Vanderbilt Basketball: Why Jason Edwards is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

The basketball product at Vanderbilt has not been pretty in recent years. A 13th place finish in the SEC spelled doom for Jerry Stackhouse who was replaced this offseason by Mark Byington, who had tons of success leading James Madison. It’s a brand new era for a Commodores team that won just 9 games last season and has had plenty to forget in recent memory.

Last year’s team showed some signs of life, but very little from that roster remains in Nashville. Vanderbilt’s big three of Ezra Manjon, Tyrin Lawrennce, and Ven-Allen Lubin are all gone, each of whom averaged at least 12 points a game. Much of Vanderbilt’ deep freshmen class opted to leave, including Jason Rivera-Torres and Isaiah West, though JQ Roberts represents basically all of the returning talent for this upcoming year.

While it’s not a long-term fix for the Commodores, this rotation was largely built using the Transfer Portal and we’ll detail a few of the notable additions. Vanderbilt added a few notable bigs, including Kijani Wright from USC and Devin McGlockton from Boston College. The backcourt got quite a boost, notably adding Virginia Tech’s MJ Collins, notable Michigan State point guard AJ Hoggard, and Cornell star guard Chris Manon.

The one addition we’re certainly focusing on today is Jason Edwards, a point guard fresh off a single season at North Texas. Edwards had actually spent a year apiece at a pair of junior colleges but wasted no time settling into a D1 basketball last year. In his lone season with the Mean Green, Edwards averaged 19.1 points per game while making 35% of his 3-pointers. He was one of the best offensive players in the conference and earned First Team All-AAC honors, helping North Texas to 19 wins.

While the experience is limited, Edwards is a total player on the offensive end. There’s a very short list of players who saw more utilization and court time than him and he didn’t buckle in transitioning from life at a community college. He’s a solid free throw shooter, can make baskets all over the court, and likely becomes Vanderbilt’s go-to player initially on offense. Even if this work came in the AAC, he did play solidly against a pair of SEC foes last season.

This roster has been built by throwing a number of misfits and transfers together and hoping it creates something productive. When you look at the raw numbers, none of these other players had a season quite like Edwards. It’s possible that his transition into the SEC doesn’t go according to plan and he struggles but we’re imagining him as the one leading the charge for the Commodores in this upcoming year.

We don’t know what exactly will unfold in that year ahead, as it would be quite remarkable for this group of new players to get Vanderbilt over the hump in the SEC. Expectations won’t be very high in Byington’s first season, but this is a team worth watching down the line. Can Edwards handle new pressure and become a leader for this program?