Vanderbilt Basketball

Vanderbilt has hired James Madison's Mark Byington as the team's new head coach in the wake of Jerry Stackhouse's firing, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Pete Thamel.

Byington led James Madison to a record of 32-4, resulting in an appearance in the NCAA tournament. His team pulled off an upset victory over Wisconsin in the first round before falling to Duke in the second round on Sunday.

Stackhouse was previously fired after Vanderbilt was eliminated in the SEC tournament.

After steadily improving in each season from 2020 through 2023, the team took a large step backwards during the 2023-24 season. Coming off a commendable 22-15 campaign, Stackhouse led Vanderbilt to a paltry 9-23 record which included a 4-14 mark in the SEC.

As for Byington, he's coming off a season with the Dukes that was already considered to be extremely successful well before their NCAA tournament victory. The team set a school record by recording 32 wins compared to just four losses in the regular season, emerging victorious in the Sun Belt Conference tournament to secure a March Madness berth.

James Madison's defeat of Wisconsin represented the program's first NCAA tournament win since 1983.

After four seasons with the school, Byington will leave with a record of 82-36. He also has seven years of head coaching experience with Georgia Southern prior to leading the Dukes. Byington finished with a winning record in each of his final four seasons at his previous stop, including 20-win campaigns from 2017-18 through 2019-20.

Now, he'll attempt to help Vanderbilt get back on track after the team appeared to be on the verge of a breakout year after a promising 2022-23 season. The Commodores have not made the NCAA tournament since 2017.

Former NBA star Jerry Stackhouse, who has coached the Vanderbilt men's basketball team for the past five seasons, will not be returning to the program after the university parted ways with him.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported the news on Stackhouse, who is expected to receive "a significant buyout." Stackhouse notably signed a contract extension before the 2022-23 season. Financial details were not made available due to Vanderbilt's status as a private institution, per Borzello.

The Commodores just completed a 9-23 season (4-14 SEC) that ended with a 90-85 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first round of the SEC tournament.

Stackhouse starred at North Carolina before moving onto the NBA for an 18-year career (1995-2013) that included a pair of All-Star Game appearances and an average of 16.9 PPG, including 29.8 PPG in 2000-01.

After serving as a broadcaster following his playing career, Stackhouse moved to coaching, serving as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies. In between, Stackhouse was the head coach of the Raptors' G-League affiliate.

Vanderbilt hired Stackhouse as its head coach in 2019. In five seasons, the Commodores went 70-92 (28-60). They made the NIT in 2022 and 2023, reaching the quarterfinals each time.

Stackhouse won SEC Coach of the Year just last season after guiding the team to an 11-7 SEC record (tied for fourth in the league). That squad finished with 22 wins overall.

But this year's team struggled mightily, and now Vanderbilt is in the market for a new leader.

Vanderbilt's Scotty Pippen Jr. announced Monday that he is entering the 2022 NBA draft and plans on hiring an agent:

Pippen is the son of Chicago Bulls legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen and will begin the journey of attempting to live up to his father's legacy as a six-time champion who played alongside Michael Jordan during a decade of dominance in the 1990s.

The younger Pippen arrived at Vanderbilt as a 3-star prospect in the class of 2019, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and wasted little time making an impact.

He was an SEC All-Freshman selection during his first season with the Commodores and was named to the All-SEC First Team in both his second and third campaigns while averaging better than 20 points a night.

Pippen posted 20.4 points, 4.5 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three-point range during his final collegiate season, although Vanderbilt fell short of the NCAA tournament during his entire time on campus.

It was hard to blame Pippen for the lack of overall team success considering he still put up such impressive numbers while drawing plenty of attention from opposing defenses, and the Commodores at least finished with a winning record this past season for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

Despite his scoring prowess and his famous name, Pippen may have his work cut out for him in the predraft process if he is going to be drafted.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman did not include the Vanderbilt product in his most recent two-round mock draft.          

Vanderbilt guard Scotty Pippen Jr. has declared for the 2021 NBA draft, but he will maintain his college eligibility by not hiring an agent. 

Pippen announced his decision Saturday in a statement on Twitter:

Pippen has two years of college eligibility remaining. He was rated as a 3-star prospect coming out of California's Sierra Canyon High School in 2019. 

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman didn't include Pippen in his most recent ranking of the top 50 2021 NBA draft prospects posted on Monday. ESPN.com doesn't have the 20-year-old among the top 100 players eligible for this year's draft. 

Despite those rankings, Pippen is going to test the draft waters coming off two strong seasons at Vanderbilt. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2019-20. 

Last season was a leap forward for Pippen. He led the Commodores in scoring with 20.8 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting and 4.9 assists per game in 22 starts. 

Pippen was named to the All-SEC first team in 2020-21. He became the first Vanderbilt player to make the All-SEC first team since Luke Kornet in 2016-17. 

Center Lee Dort is joining Vanderbilt next year, announcing his commitment to the Commodores alongside fellow 4-star recruit, teammate Noah Shelby, on Wednesday.

The 6'9", 240-pound Texas native is ranked the No. 9 center in the class of 2022 and the No. 59 player overall by 247Sports. He chose the Commodores over offers from Memphis, Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas, Baylor, California and more.

Evan Daniels, then 247Sports' director of basketball recruiting, evaluated Dort in 2018 and projected him as a future first-round NBA pick:

"Dort is bruising post prospect. He's physical in the paint and excels at rebounding. Most players his age can't handle Dort's combination of size, strength and physicality. He finishes off plays close to the rim, plays with good energy and can impact the game with shot blocking. There's fine tuning to do with his post moves, but there's quite a bit of potential here."

