Vanderbilt Point Guard Shelton Mitchell to Transfer

Shelton Mitchell will not return to Vanderbilt basketball for his sophomore season. The point guard has decided to transfer from the university due to "personal reasons."

Both the player and head coach Kevin Stallings made the split seem to be an amicable one in Thursday's press release.

I loved my basketball experience at Vanderbilt playing for Coach Stallings and his staff and with a great group of guys we have on this team. However, I feel it is in my best interests to continue my college education elsewhere.

- Shelton Mitchell

Shelton is a great young man from a great family and I have thoroughly enjoyed having him in our program. We wish him the very best as he moves forward with his college career.

- Kevin Stallings

Mitchell had an up-and-down freshman year. He displayed flashes of greatness at the point for the Commodores thanks to a preternatural sense for where defenses would break down when pressed. However, he also struggled to execute in his first season of NCAA basketball. He made some highlight reel passes but shot poorly (22.6% from long range) while leading the team in turnovers per minute. In all he averaged 4.3 points and 3.3 assists in 2014-15.

Losing Mitchell is a blow for the rising Commodores. Rivals.com rated him as the strongest prospect in a recruiting class that also included standouts like Riley LaChance and Wade Baldwin IV. Now, those two will have to expand their games to absorb Mitchell's vacated minutes at the point. Vandy went 2-2 without their backup guard this season.

Here's what Vanderbilt's tentative depth chart for 2015-16 looks like: