1996–97 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1996–97 college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Jan van Breda Kolff and played its home games at Memorial Gymnasium.

1996–97 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	19–12 (9–7 SEC)
Head coach	Jan van Breda Kolff (4th season)
Home arena	Memorial Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 6 South Carolina	15	–	1		.938			24	–	8		.750
No. 5 Kentucky†	13	–	3		.813			35	–	5		.875
No. 17 Georgia	10	–	6		.625			24	–	9		.727
Vanderbilt	9	–	7		.563			19	–	12		.613
Florida	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
Tennessee	4	–	12		.250			11	–	16		.407
West
Ole Miss	11	–	5		.688			20	–	9		.690
Arkansas	8	–	8		.500			18	–	14		.563
Auburn	6	–	10		.375			16	–	15		.516
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	14		.548
Mississippi State	6	–	10		.375			12	–	18		.400
LSU	3	–	13		.188			10	–	20		.333
† 1997 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The Commodores finished 4th in the SEC East regular season standings and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the Midwest region. The team finished with a 19–12 record (9–7 SEC).

Roster

1996–97 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F/C 42 Dan Langhi 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Benton, Kentucky	Head coach Jan van Breda Kolff (Vanderbilt) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 20, 1996*		Valparaiso Preseason NIT	W 74–66	1–0	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Nov 22, 1996*		at No. 10 Duke Preseason NIT	L 57–86	1–1	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, North Carolina
Dec 4, 1996*		UAB	W 66–62	2–1	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 7, 1996*		at Memphis	W 66–59	3–1	The Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 9, 1996*		at No. 25 Boston College	L 52–59	3–2	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 15, 1996*		Nicholls State	W 85–37	4–2	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 19, 1996*		Alabama-Huntsville	W 60–47	5–2	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 21, 1996*		Tennessee Tech	W 82–61	6–2	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 23, 1996*		Mississippi Valley State	W 92–56	7–2	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 29, 1996*		at Evansville	L 61–66	7–3	Roberts Stadium  Evansville, Indiana
Dec 31, 1996*		Saint Louis	W 81–61	8–3	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 4, 1997		Alabama	W 92–84	9–3 (1–0)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 8, 1997		No. 24 Georgia	L 53–61	9–4 (1–1)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 11, 1997		at Tennessee	L 65–75	9–5 (1–2)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 15, 1997		at LSU	W 69–62	10–5 (2–2)	LSU Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 18, 1997		No. 20 Ole Miss	W 67–64	11–5 (3–2)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 22, 1997		vs. No. 3 Kentucky	L 46–58	11–6 (3–3)	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 25, 1997		at Mississippi State	L 53–60	11–7 (3–4)	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 29, 1997		No. 25 South Carolina	L 64–65	11–8 (3–5)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 1, 1997		at Florida	W 74–63	12–8 (4–5)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 5, 1997*		Memphis	W 69–62	13–8	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 8, 1997		Arkansas	W 87–83 ^OT	14–8 (5–5)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 12, 1997		Tennessee	W 66–53	15–8 (6–5)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 15, 1997		at Auburn	W 75–61	16–8 (7–5)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum  Auburn, Alabama
Feb 19, 1997		at Georgia	W 86–80	17–8 (8–5)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Feb 22, 1997		No. 3 Kentucky	L 79–82	17–9 (8–6)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 26, 1997		at No. 6 South Carolina	L 53–74	17–10 (8–7)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Mar 1, 1997		Florida	W 79–72	18–10 (9–7)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 6, 1997*		vs. Mississippi State	W 73–67 ^OT	19–10	The Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 7, 1997*		vs. Ole Miss	L 62–64	19–11	The Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(10 MW)	vs. (7 MW) No. 13 Xavier First round	L 68–80^[1]	19–12	Palace of Auburn Hills  Auburn Hills, Michigan
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[2]

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

References

1. "Xavier's a Blur to Vanderbilt". The Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
2. "2019–20 Vanderbilt Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). Vanderbilt University Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.