Jerry Stackhouse may not get the opportunity to coach Vanderbilt basketball beyond this season. The Commodores are set to finish way below the .500-mark and will not make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row.
It has been an extremely disappointing season in Nashville after the program won 19 games in 2021/22 and 22 games last season. Jerry Stackhouse could be fired as a result of the disappointing drop off and a consistent inability to make the Big Dance.
If he does return to coach Vanderbilt in 2024/25, it will stem from the school’s inability to hire a coach with as big of a name who may or may not be any better. Leading the Commodores to victory in any sport (except baseball) is not an easy task. There isn’t enough support to foster a thriving program year over year over year.
Regardless of what plays out down the stretch, Stackhouse believes that his team has a chance of beating Florida when they pull into Tennessee for the regular season finale next month but his confidence is hilariously tone-deaf. He made the comment after losing to the Gators by 13 on Saturday.
The 49-year-old head coach spoke to Vanderbilt’s ability to beat Florida in the second half.
We’ve got this team again in a couple of weeks and I think we found out something about them and their lack of handling pressure. So maybe we can incorporate that a little bit more next time.
— Jerry Stackhouse
Although he is just trying to find any positive from another ugly loss, the “something” that he figured out lacks context. The Commodores did press the Gators hard during the second half. They did have some success in doing so. Stackhouse is right!
However, their pressure was working against… the bench.
Vanderbilt was down by 22 points with seven minutes and 34 seconds left. Florida head coach Todd Golden told his team to slow the pace and pulled the starters shortly thereafter.
Stackhouse told his team to press. The Commodores lost the college basketball game by 13.
To say that they “figured something out” would be a stretch…