NASHVILLE – There was a lot of moving and shaking going on here in Music City on Thursday, and that went beyond what was happening in the honkytonks on Broadway or on the court inside Bridgestone Arena.
One coach got his walking papers and three others received contract extensions as second-round play in the SEC Tournament continued.
To no one’s surprise, Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse became the first coaching casualty of the 2023-24 SEC season when he agreed to part ways after five seasons with the Commodores. Just a year after being named SEC coach of the year, the former North Carolina and NBA star saw his Vanderbilt team sink again to the bottom of the SEC. Though injuries and other “uncontrollables” played a big part in it, the Commodores won just four conference games and entered a tournament played on their front porch 13th among the 14 SEC teams. They finished 9-23 this season and Stackhouse was 70-92 in five years here in Nashville.
“I appreciate the opportunity that Vanderbilt gave me to broaden my experience with the sport that I love, one that has blessed me in more ways than I can count,” Stackhouse said in a statement released by the school. “It’s been a privilege to serve as the head men’s basketball coach for the last five years. My staff and I depart here extremely thankful for every opportunity we’ve had to help our players grow and develop on and off the floor.”
Earlier in the day Thursday, reports surfaced that South Carolina coach Lamont Paris and Florida coach Todd Golden had agreed to terms on contract extensions. Like Georgia coach Mike White, both were presented with six-year contracts when they were hired by their respective schools two years ago. Each received two-year extensions, leaving them with a fresh six years. Financial terms were not disclosed but ESPN quoted unnamed sources claiming both deals to be worth about $4 million a year.
Of course, each coach had better fortune than White in Year 2 of their current tenures. The Gamecocks entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed and improved to 26-6 Thursday with an 80-66 win over Arkansas in the second round. Golden’s Gators (21-10, 11-7) were meeting Georgia for the third time this season late Thursday night in their first postseason game.
On Wednesday, Ole Miss announced its plans to extend coach Chris Beard’s contract after just one season. Beard, who was dismissed from Texas last year under controversial circumstances, received a four-year contract when the Rebels brought him in last March. Tough terms weren’t disclosed, Beard received a one-year extension since Mississippi does not allow state employees anything beyond a four-year contract. He was due to make $3.35 million next year, according to the Clarion Ledger.
Prognostications revisited
Heading into Thursday’s night games, four SEC teams saw their Nashville visits to come to an end, with two more due to exit after the evening session.
Missouri’s horrific second season under coach Dennis Gates came to a merciful end with Wednesday night’s excruciating 64-59 loss to Georgia. Winless in conference play coming in, the Tigers were ahead by seven with the 3:38 to play. The Bulldogs outscored them 12-0 to the final whistle.
That left several Missouri players in tears after the game. It was the program’s first winless conference season – with the exception of forfeitures due to NCAA violations – since 1908.
Despite that ignominy, the Tigers technically did not have worst season of the 14 SEC teams, per preseason predictions. Missouri was picked to finish ninth in the league by the media in the official preseason poll, so they finished five spots below that.
Using that metric, Arkansas had the worst season. The Razorbacks (15-17) finished nine places below their third-place prediction. Conversely, the Gamecocks, who were picked last and finished fifth, had the best season relative to expectations.
Texas A&M (18-13) finished seventh, five spots behind predictions, and LSU (17-15) finished eighth, actually five spots better than a prognostication of 13th. Georgia was one of six SEC teams to finish within two spots of its forecast, finishing 11th rather than 12th.
The preseason poll got two teams right on the nose: Regular-season champion Tennessee (24-7) finished first and Ole Miss (20-11) 10th.
LSU, which went 9-9 in regular-season league play, will be among the SEC teams waiting to find out if its season will continue. Ole Miss, A&M and Georgia are expected to be in similar situations.
Magic number
The Bulldogs have a magic stat working for them under Mike White, and that notion was proven yet again Wednesday night.
With its 64-59, opening round win over Missouri, Georgia improved to 27-2 (.931) in games when it has held opponents under 70 points over the last two seasons. Conversely, UGA is 6-29 (.171) when allowing opponents to reach the 70-point plateau.
The only losses on that ledger were a 66-67 setback at LSU on Feb. 27 and a 61-55 decision at South Carolina in the 2022-23 regular-season finale.
Want to win? Play good enough defense to hold the opponent to 69 or less.
All-conference talk
The SEC men’s basketball honors were announced three days ago, but there remained some chirping in the Bridgestone Arena locker rooms housing teams this week.
Particularly controversial was Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard being named SEC freshman of the year. Certainly, everyone in the Mississippi State camp – and quite a few others – thought that honor should have gone to Josh Hubbard.
Both players can make a good argument. Both played in 31 games and both moved into the starting lineup only five games ago. Hubbard has a better scoring average (16.8 points to 12.7) while Sheppard has averaged more assists (4.5 to 1.8) and is a better outside shooter (52.6% to 36.7).
Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht was inarguable as the player of the year and few complaints have been heard about Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham as the top sixth man or Tennessee’s Zakai Ziegler as best defensive player. Likewise, there were no gripes about the Gamecocks’ Paris being named coach of year.
Silas Demary Jr. was Georgia’s only representative on any of the postseason honor teams. The 6-foot-5 guard from Raleigh, who started every game but one, was named to the all-freshman squad.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
