’s roster - the United States and Cameroon (James Siakam) - to continue Vanderbilt’s line of foreign players. VU has had a player from outside of the United States on its roster for every season dating back to the 1996-97 campaign. The countries represented in the last 16 years (Ivory Coast, Poland, Austria, England, Australia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sweden, Germany).
3-Point Streak Continues Through 27th Season; VU One Of Three Teams To Hit A Trey In Every Game Since 198687 Season Vanderbilt has made a 3-pointer in 865 consecutive games, a streak which began at the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87. The Commodores rank second only to UNLV (770) for the longest streak in Division I basketball. Vanderbilt, UNLV and Princeton (649) are the only three schools in college basketball to have made at least one 3-pointer in every game played since the 3-point line was implemented.
Individual and Team Notes • Forward Rod Odom is the team’s leading returning scorer at 10.4 points per contest. • The Commodores surrendered only 60.1 points per game, which marked Vanderbilt’s best scoring defensive effort since 1950-51 (60.5 ppg). • The Commodores were led in scoring by six different players in 2012-13, in rebounding by nine players, and six had different leaders in assists. • 43.9% of Vanderbilt’s attempts from the floor are threes, which ranked ninth out of 347 Division I teams. 38.7% of the team’s total points comes off of threes, which ranked first nationally.
Key Additions Vanderbilt will welcome redshirt sophomore Eric McClellan, and two freshmen, Damian Jones and Luke Kornet, to the fold in 2013-14. McClellan, a 6’4 point guard who transferred from the University of Tulsa after the spring semester in 2012, practiced with the team last season after averaging 8.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 23.1 minutes per game in 30 contests for the Golden Hurricane as a freshman. He also started 16 games for Tulsa in his freshman campaign. Jones, a 6’10 post man from Baton Rouge, Ala., signed with the Commodores in the early signing period after leading his Scotlandville Magnet School team to two consecutive Louisiana 5A Championships. He averaged 15.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, and 2.0 assists in his senior season. Kornet, a 6’10 forward from Lantana, Texas, signed in the spring signing period with Vanderbilt. Kornet, the son of former Vanderbilt start Frank Kornet (1986-89), grew seven inches in his senior season at Liberty Christian School and averaged 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 3.0 steals in his senior season.