# 2020–21 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Jerry Stackhouse, and played their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Commodores finished the season 9–16, 3–13 in SEC play to finish in last place. They defeated Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC tournament, but lost to Florida in the second round.

## Previous season

The Commodores finished the 2019–20 season 11–21, 3–15 in SEC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Arkansas.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for leaving |
| Saben Lee | 0 | G | 6'2" | 183 | Junior | Phoenix, AZ | Declared for 2020 NBA draft; selected 38th overall by the Utah Jazz |
| Matthew Moyer | 13 | F | 6'8" | 229 | RS Junior | Gahanna, OH | Transferring to George Washington |
| Jon Jossell | 21 | F | 5'9" | 160 | Senior | Arcadia, OK | Graduated |
| Aaron Nesmith | 24 | F | 6'6" | 213 | Sophomore | Charleston, SC | Declared for the 2020 NBA draft; selected 14th overall by the Boston Celtics |
| Oton Jankovic | 55 | F | 6'10" | 212 | Freshman | Zagreb, Croatia | Transferring to Tulane |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tyrin Lawrence PG / SG | Monticello, GA | Sunrise Christian Academy (KS) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 9, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Myles Stute SF | Washington, D.C. | Gonzaga College (DC) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 8, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Trey Thomas PG | Durham, ON | Crestwood Preparatory College (ON) | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jul 11, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Akeem Odusipe C | Lagos, Nigeria | Knoxville Catholic (TN) | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Apr 22, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season |||||||||
| November 27, 2020* 11:05 a.m., SEC Network+ | | Valparaiso | W 77–71 | 1–0 | 25 – Pippen Jr. | 11 – Disu | 4 – Tied | Memorial Gymnasium (0) Nashville, TN |
| December 1, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. UConn Canceled due to positive COVID-19 test | | | | | | Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT |
| December 8, 2020* | | SMU Canceled due to positive COVID-19 test | | | | | | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| December 11, 2020* SEC Network+ | | North Carolina Central Canceled due to positive COVID-19 test | | | | | | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| December 13, 2020* 2:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Mississippi Valley State | W 84–41 | 2–0 | 17 – Disu | 13 – Disu | 6 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (25) Nashville, TN |
| December 16, 2020* 12:00 p.m., SEC Network | | No. 19 Richmond | L 67–78 | 2–1 | 25 – Pippen Jr. | 6 – Disu | 3 – Albert | Memorial Gymnasium (68) Nashville, TN |
| December 19, 2020* 7:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Radford | W 59–50 | 3–1 | 25 – Pippen Jr. | 8 – Millora-Brown | 7 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (61) Nashville, TN |
| December 22, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Davidson | L 65–85 | 3–2 | 24 – Pippen Jr. | 11 – Disu | 3 – Pippen Jr. | John M. Belk Arena (0) Davidson, NC |
| December 27, 2020* 3:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Alcorn State | W 87–59 | 4–2 | 30 – Pippen Jr. | 7 – Disu | 4 – Tied | Memorial Gymnasium (56) Nashville, TN |
| December 30, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Florida | L 72–91 | 4–3 (0–1) | 18 – Pippen Jr. | 8 – Disu | 6 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (279) Nashville, TN |
| January 5, 2021 6:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at Kentucky | L 74–77 | 4–4 (0–2) | 18 – Tied | 10 – Disu | 8 – Pippen Jr. | Rupp Arena (3,475) Lexington, KY |
| January 9, 2021 Noon, SEC Network | | Mississippi State | L 81–84 | 4–5 (0–3) | 18 – Pippen Jr. | 8 – Millora-Brown | 12 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (101) Nashville, TN |
| January 16, 2021 5:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at No. 10 Tennessee | L 61–81 | 4–6 (0–4) | 19 – Disu | 5 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN |
| January 20, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Texas A&M | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| January 23, 2021 12:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Arkansas | L 71–92 | 4–7 (0–5) | 16 – Harvey | 7 – Obinna | 5 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (83) Nashville, TN |
| January 27, 2021 5:30 p.m., SEC Network | | at Florida | L 71–78 | 4–8 (0–6) | 32 – Pippen Jr. | 9 – Disu | 6 – Pippen Jr. | O'Connell Center (2,404) Gainesville, FL |
| January 30, 2021 7:30 p.m., SEC Network | | South Carolina | W 93–81 | 5–8 (1–6) | 29 – Evans | 7 – Disu | 7 – Pippen Jr. | Memorial Gymnasium (78) Nashville, TN |
| February 3, 2021 7:30 p.m., SEC Network | | at Texas A&M | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Postponed | Reed Arena College Station, TX |
| February 6, 2021 5:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at Georgia | L 70–73 | 5–9 (1–7) | 15 – Disu | 6 – Disu | 5 – Pippen Jr. | Stegeman Coliseum (1,638) Athens, GA |
| February 9, 2021 7:30 p.m., SEC Network | | Auburn | L 67–73 | 5–10 (1–8) | 18 – Disu | 10 – Disu | 4 – Evans | Memorial Gymnasium (95) Nashville, TN |
| February 13, 2021 12:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at Mississippi State | W 72–51 | 6–10 (2–8) | 20 – Evans | 10 – Disu | 9 – Pippen Jr. | Humphrey Coliseum (0) Starkville, MS |
| February 17, 2021 6:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Kentucky | L 78–82 | 6–11 (2–9) | 29 – Disu | 16 – Disu | 3 – Tied | Memorial Gymnasium (164) Nashville, TN |
| February 20, 2021 12:00 p.m., SEC Network | | at No. 8 Alabama | L 78–82 | 6–12 (2–10) | 24 – Pippen Jr. | 15 – Disu | 5 – Wright | Coleman Coliseum (2,055) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| February 24, 2021 8:00 p.m., SECN | | No. 25 Tennessee | L 58–70 | 6–13 (2–11) | 13 – Evans | 5 – Wright | 4 – Wright | Memorial Gymnasium (144) Nashville, TN |
| February 27, 2021 2:30 p.m., SEC Network | | Ole Miss | W 75–70 | 7–13 (3–11) | 14 – Thomas | 6 – Evans | 5 – Wright | Memorial Gymnasium (253) Nashville, TN |
| March 2, 2021 7:30 p.m., SEC Network | | at LSU | L 68–83 | 7–14 (3–12) | 20 – Evans | 6 – Wright | 3 – Evans | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (2,426) Baton Rouge, LA |
| March 4, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cincinnati | W 78–64 | 8–14 | 36 – Pippen Jr. | 11 – Wright | 3 – Pippen Jr. | Fifth Third Arena (2,000) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., SEC Network | | Ole Miss | L 46–56 | 8-15 (3–13) | 16 – McBride | 6 – Evans | 5 – Evans | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (2,017) Oxford, MS |
| SEC tournament |||||||||
| March 10, 2021 6:00 p.m., SECN | (12) | vs. (13) Texas A&M First round | W 79–68 | 9–15 | 22 – Pippen Jr. | 5 – Tied | 6 – Pippen Jr. | Bridgestone Arena (1,149) Nashville, TN |
| March 11, 2021 1:30 p.m., SECN | (12) | vs. (5) Florida Second round | L 63–69 | 9–16 | 23 – Pippen Jr. | 7 – Brown | 4 – Pippen Jr. | Bridgestone Arena (1,733) Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||