Vanderbilt

[SECbbfan24]

Shea knew what she was waling into when she took over Vandy. Its been a bottom of the SEC program since 2014. They have not been the same since the end of Melanie Balcom era. She definitely has some major hurdles in year 2 given the injury situation but its a bit early to write off a coach.

If Shea gets Vandy back to being competitive and make the NCAAT every or every other year, then she did her job.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy opens with an 82-71 win at Western Kentucky. Grad transfer Ciaja Harbison led the way with 28 points on 7 of 8 shooting. Also had five assists. Overall, a very ragged game. Vandy tortured the Hilltoppers on defense in the first half, forcing 18 turnovers. In the second half, the Dores played straight-up man-to-man most of the way and nursed a nine to 13 point lead most of the half.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy moves to 2-0 with an 81-51 win over Samford in the home opener. The Dores were 12 of 25 from three, and the best thing about the night was seeing our three freshmen settle down and play well. Ryanne Allen led all scorers with 17 (4 of 6 from three), 6'4 post Amauri Williams added 10, and guard Jada Brown scored 8. Also, it was good to see grad transfer Marnelle Garraud get going with 15 points, all in the second half.

The Commodores face a tough task Sunday when they travel to New York to face Columbia.

 

[donalddoowop]

Vandy opens with an 82-71 win at Western Kentucky. Grad transfer Ciaja Harbison led the way with 28 points on 7 of 8 shooting. Also had five assists. Overall, a very ragged game. Vandy tortured the Hilltoppers on defense in the first half, forcing 18 turnovers. In the second half, the Dores played straight-up man-to-man most of the way and nursed a nine to 13 point lead most of the half.

Harbison transferred from Saint Louis University. She was their leading scorer and scored in double figures against UConn when UConn played SLU a few years ago.

 

[eebmg]

 

[YoDore]

Looking for a game to watch today? Vandy at Columbia (2 EST) could be a good one if Vandy shows up ready to play. Game on ESPN+.

 

[Coler]

Looking for a game to watch today? Vandy at Columbia (2 EST) could be a good one if Vandy shows up ready to play. Game on ESPN+.

Watching.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy wins 74-63. Not a work of art, but with all that has happened with this team, when they go on the road and beat a good team, it's hard to complain. They had Columbia all out of sorts on offense in the second half.

Ciaja Harbison led the way with 27 points and also had seven assists. Marnell Garraud added 12 on four 3-pointers. Dores now 3-0 and appear to be set up to be 6-0 when they face N.C. State in a holiday tournament. Maybe we'll just stay on the beach and skip that one.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy (4-0) wins 84-48 over Tarleton State, but coach Ralph is not happy. She has her reasons.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy fell 82-73 to N.C. State in the first round of the Cancun tournament today. Ciaja Harbison scored 34 and had six assists to pace the Dores (5-2) who lost for the second game in a row after falling to St. Joesph's Sunday. Vandy plays Northern Iowa Friday afternoon. The games are on FloSports instead of ESPN3 or ESPN+, which I hate. But, they didn't ask me. Vandy's radio announcers were on hand and supposed to broadcast the game, but it never showed up. I wonder if there was some sort of proprietary rights that didn't allow anyone but FloSports to provide coverage.

 

[eebmg]

Vandy fell 82-73 to N.C. State in the first round of the Cancun tournament today. Ciaja Harbison scored 34 and had six assists to pace the Dores (5-2) who lost for the second game in a row after falling to St. Joesph's Sunday. Vandy plays Northern Iowa Friday afternoon. The games are on FloSports instead of ESPN3 or ESPN+, which I hate. But, they didn't ask me. Vandy's radio announcers were on hand and supposed to broadcast the game, but it never showed up. I wonder if there was some sort of proprietary rights that didn't allow anyone but FloSports to provide coverage.

Vandy did battle back from 23 pts down.

Harbison is 5-6 guard is a grad transfer from Saint Louis University. She was all-conference second team leading the team with 17.5 PPG ranking second all-time in SLU history in scoring and fourth all-time in assists.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy did battle back from 23 pts down.

Yeah, they got it down to eight late in the game, but it was too little too late. Once again, they got off to a slow start, something coach Ralph has been harping on for a couple weeks now. Against some lesser teams, they were able to battle back and win. That's not likely against a team like N.C. State.

Another problem that I've known was coming sooner or later...rebounding...has started to really hurt. Vandy lost the rebounding battle to the Wolfpack by 16 after losing the battle to St. Joseph's by 17. St. Joe's did not have an obvious physical advantage, they just got after it. Had 16 offensive boards.

