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Good morning.
Today is February 1, which means that former NBA G-League President Malcolm Turner is officially on the job as Vanderbilt’s athletic director. (As of this writing, his Twitter handle is still @NBAGLeaguePrez. Off to a good start.)
But first, yesterday was David Williams’ last day. We legitimately had no idea he was still on the job up until yesterday, yet here we are. Williams wrote his goodbye letter to Vanderbilt fans, and sadly did not have anything to say about the time he ran on the field with an email from the league office showing that Vanderbilt’s “Anchor Down” nameplates on its uniforms were, in fact, approved by the SEC. That was easily the greatest moment of his tenure, and this should be properly memorialized in the comments section of Anchor of Gold dot com if he won’t do it.
Anyway, Malcolm Turner starts the job facing a good number of challenges and no, immediately making heads roll in both basketball programs is not one of them. Really, Turner needs to figure out the vision for the athletic programs — particularly football and basketball — and then raise the funds to accomplish those goals, tasks that eluded the previous AD. Establishing a working relationship with Nick Zeppos is pretty important too.
Either way, here is Vanderbilt’s Twitter AD (at least until Malcolm Turner stops being the G-League’s Twitter President) with some thoughts on what needs to be done. We rather consistently promote that because it’s, well, right on the money.
Vanderbilt News
Women’s basketball seems to be playing better of late, but still lost 69-53 at Texas A&M last night. Texas A&M is a top 25 team so that’s probably fine. The overall record — 6-15, 1-7 in the SEC — is not.
Track and field is at the Power Five Invitational hosted by Michigan this weekend.
Men’s tennis is at Harvard today at 2:00 PM CT on ESPN+.
Women’s bowling will compete in the Prairie View A&M Invitational in Arlington, Texas, starting at 12:15 PM CT.
Off the West End
The New York Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, clearing the way for LUUUUUUUUUUUKE.
John Jenkins is back in the NBA! The former Vanderbilt star signed a ten-day contract with the Washington Wizards.
And in Big 12 news, Missourah gets hit with sanctions, including a bowl ban for 2019 and postseason bans for its baseball and softball teams. Apparently a tutor was doing class work for players, which you’re not allowed to do. Evidently a lot of media thinks this is bullshit that they’re being punished harshly for a rogue tutor. They also were already on probation for some unrelated men’s basketball violations, though. They almost sound like an SEC school right now.