Commodores

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Southeastern (1932-present)
Past Conferences: Southern
City: Nashville, Tenn.
Stadium: Memorial Gymnasium
NCAA Tournaments: 15 (1965, 1974, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017)

Championships

National Championships: None
Conference Tournament Titles: 3 (1927, 1951, 2012)
Conference Regular Season Titles: 4 (1920, 1965, 1974, 1993)

Team History

The Vanderbilt Commodores are a Division I program located in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt competes in the Southeastern Conference and is coached by Jerry Stackhouse, a former two-time NBA All-Star and First Team All-American for the University of North Carolina.
Vanderbilt has been to the NCAA Tournament 15 times, but only twice since 2016. The Commodores have become one of the weaker links in the SEC of late, with four losing seasons out of the last five.

Bryce Drew was the last coach to take Vanderbilt to the NCAA Tournament, although he never won a postseason game. The Commodores went 19-16 under Drew in 2016-17, including 10-8 in SEC play, but lost in the first round of the tournament to eighth-seeded Northwestern, 68-66. Vanderbilt also made the tournament the previous season under Kevin Stallings but fell in the First Four to No. 11 seed Wichita State, 70-50.

Drew, the former Valparaiso star, was fired following the 2018-19 season, in which the Commodores went 0-18 in SEC play and just 9-23 overall. The Commodores have continued to underwhelm under Stackhouse, although they did win 19 games in 2021-22 and reach the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals. They faced long odds entering 2022-23, as they were picked to finish 12th in the SEC preseason media poll.

Stallings remains the winningest coach in program history, with 332 victories from 2000-16. He guided Vanderbilt to the SEC Tournament title in 2012 and seven NCAA Tournament appearances, five more than the next closest coaches (Roy Skinner, C.M. Newton, Eddie Fogler). The Commodores advanced to the Sweet 16 in both 2004 and 2007 and won a first-round game in 2012, beating No. 12 seed Harvard. Stallings also took them to the NIT quarterfinals in 2015.

Vanderbilt has made the Sweet 16 six times overall and reached the Elite Eight in 1965. That team featured SEC Player of the Year and First Team All-American Clyde Lee, who averaged a then-program record of 22.5 points and 15.0 rebounds. Lee wound up going third overall in the 1966 NBA Draft and had his jersey retired by the school, along with Perry Wallace and Shan Foster.
Vanderbilt’s postseason history also includes an NIT title in 1990 and a runner-up finish in 1994. The school’s most recent postseason victory came in the second round of the 2022 NIT, a 70-68 overtime triumph over Dayton.

The school has a strong pipeline to the NBA, with DeMarre Carroll, Darius Garland, Luke Kornet, Aaron Nesmith and Matt Ryan among its alumni base.

All Time Records

Points Scored

Shan Foster: 2,011
Jeffery Taylor: 1,897
Matt Freije: 1,891

Rebounds

Clyde Lee: 1,223
Perry Wallace: 894
Bobby Thym: 872

Assists

Atiba Prater: 517
Brad Tinsley: 482
Frank Seckar: 455