2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by Bryce Drew in his third season at Vanderbilt. The Commodores played their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 9–23, 0–18 to finish in last place in SEC play. They were the first SEC team to go winless in a season since the 1954 Georgia Tech team, and the first team ever in the 18-game conference schedule.^[1] They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Texas A&M.^[2]

2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	9–23 (0–18 SEC)
Head coach	Bryce Drew (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Roger Powell Jr. Jake Diebler Casey Shaw
Home arena	Memorial Gymnasium
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 LSU	16	–	2		.889			28	–	7		.800
No. 10 Tennessee	15	–	3		.833			31	–	6		.838
No. 7 Kentucky	15	–	3		.833			30	–	7		.811
No. 5 Auburn†	11	–	7		.611			30	–	10		.750
South Carolina	11	–	7		.611			16	–	16		.500
Mississippi State	10	–	8		.556			23	–	11		.676
Ole Miss	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
Florida	9	–	9		.500			20	–	16		.556
Alabama	8	–	10		.444			18	–	16		.529
Arkansas	8	–	10		.444			18	–	16		.529
Texas A&M	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
Missouri	5	–	13		.278			15	–	17		.469
Georgia	2	–	16		.111			11	–	21		.344
Vanderbilt	0	–	18		.000			9	–	23		.281
† 2019 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

On March 22, 2019, the school fired Drew as head coach after three years in Nashville.^[3] On April 5, the school hired former NBA player and NBA assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse as head coach.^[4]

Previous season

They finished the season 12–20, 6–12 in SEC play to finish in 13th place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Georgia.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Larry Austin Jr.	3	G	6'2"	182	RS Junior	Springfield, IL	Transferred to Central Michigan
Djery Baptiste	12	C	6'10"	235	RS Sophomore	Gonaïves, Haiti	Transferred to Massachusetts
Matthew Fisher-Davis	5	G/F	6'5"	186	Senior	Charlotte, NC	Graduated
Riley LaChance	13	G	6'2"	185	Senior	Brookfield, WI	Graduated
Jeff Roberson	11	F	6'6"	220	Senior	Houston, TX	Graduated
Payton Willis	1	G	6'4"	182	Sophomore	Fayetteville, AR	Transferred to University of Minnesota

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Matthew Moyer	13	F	6'8"	220	Junior	Gahanna, OH	Syracuse University

