Vanderbilt basketball bold predictions: Can Jerry Stackhouse beat Tennessee, Kentucky again?
Vanderbilt basketball will have a new look when it tips off its 2023-24 season Tuesday against Presbyterian.
Gone from Jerry Stackhouse's team are multi-year stalwarts like Liam Robbins, Jordan Wright and Myles Stute. Instead, the focal point of the Commodores' team will be its two star guards: Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence.
Lawrence returns after a foray into the transfer portal in the offseason, and he is joined by three transfer additions in Lehigh's Evan Taylor, Notre Dame's Ven-Allen Lubin and South Dakota's Tasos Kamateros.
The Commodores take on the Blue Hose at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
More: Watch Vanderbilt vs. Presbyterian live on ESPN+ and SEC Network+ (how to subscribe)
Other returners will have a chance to take steps forward in their sophomore seasons, including Paul Lewis and Colin Smith. Smith is expected to step into a starting role, while Lewis will back up Manjon at point guard and could spend some time at the '2' in smaller lineups.
Vanderbilt also adjusted its scheduling philosophy, playing mostly low-major opponents at home in the early part of the schedule with a few road and neutral site games against top teams. The lone power-conference opponent on the Commodores' home non-conference schedule is a game against Boston College in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Here are three bold predictions for Vanderbilt in 2023-24:
Tyrin Lawrence has a 30-point game
Lawrence's career high is 25 points, but that was during the NIT after Robbins went down. Without Robbins, Lawrence stepped up to be Vanderbilt's main scoring threat and the bet is that, without any sore of post threat that can approximate what Robbins provided, Lawrence will be the go-to guy once again.
With his athleticism, Lawrence can really drive to the basket, and his 3-point shooting has improved as well.
Evan Taylor out-shoots Myles Stute
Stute, who was previously the 3-point shooting specialist at Vanderbilt, transferred to South Carolina over what Jerry Stackhouse stated were differences over his role on the team.
Taylor can fill a similar role, though he's likely to play more on the perimeter as opposed to Stute, who mostly played power forward. Taylor is a career 40.8% 3-point shooter, and while Stute shot 43.2% from deep as a sophomore, he slumped as a junior to a 36.1% mark.
Like Stute, Taylor has questions about his defensive impact, but I'm betting on Taylor to provide an offensive upgrade over Stute.
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Vanderbilt splits the series with Tennessee and Kentucky
Vanderbilt broke two streaks of futility against its rivals last season when it notched wins over both the Wildcats and Vols. The bet is that the Commodores can repeat that success.
There are a lot of questions surrounding this year's Kentucky quad, and while Tennessee should have a very good team once again, Vanderbilt has the offensive chops to score a lot of points and make the Vols uncomfortable in a shootout.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball bold predictions: Another win over Tennessee?