Other than working harder to box out on the boards, I'm not sure what the answer is. It surely won't get easier when they get to SEC play.

They face Northern Iowa today, which will be another tough test. Regardless of what happens today, the schedule has a string of winnable games coming up. The next tricky one could be a trip to Ruston to play Louisiana Tech.

I'd love to see the Dores rack up as many wins as possible in the coming weeks, because if they find a way to match last season's four wins in the SEC, it will be a surprising performance. We have to keep in mind they lost three starters to pre-season injuries, and they simply don't have the kind of depth a UConn, South Carolina or other teams have to absorb those kind of injuries. One of the few positives is that the three freshmen are getting a pretty decent baptism by fire.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy lost 65-62 on a last-second 3-pointer to Northern Iowa. Stings.

 

[CL82]

Vandy lost 65-62 on a last-second 3-pointer to Northern Iowa. Stings.

This year‘s Vandy team was really bitten by the injury bug. On some levels I feel like you are playing with have some money and just building experience and growing. That said, there’s no way that a Shea Ralph team won’t compete every game.

 

[YoDore]

Interview with coach Ralph. Actually, it was taped right before the season started but wasn't posted on twitter until today for some reason.

 

[YoDore]

Boston College grad transfer Marnelle Garraud is fourth in the nation with 34 made three pointers (Abbey Hsu of Columbia leads with 39). Garraud and fellow grad transfer Ciaja Harbison have kept Vandy's program at least marginally afloat after the loss of three starters for the season.

Harbison recently missed three games in concussion protocol, and this proved to be the breaking point for an already stretched-thin team. Vandy suffered two of the worst losses in program history after scoring only 31 points in a double-digit loss at ETSU 10 days ago. Then, they returned home and suffered another double-digit loss to UT-Martin.

Garraud found her footing in that last game, scoring 19 points, then, with Harbison back in the lineup but obviously rusty, Garraud went off for 31 points, including 7 of 13 beyond the arc, as the Dores rallied from 12 down to beat Louisiana Tech in overtime 75-70 on the road.

I expect Harbison will continue to lead the team's offense as she has done all season with just under 18 points per game. But, in her absence, it seems Garraud has found her mojo. Vandy will need everything they've got to even be competitive in SEC play.

 

[YoDore]

Ryanne Allen scored 11 points in OT and led Vandy to a 75-70 win at Louisiana Tech Thursday night. That included two clutch free throws late in the game. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week for her efforts. She is an exceptional shooter who is just finding the confidence to step up and take more of a leadership role. Coach Ralph needs her to shoot the ball. A lot.

Accolade For Allen

First-year guard named SEC Freshman of the Week after performance at Louisiana Tech

vucommodores.com

 

[YoDore]

I’ve always assumed Vandy is somewhat limited in what it can do in the transfer portal, but recent coach interviews have spelled out just how limited it is.

A couple weeks ago on a radio program, associate head coach Tom Garrick mentioned Vandy has to focus on freshmen or grad transfers in the transfer portal. I took it that he was speaking in generalities and thought little of it. But, a week ago, coach Ralph appeared on the same program, and, in answer to a question, she spelled it out very clearly:

“One of the things I love about our chancellor, about Vanderbilt University, about Dr. Lee our AD, they’re not playing around with this degree. So, the transfer portal is limited for us. We can take a freshman transfer or a grad transfer. But, kind of in between, they’re not going to let you come here, take 20 credits and say you graduated from Vanderbilt. They’re not going to do it. So, it gives me an ability to kind of taper down the options and really focus on the players we think can help us and that we can help.”

That’s pretty definitive. Freshmen or grads. Nothing in between.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I’ve always assumed Vandy is somewhat limited in what it can do in the transfer portal, but recent coach interviews have spelled out just how limited it is.

A couple weeks ago on a radio program, associate head coach Tom Garrick mentioned Vandy has to focus on freshmen or grad transfers in the transfer portal. I took it that he was speaking in generalities and thought little of it. But, a week ago, coach Ralph appeared on the same program, and, in answer to a question, she spelled it out very clearly:

“One of the things I love about our chancellor, about Vanderbilt University, about Dr. Lee our AD, they’re not playing around with this degree. So, the transfer portal is limited for us. We can take a freshman transfer or a grad transfer. But, kind of in between, they’re not going to let you come here, take 20 credits and say you graduated from Vanderbilt. They’re not going to do it. So, it gives me an ability to kind of taper down the options and really focus on the players we think can help us and that we can help.”

