Anchor Drop, January 26, 2021: Basketball is in Bad Shape

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

And here we go: Chris Lee and George Plaster had a podcast yesterday about the state of the Vanderbilt basketball program, and it’s not pretty. The kicker: Chris Lee implies that Jerry Stackhouse’s comment after Saturday’s game that “we have some guys who don’t want to play any damn basketball” may have been more literal than it sounds.

And speaking of which, Justin Hershey at the Hustler broke down what exactly is wrong with the team’s defense, which is terrible.

Warren County’s CJ Taylor expects to sign with Vanderbilt in February, after being committed but not signing in December.

In other football news, three former Commodores are part of the two Super Bowl teams this year. Ke’Shawn Vaughn is in his rookie year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Emmanuel Smith is on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster. Meanwhile, Shelton Quarles now works in the Buccaneers’ front office.

In bad football news, Dayo Odeyingbo suffered a torn Achilles.

Baseball America ranked Vanderbilt sixth in its preseason Top 25, which... sure. But D1Baseball named Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter to its first team preseason All-America. (Two-thirds of the weekend rotation are first team All-Americans but we’re not number 1? Okay.)

And finally, soccer announced the signing of Vida Raietparvar, a midfielder from Denton, Texas.

SEC Basketball Schedule

Bad Gambling Advice: Season to Date: 47-49-1 ATS, 43-54 totals

Mississippi State at Tennessee (6:00 PM CT, SEC Network): Tennessee -9.5, Under 127.5

Kentucky at Alabama (6:00 PM CT, ESPN): Alabama -7.5, Over 147

LSU at Texas A&M (8:00 PM CT, SEC Network): Texas A&M +5, Under 141

Missouri at Auburn (8:00 PM CT, ESPN2): Missouri +2.5, Under 150