# 2016–17 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was Bryce Drew's first year as the Vanderbilt head coach. The Commodores played their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 19–16, 10–8 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. They defeated Texas A&M and Florida in the SEC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Arkansas. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Round to Northwestern. Vanderbilt entered the NCAA Tournament with 15 losses, the most ever by any at-large team.

## Previous season

The Commodores finished the 2015–16 season 19–14, 11–7 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They lost in the second round of the SEC tournament to Tennessee. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Four to Wichita State.
On March 27, 2017, head coach Kevin Stallings resigned to become the head coach at Pittsburgh. Shortly thereafter, the school hired Valparaiso head coach Bryce Drew as head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Wade Baldwin IV | 4 | G | 6'3" | 194 | Sophomore | Belle Meade, NJ | Declare for 2016 NBA draft |
| Nathan Watkins | 10 | G | 6'5" | 186 | Senior | Brentwood, TN | Graduated |
| Carter Josephs | 14 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Senior | San Antonio, TX | Graduated |
| Semir Sehic | 21 | F | 6'9" | 247 | Freshman | Atlanta, GA | Transferred to Tulane |
| Damian Jones | 30 | C | 7'0" | 245 | Junior | Baton Rouge, LA | Declare for 2016 NBA draft |
| Josh Henderson | 40 | C | 7'0" | 237 | RS Senior | Roanoke, VA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Larry Austin, Jr. | 14 | G | 6'2" | 174 | Junior | Springfield, IL | Transferred from Xavier. Under NCAA transfer rules, Austin, Jr. will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2016 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Payton Willis #42 SG | Fayetteville, AR | Fayetteville High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Aug 5, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Clevon Brown PF | San Antonio, TX | Churchill High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 29, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 23 Rivals: 30 ||||||
| 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: "Vanderbilt 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "2016 Vanderbilt Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Saben Lee PG | Tempe, AZ | Corona Del Sol High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 13, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Maxwell Evans CG | Bellaire, TX | Bellaire High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Aug 7, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Ejike Obinna C | Ashburn, VA | Virginia Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 25, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 23 Rivals: 30 |||||||
| 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: "Vanderbilt 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "2017 Vanderbilt Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 24, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 5:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Marquette Veterans Classic | L 71–95 | 0–1 | Alumni Hall (4,116) Annapolis, MD |
| 11/15/2016* 8:00 pm, SECN | | Belmont | W 80–66 | 1–1 | Memorial Gymnasium (9,116) Nashville, TN |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm | | Norfolk State Las Vegas Invitational | W 75–52 | 2–1 | Memorial Gymnasium (8,205) Nashville, TN |
| 11/21/2016* 8:00 pm, SECN | | Bucknell Las Vegas Invitational | L 72–75 | 2–2 | Memorial Gymnasium (8,243) Nashville, TN |
| 11/24/2016* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. Butler Las Vegas Invitational semifinals | L 66–76 | 2–3 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| 11/25/2016* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. Santa Clara Las Vegas Invitational 3rd place game | W 76–66 | 3–3 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| 11/29/2016* 7:00 pm | | Tennessee State | W 83–59 | 4–3 | Memorial Gymnasium (8,445) Nashville, TN |
| 12/03/2016* 7:00 pm | | vs. Minnesota Sioux Falls Showcase | L 52–56 | 4–4 | Sanford Pentagon (3,250) Sioux Falls, SD |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm, SECN | | High Point | W 90–63 | 5–4 | Memorial Gymnasium (8,288) Nashville, TN |
| 12/08/2016* 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Middle Tennessee | L 48–71 | 5–5 | Murphy Center (9,606) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 12/17/2016* 7:30 pm, SECN | | Chattanooga | W 76–74 | 6–5 | Memorial Gymnasium (9,376) Nashville, TN |
| 12/21/2016* 6:00 pm, TWCSC | | at Dayton | L 63–68 | 6–6 | University of Dayton Arena (12,828) Dayton, OH |
| 12/29/2016 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at LSU | W 96–89 | 7–6 (1–0) | Maravich Center (7,853) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 01/04/2017 6:00 pm, SECN | | Auburn | W 80–61 | 8–6 (2–0) | Memorial Gymnasium (9,918) Nashville, TN |
| 01/07/2017 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Alabama | L 56–59 | 8–7 (2–1) | Coleman Coliseum (11,256) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 01/10/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 6 Kentucky | L 81–87 | 8–8 (2–2) | Memorial Gymnasium (12,707) Nashville, TN |
| 01/14/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | Tennessee | L 75–87 | 8–9 (2–3) | Memorial Gymnasium (12,235) Nashville, TN |
| 01/17/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Georgia | L 78–86 | 8–10 (2–4) | Stegeman Coliseum (7,480) Athens, GA |
| 01/21/2017 11:00 am, CBS | | at No. 19 Florida | W 68–66 | 9–10 (3–4) | O'Connell Center (10,523) Gainesville, FL |
| 01/24/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | Arkansas | L 70–71 | 9–11 (3–5) | Memorial Gymnasium (9,408) Nashville, TN |
| 01/28/2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Iowa State Big 12/SEC Challenge | W 84–78 | 10–11 | Memorial Gymnasium (9,851) Nashville, TN |
| 01/31/2017 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Texas A&M | W 68–54 | 11–11 (4–5) | Reed Arena (7,508) College Station, TX |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | Ole Miss | L 74–81 | 11–12 (4–6) | Memorial Gymnasium (9,287) Nashville, TN |
| 02/07/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | W 72–59 | 12–12 (5–6) | Bud Walton Arena (8,036) Fayetteville, AR |
| 02/11/2017 2:30 pm, SECN | | at Missouri | L 52–72 | 12–13 (5–7) | Mizzou Arena (6,845) Columbia, MO |
| 02/16/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Texas A&M | W 72–67 | 13–13 (6–7) | Memorial Gymnasium (8,976) Nashville, TN |
| 02/18/2017 7:30 pm, SECN | | No. 21 South Carolina | W 71–62 | 14–13 (7–7) | Memorial Gymnasium (10,471) Nashville, TN |
| 02/22/2017 5:30 pm, SECN | | at Tennessee | W 67–56 | 15–13 (8–7) | Thompson-Boling Arena (12,713) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| 02/25/2017 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Mississippi State | W 77–48 | 16–13 (9–7) | Memorial Gymnasium (9,212) Nashville, TN |
| 02/28/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 9 Kentucky | L 67–73 | 16–14 (9–8) | Rupp Arena (24,036) Lexington, KY |
| 03/04/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 12 Florida | W 73–71 | 17–14 (10–8) | Memorial Gymnasium (10,431) Nashville, TN |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | (7) | vs. (10) Texas A&M Second Round | W 66–41 | 18–14 | Bridgestone Arena (13,112) Nashville, TN |
| 03/10/2017 5:00 pm, SECN | (7) | vs. (2) No. 17 Florida Quarterfinals | W 72–62 $^{OT}$ | 19–14 | Bridgestone Arena (14,227) Nashville, TN |
| 03/11/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN | (7) | vs. (3) Arkansas Semifinals | L 62–76 | 19–15 | Bridgestone Arena (19,196) Nashville, TN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2017* 3:30 pm, TBS | (9 W) | vs. (8 W) Northwestern First Round | L 66–68 | 19–16 | Vivint Smart Home Arena (16,952) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||