Vanderbilt Basketball Player Report Card: Jordan Wright

On the one hand, while Jordan Wright was Vanderbilt’s second-leading scorer as a junior, he wasn’t particularly efficient while taking on a bigger role than he’d seen in his first two seasons at Vanderbilt. His three-point percentage fell from 43.2 percent to 35.1 percent, a number that fell even further (32.3 percent) in SEC play.

Really, though, he had brutal stretches at both the beginning and end of SEC play. He also scored 20 points on four occasions, after doing so just once in his first two years at Vanderbilt. And he ended up being a solid defender. He led the team in rebounding despite being just 6’5” — granted, Liam Robbins being limited by injury for much of the season played a role in that distinction, but averaging 6.4 rebounds a game is nothing to sneeze at. He also averaged 1.4 steals per game.

Wright’s ascendance speaks a lot to Jerry Stackhouse’s player development abilities; a lightly-regarded recruit (his biggest offer aside from VU was Tulane, an SEC school in spirit, but a bottom-tier AAC school in reality) who’s steadily improved since arriving on campus. I think a lot of the efficiency problems we saw in 2021-22 were a result of him playing a role that’s a bit bigger than ideal for someone of his talent; he’s a good player to have around, but not really a guy I want being the team’s second scoring option. Then again, it’s not really his fault that he’s playing a role that he might be underqualified for. I would generally be fine if we got what we got from Wright again next season; the question is whether Vanderbilt has added enough talent to push him into a role that he’s more suited for.

Grade: B