That’s pretty definitive. Freshmen or grads. Nothing in between.

I get it. I would say Stanford is the same way due to their academic standards. However, Duke has utilized the portal extensively so I am unsure how their school plans to incorporate that into their academic requirements.

Vandy is a tough job but Shea is basically starting from zero. All her injuries makes it difficult to compete with most programs. However, the SEC has room for them to grow and be in the top half of the conference with the right recruiting and coaching. I hope she does well there.

 

[dws3665]

"One of the things I love about our Chancellor, about Vanderbilt University, about Dr. Lee our AD ..."

Narrator: Coach Ralph absolutely does not love this thing.

 

[JellyBean]

It is good that Vandy has such tough academic system in place. Coach Shea will figure things out and get that program back to where Jim Foster and Melanie Balcomb had Vandy women's basketball. Folks just have to be patient and let Coach work her magic.

 

[sun]

Not being open to accepting WBB transfer students sounds like a type of discrimination since "...the Vanderbilt transfer acceptance rate has fluctuated between 17% and 37% for the last five years.....
...In the fall of 2021, there were 2,450 transfer applicants and 430 individuals were accepted. "

Vanderbilt Transfer Acceptance Rate and Requirements — 2024

We reveal the latest Vanderbilt transfer acceptance rate, application deadline, admissions requirements, and transfer decision date.

www.collegetransitions.com

Yes, Vanderbilt has high standards for transfer students but not impossible standards.
It sounds like poor Shea is getting shafted by Vandy's inconsistent policy regarding the fair treatment of WCBB transfers being considered on a case by case basis, just like Vandy would do for any other transfer student.
It shows that some at Vandy are simply philosophically opposed to BB transfers enough to severely limit them.

Transfer Admissions to Vanderbilt – What you should know

If you’re a student considering transfer admissions, you likely have a lot of questions on your mind. What will life be like at a new school? Will any of my credits transfer? What support is available for transfer students? Can I get financial aid? Oh, and what are the application requirements...

admissions.vanderbilt.edu

 

[YoDore]

The powers that be were not kind to Vandy when they drew up the SEC schedule. There are presently four unbeaten teams in conference play, and the Dores have played three of them in a row: LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee. Two of those were on the road.

For good measure, the next two games are against 3-1 Arkansas on the road and at home against the nation’s top team, 4-0 South Carolina. So, after a 28-point home loss to Mississippi State to open conference play, the Dores’ next five opponents have a 19-1 conference record. Thanks for that.

Ironically, Mississippi State is the only other team to have it nearly that tough. After beating us, they also faced three unbeaten teams in South Carolina, Ole Miss and Tennessee. But, they get a break now with a game against winless Texas A&M while we face Arkansas and South Carolina. That’s followed by a trip to Florida, which is not exactly a cake walk. So, we still win whining rights.

Actually, I’m glad the schedule is set up this way. We showed last year and appear to be showing this year that we improve as the season goes along. So, I’m figuring it’s better to face the weaker conference teams later in the season when we should be closer to our peak and have a better chance to win. I can’t see how we’ll be a favorite in any game, but the A&M game at home on Jan. 29 could be in the toss-up category. Might depend on whether A&M has all its players back. Kentucky at home on Feb. 19? Maybe. They’re not very good. Auburn doesn’t seem to be strong, either, but we play them on the road to close out the regular season. Should have a chance.

Right now it looks like Vandy, A&M, Auburn and Kentucky will be the four teams playing in the opening round of the SEC tourney.

 

[DefenseBB]

I still like how Vandy is playing and see the future as bright. What I find interesting is on VolNation, that crowd, which I no longer consider WCBB savy, is saying Shea should be fired at the end of this year, which is ludicrous. Steph White was 13-55 in 6 years of SEC play with a "high of 4-12" which Shea accomplished last year. She also has #63 Ranked 6'2" Forward coming next year and hopefully all the injured players back. Shea will persevere and Vandy will be much, much better for it, if not this year, then the next few years.

 

[Geew1992]

I still like how Vandy is playing and see the future as bright. What I find interesting is on VolNation, that crowd, which I no longer consider WCBB savy, is saying Shea should be fired at the end of this year, which is ludicrous. Steph White was 13-55 in 6 years of SEC play with a "high of 4-12" which Shea accomplished last year. She also has #63 Ranked 6'2" Forward coming next year and hopefully all the injured players back. Shea will persevere and Vandy will be much, much better for it, if not this year, then the next few years.

Shea also lost 3 players, 2 of them starters, to season ending injuries