The addition of Dort and Shelby gives Vanderbilt its first ranked recruits for 2022 and moves the program's recruiting class up to No. 3 in the country, behind Ohio State and Kansas, which both have a pair of 4-star recruits incoming.

Former Vanderbilt star Terry Compton died Sunday at the age of 67 as a result of COVID-19 complications, via Mike Organ of the Tennessean.

His brother, Billy Compton, confirmed the news on Facebook with a message about the pandemic:

"Yes Covid19 is real friends. COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate by age. After spending 3 hours by my brothers beside tonight and 5 hours at my Mom’s beside last Tuesday night covered in PPE protective gear I could only have imagined the never ending stress, compassion and potential dangerous situation our health care workers are faced with along with the ongoing attempts to save your loved ones life. Covid19 can and often leaves sad endings."

Compton spent three seasons with Vanderbilt from 1971-74, earning the nickname "The Long Rifle" with his shooting ability even before the implementation of the three-point line.

He led the Commodores in scoring in each of his three years with the team, twice earning All-SEC honors while helping his team win the regular-season conference title in 1973-74. His 16.6 career points per game ranks sixth in Vanderbilt history for players with a minimum of 50 games played.

Vanderbilt athletic director Storey Lee offered her condolences on Twitter Monday:

The Kansas City-Omaha Kings drafted Compton in the fourth round of the 1974 NBA draft, but he never appeared in a game.

Vanderbilt has added a player with significant pedigree after Kenyon Martin Jr. committed to the school Sunday. 

The 2019 power forward announced his decision on Twitter:

He is the son of Kenyon Martin, who spent 15 years in the NBA with five different organizations, including the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets and more.

This adds to an intriguing recruiting class for Vanderbilt, which also includes Scotty Pippen, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen.

The two members of the younger generation played together at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California and will now get a chance to continue working alongside one another in college.

With former NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse entering his first season as head coach of the Commodores, a lot of familiar names will be on the bench next year for NBA fans.

But Martin adds more than just his name.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, the 6'6" player is the No. 239 overall player in the 2019 class but has good athleticism that allows him to make an impact near the basket on both ends of the court. Even if he never becomes a go-to scorer, his rebounding and shot-blocking could help a lot as Vanderbilt tries to return to NCAA tournament contention.

Former NBA All-Star guard Jerry Stackhouse reached an agreement Friday to become the new head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic first reported Vandy and Stackhouse, who's been serving as an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies, came to terms on a deal. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted it's a six-year contract.

Vanderbilt later made an official announcement that included a statement from its new head coach:

"I am extremely excited to join the Vanderbilt family and build on the incredible accomplishments of its athletics program and men's basketball program. I look forward to furthering Vanderbilt's unique approach to athletics—blending a powerhouse competitive spirit with elite academics to holistically develop talented student-athletes and celebrate victories on and off the court.

 "I would like to thank [athletic director] Malcolm Turner and chancellor [Nicholas] Zeppos for giving me this fantastic opportunity to direct the Vanderbilt men's basketball program into its next great era."

The 44-year-old North Carolina native played 18 NBA seasons that featured stops with eight different teams. He retired as a member of the Brooklyn Nets in 2013.

Two years later, he joined the coaching ranks as an assistant with the Toronto Raptors. He transitioned to become head coach of Raptors 905, the team's G League affiliate, the following season. He was named Coach of the Year and led the team to a championship in his first of two years in charge.

He joined the Memphis staff for the 2018-19 campaign.

Stackhouse discussed winning a title with Raptors 905 and his desire to lead another coaching staff during a March interview with Stephen Hunt of the New Bern Sun Journal.

"Yeah, [the G League title] just shows to work, guys coming together, giving of themselves. That was the blueprint for me and that's why I feel like that blueprint works," he said. "I'm obviously chomping at the bit to get an opportunity to do it at the highest level, but I think it all translates just from the fact that it's being a work team with a gameplan, an identity of how you want to do things. We got the crown."

Being a head coach at the collegiate level is the closest thing to the same role in the NBA.

He'll inherit a Vanderbilt program coming off a disappointing 9-23 season that led the school to fire head coach Bryce Drew.

The Commodores actually started the campaign well with a 9-3 record that featured wins over the USC Trojans, Arizona State Sun Devils and Liberty Flames, a mid-major program that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

They proceeded to lose 20 consecutive games, including an 0-18 mark in SEC play.

Vandy's roster had one senior, guard Joe Toye, and freshman forward Simi Shittu declared for the 2019 NBA draft.

Otherwise, Stackhouse should return most of a young roster, and his name recognition should help the Commodores in their recruiting efforts this offseason and beyond.

Vanderbilt has reportedly "zeroed in" on Jerry Stackhouse to become its next head men's basketball coach, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium. 

Stackhouse is currently an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA and spent time as the head coach of the Raptors 905 in the G League.

Goodman noted Vanderbilt athletic director Malcolm Turner was president of the G League before coming to the school in December.

Stackhouse impressed during his time with the G League, leading his squad to a title while being named the league's Coach of the Year in 2017.

While he had been a head coaching candidate with the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks, he eventually landed on the Grizzlies coaching staff.

His experience coaching at the NBA level and with AAU teams combined with his 18 years of experience playing in the NBA could bring him plenty of success in college.

On the other hand, not everyone is convinced about the hire:

Bryce Drew was fired after going 9-23 this season, including 0-18 in the SEC. In three seasons, the former Valparaiso coach went 40-59 with just 16 total wins in conference.