Talent, experience returns for MBB - Vanderbilt Official Athletic Site

Talent, experience returns for MBB

2009-10 Summer Prospectus

	Beal

June 30, 2009

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All has been quiet on the Vanderbilt men's basketball front since the team was eliminated from the SEC Tournament in mid-March and missed postseason play for the first time since 2003. However, many supporters and fans of the team hope that the 2009 offseason is the calm before a successful storm in 2009-10.

A few reasons behind the calm - Vanderbilt returns 11 scholarship players and 14 lettermen to the fold from a 19-12 team a year ago. Add in the stability of Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings, who is in his 11th year with the Commodores, and you have a group of players and coaches who are fairly familiar with each other, a rarity in college basketball in these times. Stallings and his staff trust that familiarity will breed success this upcoming season.

Leading the way in 2009-10 for Vanderbilt will be senior point guard Jermaine Beal, the SEC leader in assist-to-turnover ratio for the last two seasons, and junior center A.J. Ogilvy, who was named to the All-SEC second team for the second consecutive season. Also back are a group of sophomores who received considerable playing time as true freshmen - wing Jeffery Taylor, who was an All-SEC selection, guard Brad Tinsley, who tied a Vanderbilt freshman single-season record for threes made with 69, power forward Steve Tchiengang, who started in 16 games last season, and wing Lance Goulbourne, who showed flashes of productivity as a three-point shooter and an explosive slasher to the hoop last season.

The only addition to the team is 6'4 freshman guard John Jenkins, who enters the Vanderbilt program as the leading scorer in high school in the 2008-09 campaign, when he averaged 42.3 points per game. Many who cover the college basketball recruiting circuits claim he was the best pure shooter in the 2009 class.

BackCourt

Jermaine Beal had a very productive season as a junior, starting in every game and placing fourth in the SEC in minutes played. The 6'3 DeSoto, Texas, native once again saw his shooting improve as he pushed his points per game average to 12.5 points per game, second on the team, and made over 40% of his three-point attempts (58-144, 40.3%). He also finished atop the SEC rankings in the assist-to-turnover ratio for the second straight season with a 2.02 mark. In the last two seasons, Beal has 257 assists to only 100 turnovers, a gaudy ratio of 2.57. He will once again lead a very versatile, talented Vanderbilt squad.

Sophomore Brad Tinsley shored up the two-guard spot for the Commodores in 2008-09 as a freshman, starting in 28 games and playing in all 31. The Oregon City, Ore., product averaged double figures at 11.0 points per game and shot a team best 41.1% from beyond-the-arc. He also made 69 threes last season, which tied Shan Foster's freshman single-season record for made three-pointers he set in 2005. The 6'3 Tinsley, who was a point guard in high school, spelled Beal at the point a year ago and will probably be asked to do the same as a sophomore.

Pushing Tinsley at the two-guard spot is redshirt freshman Jordan Smart and true freshman John Jenkins.

6'6 Jordan Smart redshirted last season and improved his body in the weight room during his redshirt season. Smart, from Lexington, Ky., is a very skilled shooter who will battle for playing time at the two-guard spot.

Jenkins enters the Vanderbilt camp as the highest rated player to ever sign with the Commodores. The 6'4 guard, from nearby Gallatin, Tenn., was a two-time TSSAA Class AA Mr. Basketball selection, and was the Gatorade Tennessee High School Player of the Year in 2008-09. Jenkins' scoring average of 42.3 points per game was second on the state's all-time single-season list behind Ronnie Schmitz, who averaged 44.2 points at Ridgeway High School in 1988-89. He shot over 60 percent from the field and nearly 50 percent from 3-point land in his senior season.

Other guards on the VU roster are both walk-ons: Junior Elliott Cole and senior Chris Meriweather.

Wings

The three position was held down by Jeffery Taylor in 2008-09 and he is the favorite there this season, albeit not without some intense competition. Taylor was third on the team in scoring (12.5 points) and second in rebounding (6.2) in being named to the All-SEC Freshmen team. In fact, Taylor and Brad Tinsley became the first freshman duo to average double figures since 1977, when Charles Davis (15.3) and Greg Fuller (10.8) accomplished the feat.

Lance Goulbourne's career got off to a great start when he scored 11 points in the season-opener against Morehead State, but missed the next eight games because of illness. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native rebounded with a steady season, which was culminated in a 17-point performance in a 77-64 win over Kentucky at Memorial Gym on February 17. Goulbourne averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in his inaugural season with the Commodores.

Also returning is redshirt sophomore Andre Walker, who returns after tearing an ACL in his right knee in the MTSU game on November 24, 2008. Walker, who started the first game of his career against the Blue Raiders that night, was beginning to find his niche before the season-ending knee injury. The 6'7 Walker, a very versatile player on offense and defense, can play up to four different positions and guard that many on the defensive end. His return will be a great boost to the Commodores this season.

Redshirt sophomore Charles Hinkle played in 25 games in his first season on the court with Vanderbilt a year ago, and filled in nicely with stellar defensive play and a sweet stroke from three-point land. Hinkle guarded a variety of different positions last season, and his versatility could help the Commodores this year and in the future. Hinkle averaged 2.0 points and 0.9 rebounds per game in 2008-09.

Sophomore walk-on Aaron Noll also returns for Vanderbilt.

Forwards

Sophomore Steve Tchiengang started 16 games at the power forward spot last season, and averaged 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 25 games played. The Douala, Cameroon, native missed the first six games of the year due to an NCAA-mandated suspension, but rebounded with a solid season. Tchiengang, at 6'9, 240 pounds, is a big body that can step outside and shoot the three on the offensive end.

Backing up Tchiengang is 6'9 junior Darshawn McClellan, who has played in all 65 games in his two-year career with the Commodores. Last season, McClellan started in 10 games and averaged 2.1 points and 3.0 rebounds, and scored a season-high 10 points at Massachusetts on January 3.

Junior Joe Duffy saw action in 19 games and averaged 1.0 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. The 6'8 forward from Charlotte, N.C., scored a season-high four points on three separate occasions last season.

Centers

Junior A.J. Ogilvy returns after being named to the All-SEC second team by the league's coaches in 2008-09, when he averaged 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, both team bests. The 6'11 Australian big man became the first sophomore in the history of Vanderbilt basketball to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier, and has 1,026 points heading into his junior season. Ogilvy has scored in double-figures in 57 out of 63 games in his two-year career at Vanderbilt and has 17 career 20+-point outings and eight double-doubles in his career. Ogilvy, beset by a number of double teams, illnesses, and injuries as a sophomore, hopes to see more good looks at the basket as a junior with better health and more experienced teammates on the perimeter.

Backing up Ogilvy is 6'11 redshirt sophomore Festus Ezeli, who provided solid minutes for Vanderbilt last year in his first complete season of organized basketball. Ezeli, who did not play high school basketball and played only one summer of AAU ball before his arrival on the Nashville campus last season, learned quickly on the offensive end and was a defensive presence in the middle of the lane. He and Ogilvy tallied 70 blocked shots between the two of them, and pushed the Commodores to 137 blocks as a team, a new team single-season record. Ezeli played in 29 games last season, started six, and averaged 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.