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Aaron Nesmith SF	Charleston, SC	Porter-Gaud School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sep 19, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:
Darius Garland PG	Nashville, TN	Brentwood Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Nov 13, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:
Simisola Shittu PF	Burlington, ON	Vermont Academy	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Nov 22, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 12   Rivals: 12
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Vanderbilt 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Saben Lee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) So Corona del Sol High School Phoenix, Arizona G/F 2 Joe Toye 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Whitney M. Young Magnet High School Chicago, Illinois G 3 Maxwell Evans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) So Bellaire High School Houston, Texas F/C 4 Yanni Wetzell 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr St. Mary's Auckland, New Zealand G 10 Darius Garland 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Brentwood Academy Nashville, Tennessee F/C 11 Simisola Shittu 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Vermont Academy Burlington, Ontario F 13 Matthew Moyer 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Jr Syracuse Gahanna, Ohio G 14 Isaiah Rice 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Park Tudor School Indianapolis, Indiana F 15 Clevon Brown 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Winston Churchill High School San Antonio, Texas F 24 Aaron Nesmith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Fr Porter-Gaud School Charleston, South Carolina F 32 Matt Ryan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 209 lb (95 kg) RS Jr Notre Dame Cortlandt Manor, New York G 42 Mac Hunt (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Fr McCallie School Chattanooga, Tennessee F/C 50 Ejike Obinna   6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 234 lb (106 kg) So Virginia Academy (VA) Enugu, Nigeria	Head coach Bryce Drew (Valparaiso) Assistant coach(es) Roger Powell Jr. (Illinois) Jake Diebler (Valparaiso) Casey Shaw (Toledo) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 6, 2018* 8:30 pm, SECN+		Winthrop	W 92–79	1–0	Memorial Gymnasium (8,387) Nashville, TN
November 11, 2018* 8:00 pm, P12N		at USC	W 82–78	2–0	Galen Center (3,804) Los Angeles, CA
November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Alcorn State	W 79–54	3–0	Memorial Gymnasium (9,193) Nashville, TN
November 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Liberty	W 79–70	4–0	Memorial Gymnasium (8,493) Nashville, TN
November 23, 2018* 4:00 pm, SECN+		Kent State	L 75–77	4–1	Memorial Gymnasium (9,061) Nashville, TN
November 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Savannah State	W 120–85	5–1	Memorial Gymnasium (8,271) Nashville, TN
December 1, 2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. NC State Hoophall Miami Invitational	L 65–80	5–2	American Airlines Arena  Miami, FL
December 5, 2018* 6:30 pm, SECN		Middle Tennessee	W 79–51	6–2	Memorial Gymnasium (8,513) Nashville, TN
December 17, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN		No. 18 Arizona State	W 81–65	7–2	Memorial Gymnasium (9,271) Nashville, TN
December 22, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2		vs. Kansas State Wildcat Showcase	L 58–69	7–3	Sprint Center (14,062) Kansas City, MO
December 29, 2018* 12:30 pm, SECN+		Tennessee State	W 95–76	8–3	Memorial Gymnasium (9,505) Nashville, TN
December 31, 2018* 1:00 pm, SECN+		UNC Asheville	W 90–59	9–3	Memorial Gymnasium (8,350) Nashville, TN
January 5, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		Ole Miss	L 71–81	9–4 (0–1)	Memorial Gymnasium (10,422) Nashville, TN
January 9, 2019 5:30 pm, SECN		at Georgia	L 63-82	9–5 (0–2)	Stegeman Coliseum (9,429) Athens, GA
January 12, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		at No. 18 Kentucky	L 47–56	9–6 (0–3)	Rupp Arena (22,504) Lexington, KY
January 16, 2019 6:30 pm, SECN		South Carolina	L 71–74	9–7 (0–4)	Memorial Gymnasium (8,400) Nashville, TN
January 19, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		No. 24 Mississippi State	L 55–71	9–8 (0–5)	Memorial Gymnasium (9,570) Nashville, TN
January 23, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 1 Tennessee	L 83–88 ^OT	9–9 (0–6)	Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) Nashville, TN
January 26, 2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN2		at Oklahoma Big 12/SEC Challenge	L 55–86	9–10	Lloyd Noble Center (8,848) Norman, OK
January 29, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN		No. 7 Kentucky	L 52–87	9–11 (0–7)	Memorial Gymnasium (12,298) Nashville, TN
February 2, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		at Missouri	L 67–77	9–12 (0–8)	Mizzou Arena (11,091) Columbia, MO
February 5, 2019 8:00 pm, SECN		at Arkansas	L 66–69	9–13 (0–9)	Bud Walton Arena (13,587) Fayetteville, AR
February 9, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		Alabama	L 67–77	9–14 (0–10)	Memorial Gymnasium (10,539) Nashville, TN
February 13, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at Florida	L 57–66	9–15 (0–11)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 16, 2019 11:00 am, ESPNU		Auburn	L 53–64	9–16 (0–12)	Memorial Gymnasium (11,287) Nashville, TN
February 19, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 5 Tennessee	L 46–58	9–17 (0–13)	Thompson-Boling Arena (20,523) Knoxville, TN
February 23, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at Alabama	L 61–68	9–18 (0–14)	Coleman Coliseum (11,020) Tuscaloosa, AL
February 27, 2019 8:00 pm, SECN		Florida	L 55–71	9–19 (0–15)	Memorial Gymnasium (8,583) Nashville, TN
March 2, 2019 5:00 pm, SECN		at Texas A&M	L 57–64	9–20 (0–16)	Reed Arena (7,679) College Station, TX
March 6, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		Arkansas	L 48–84	9–21 (0–17)	Memorial Gymnasium (8,517) Nashville, TN
March 9, 2019 7:30 pm, SECN		at No. 10 LSU	L 59–80	9–22 (0–18)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,546) Baton Rouge, LA
SEC tournament
March 13, 2019 8:30 pm, SECN	(14)	vs. (11) Texas A&M First Round	L 52–69	9–23	Bridgestone Arena (10,849) Nashville, TN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

See also

• 2018–19 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team

References

1. "LSU fans deride AD during SEC title-clinching rout". ESPN.com. from the original on March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
2. "Vanderbilt's worst basketball season ever ends with SEC Tournament loss to Texas A&M". The Tennessean. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
3. "Vanderbilt basketball coach Bryce Drew reacts to firing in his first tweet". The Tennessean. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
4. "Vanderbilt, off winless SEC run, hires Stackhouse". ESPN.com. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.