Anchor Drop, July 29, 2018: 34 Days

Good morning.

We’re 34 days away from Vanderbilt’s season opener against Middle Tennessee. #34 on the roster is senior defensive lineman Dare Odeyingbo, who started 11 games at defensive end last season, leading the team with 11 tackles for loss and also registering four sacks. The elder Odeyingbo almost certainly figures to be a starter on the defensive line in 2018.

On Saturday night, James Wiseman of Memphis East, the #1 recruit in the Class of 2019 according to the 247 Sports composite, announced his top 8 schools. Vanderbilt is among his top eight, along with Arizona, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Texas, and North Carolina — but we’re not holding our breath here. Most recruiting analysts think this is really a battle between Memphis and Kentucky.

Wiseman spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Ensworth High School before transferring to East — and also joining the Team Penny (now Bluff City Legends) travel team, where he played for current Memphis coach Penny Hardaway.

Vanderbilt QB Kyle Shurmur was named to the preseason Walter Camp Award watch list on Friday.

Vanderbilt’s SEC Network Takeover begins tonight at 11 PM CT. You’d better believe we will have a live thread for that.

Off the West End

An update on former Commodore QB Shawn Stankavage, who’s in a three-way competition for Rice’s starting job, via the Houston Chronicle.

Reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the DL for the first time in his career, which means... Tony Kemp’s about to be the Astros’ starting second baseman.