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Vanderbilt Basketball Assistant Coaches And Staff For 2023-24

By Abhay Acharya / 10 November 2023 08:26 AM

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Vanderbilt Basketball assistant coaches are Anthony Wilkins and James Strong. Wilkins is in his first season with the Commodores.

Andy Fox serves as the team's associate head coach, while Jerry Stackhouse is the current head coach of the University's men's basketball team. 

The Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball compete in the NCAA in the Southeastern Conference, representing Vanderbilt University. The team has competed in 15 NCAA tournaments, winning three Southeastern Conference regular-season titles. 

The Vanderbilt men's basketball team has won two SEC tournament titles in 1951 and 2012 while having made it into the NCCA Tournaments as far as to the Elite Eight once. The team made it in 1965 under the then-head coach, Roy Skinner. 

The current head coach has led the team to a three-way 4th place with a season record of 22-15 (11-7 SEC) in the previous NCAA men's season. The team scored 22 wins that season, a franchise-high record since the 2011-12 season under his guidance.

Vanderbilt Basketball Head Coach

Jerry Stackhouse acts as the head coach of the Vanderbilt University basketball team. He has been coaching the men's team since April 5, 2019. 

With the 2023-24 NCAA Men's Basketball season starting on November 6, Stackhouse will be in his fifth season with the franchise. He was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball League before Vanderbilt. 

The 2023 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year, Jerry, has guided the club to consecutive winning seasons and the 2022 and 2023 NIT quarterfinal berths. He even sent four student-athletes to the NBA and mentored two SEC Scholar Athletes of the Year in his first four seasons. 

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He worked with the Grizzlies for the 2018-19 season only. Before that, he was the head coach for the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League for two seasons.

During his time with the Raptors 905, Jerry was named the G League Coach of the Year. He earned the title after leading the club to their first championship win with a record of 39-11 in the 2016-17 season. 

The former NBA shooting guard and small forward, Stackhouse, led the league in total free throws and points made and recorded a career-high of 29.8 points during the 2000-01 season. Also, he was named the NBA All-Star twice in 2000 and 2001 as a Detroit Pistons. 

Jerry Stackhouse began his coaching career in the 2015-16 season, two years past his retirement in 2013, as an assistant coach for the NBA's Toronto Raptors. He served the Raptors for the 2015-16 season only. 

He led the Commodores to 22 wins during the 2022-23 season, earning the SEC Coach of the Year award on March 7, 2023. In addition, he has been named the Coach of the Year in the state by the Tennesse Sports Writers Association (TSWA). 

The list of the University's previous head coaches with their service dates is given below.

  • Bryce Drew - 2016 to 2019
  • Kevin Stallings - 1999 to 2016
  • Jan Van Breda - 1993 to 1999
  • Eddie Fogler - 1989 to 1993
  • C. M. Newton - 1981 to 1989
  • Richard Schmidt - 1979 to 1981
  • Wayne Dobbs - 1976 to 1979
  • Roy Skinner - 1961 to 1976

Vanderbilt Basketball Coaching Staff

Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball coaching staff are:

  • Andy Fox - Associate Head Coach
  • Anthony Wilkins - Assistant Coach
  • James Strong - Assistant Coach
  • Marcus Edwards - Strength and Conditioning Coach

Andy Fox is the associate head coach for the Vanderbilt men's basketball team. He has been serving in the role since the 2022-23 season. 

Andy has been with the franchise since the 2019-20 season. He joined the Stackhouse's coaching staff as the director of scouting and recruiting for two seasons. In the subsequent season, i.e., the 2021-22 season, Andy served as the team's general manager. 

Since his inauguration, Fox has helped the Commodores to consecutive winning seasons and quality for the National Invitation Tournaments (NIT) Quarterfinals twice. He has coached six student-athletes that made the NBA throughout his career. 

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The Atlanta, Georgia native, Anthony Wilkins, is in his first season with the Vanderbilt University basketball team as an assistant coach. He began his collegiate coaching career in the 2012-13 season as the director of player development for the Kent State Golden Flash men's basketball team. 

Before joining the Commodores, Wilkins spent the last five seasons with Georgia Tech as an assistant coach for four seasons and an associate head coach for the final season. He led the Yellow Jackets to the 2021 ACC Tournament Trophy and earned a place in the NCAA Tournament. 

James Strong is in this first season with the Commodores as an assistant coach. He has served the team in various positions since the 2019-20 season. He joined the team as a director of player personnel for two seasons.

He was promoted to assistant coach on 30 June 2023 after serving as the program's director of basketball operations in 2022-23. He acted as the director of scouting and recruiting in the 2021-22 season. 

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Strong spent eight seasons with the Belmont Bruins men's basketball team before joining the Commodores. During those seasons, he helped the team reach four NCAA Tournaments and achieve a record of 195-71. 

Marcus Edwards is the strength and conditioning coach for the Commodores men's team. He is in his second season with the franchise. 

Before working with Vanderbilt, Edwards served as the director of athletic performance for the Missouri men's basketball team during the 2021-22 season. He was the strength coach for the Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team for two seasons before that. 

Vanderbilt Womens Basketball Coach

Shea Ralph will serve as the head coach for the Vanderbilt women's basketball team for the 2023-24 season. She is in her third season with the team. 

Ralph joined the Commodores women's team on April 13, 2021, as the franchise's sixth head coach. She led the team to record a second-straight double-digit win season during the 2022-23 campaign. This marked the first time for the team to have posted successive double-digit win campaigns in six years. 

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The seven-time national champion former collegiate basketball player Shea worked for the University of Connecticut as an assistant coach for 13 seasons before Vanderbilt. She led her alma mater to six national championships and 12 Final Four appearances. Also, she helped the Huskies record four back-to-back titles from 2013-16. 

During her first season with the Commodores, Ralph helped the club make their first postseason appearance since 2014. They reached the third round of the Women's NIT during that season. It was their most extended postseason run since 2013. 

Shea ranked third in her debut season to win the most games in any women's basketball team as a head coach. It incorporated the program's first 63-59 win against a ranked opponent since 2020, No. 15 Florida, at their home. 

Last season, Shea guided the team to a winning record for the 38th time inside Memorial Gym in the last 40 seasons. The club won nine matches at the Gym, incorporating victories over Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Arkansas. 

Vanderbilt Basketball Arena Capacity

Vanderbilt basketball team play their home games at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee. The arena has about 14,316 seating capacity since 2004. 

Also referred to as Memorial Gym or Memorial, the arena became operational in 1952 in Tennessee as a memorial to all Vanderbilt women and men who served in World War II.

The Gym is located on the Vanderbilt University campus' western side and is home to the Vanderbilt Commodores (men's and women's) basketball team. It has ranked among the NCAA's top 30 attendance leaders 23 times since 1977 in men's basketball. 

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Vanderbilt's women's and men's teams have triumphed over more than 78 per cent of their home games on the floor. Also, the arena is set to serve as the home to the upcoming volleyball program of Vanderbilt's women's team in 2025. 

At its inauguration, the arena had a seating capacity of about 6,583. It has been extended three times since, the first addition being in 1965, with two north-side balconies. After two years, a balancing balcony pair was erected on the Gym's southern side and named "The Balconies That Clyde Lee Built."

The arena capacity has fluctuated throughout the building's history, reaching its peak number of 15,646 in 1969, with the addition of 4000 seats in the west and east ends. The capacity lowered to 14,316 in the late 1990s after the addition of suites on the north and chairback seats in the end zones of the arena.