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SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

By Caleb Hightower

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 12: The arena sits unused after the announcement of the cancellation of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament has been cancelled due to the growing concern about the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - MARCH 12: The arena sits unused after the announcement of the cancellation of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. The tournament has been cancelled due to the growing concern about the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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FAYETTEVILLE, AR – JANUARY 15: Maxwell Evans #3 of the Vanderbilt Commodores (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR – JANUARY 15: Maxwell Evans #3 of the Vanderbilt Commodores (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

14. team. 537. . . . Commodores

2019-20 SEC Record: 3-15 

The discouraging thing about Vanderbilt’s conference performance last season is that they won just 3 games with Saben Lee in the lineup. This season, they will be without Lee, as he decided to pursue an NBA career after an impressive showing last year.

Lee was forced to elevate his level of play after Aaron Nesmith (who averaged 23.0 points per game, shot a spectacular 52.2% from three last season, and also declared for the NBA Draft) went down with a right foot injury early on in conference play.  Lee went on to average 18.6 points and 4.2 assists per game last season.

His play was a big reason why Vanderbilt was able to hang nearly 100 points on LSU at home (in a win) and knock off South Carolina and Alabama towards the end of the season. I like the addition of Notre Dame transfer DJ Harvey, and the return of Maxwell Evans (who was the 5th leading scorer), and Scotty Pippen Jr. (who will have to take on an even bigger role this season, after averaging 12.0 points per game last season).

And with so many programs across the conference losing valuable players to the NBA Draft, graduation, and transferring, Vanderbilt will have legitimate opportunities to improve their conference record from a year ago.

However, Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt head coach) and the Commodores are taking baby steps at the moment, and because they will be missing their top two scorers this season, you shouldn’t expect them to make any kind of substantial leap.

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