Press Kit: A Run Down Of College Basketball’s Opening Week In Nashville

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Destinee Wells. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics

College basketball is officially back and there are a ton of games for Nashville college hoops fans to watch this week.

There are four games that fans can sink their teeth into tonight (Nov. 7), including the highly anticipated matchup between the Vanderbilt men and Memphis at Memorial Gym at 7 p.m. CT. Vandy is coming off a very good season where they finished 19-17, marking their first winning season since 2016-17. The Commodores made a short run in the SEC Tournament and eventually made it to the NIT Quarterfinals.

Vandy will be without star Scotty Pippen Jr., but have a firm foundation built by Jerry Stackhouse, as well as solid leadership and experience from Liam Robbins, Jordan Wright and Quentin Millora-Brown.

Jerry Stackhouse. Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

Robbins is a 7-foot fifth-year senior from Iowa who will be one of the team’s biggest keys for success. Last season, he averaged 6.8 points and four rebounds per game, and blocked 30 shots–the most on the team. He only played 15 games during the 2021-22 season so his ceiling is very high and can be opposing teams’ worst nightmare.

Wright started every game last season and averaged 12.3 ppg–the second most on the team. He also led the team in rebounds with 6.4 rpg and shot 42 percent from the field. The team will look to Wright to be its leading scorer.

Less than two miles up the road, the Belmont men’s basketball team will be hosting the Ohio Bobcats to kick off their season.

The Bruins will look very different this season compared to their last two after losing all-conference players such as Grayson Murphy, Nick Muszynksi and Luke Smith. Belmont’s team will be very young and inexperienced, but they will have help from All-OVC First Team senior Ben Sheppard.

Sheppard will be the heart of the Bruins this season as the team will be relying heavily on him to create offensive production. Last season, he started all 33 games and led the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 ppg and shooting for nearly 50 percent from the field.

The Bruins are also entering their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference, so this is a season that fans will most definitely want to keep an eye on.

Over in North Nashville on the Tennessee State University campus, the Tiger’s men and women’s basketball teams will be taking on historic HBCU Frisk University at the Gentry Center. The women’s team will face Fisk at 5:30 p.m. with the men’s game following right after.

The TSU women’s team is also in a transitional year as three of their top scorers are no longer on the team. They will have help from Gia Adams who played 31 games, averaging 12.9 ppg.

Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. Photo: Courtesy of TSU Athletics

The men’s team were picked to be one of the favorites in the OVC this season with returning stars such as Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. who is set to be one of the most impactful players in the conference. Fitzgerald averaged 11.7 ppg, 77 assists, 33 steals and shot 34 percent from the three-point line.

On Wednesday (Nov. 9), the Belmont women’s basketball team will host Chattanooga in their season opener as they begin a highly anticipated 2022-23 season. The ladies are coming off another historical season, winning their second straight OVC Tournament title and picking up an NCAA Tournament win against Oregon. In the end, the team lost 70-67 to the Lady Vols of Tennessee in the second round of the March Madness Tournament.

The Bruins received 14 votes in the Associated Press Preseason Women’s Basketball Poll. They welcome back the OVC Tournament MVP Destinee Wells who’s already solidified herself as a Belmont legend, leading the Bruins to two NCAA Tournament wins. Last season, Wells averaged 16.7 ppg, 140 assists, and shot for 45 percent from the field. She is supported by Tutti Jones who averaged 11.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 87 steals. The Bruins will be back at it on Sunday (Nov. 13) as they welcome No. 5 Louisville to the Curb Event Center. Belmont’s women’s team will be must-see basketball.

Photo: Courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics

The Vandy women’s team also readies for its second season behind Shea Ralph who led the Commodores to a successful 2021-22 campaign where they finished 16-19 and 12-5 at home. They went on to win two games in the WNIT before losing to MTSU 55-53.

They will be playing Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green tonight before returning home on Thursday (Nov. 10) to welcome Samford to Memorial Gym. The ‘Dores will be welcoming back stars Jordyn Cambridge and Iyana Moore. Cambridge, a Nashville native, started all 33 games last season and averaged 10.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, assisted 146 and had 129 steals. Moore is coming off a stellar freshman season where she averaged 12.7 ppg and shot 39 percent from the 3-point line.

Lipscomb’s women’s team played their season opener at noon today, falling to TCU 69-62. They will play at Northern Kentucky on Thrusday and then have their home opener against Mississippi Valley State on Saturday (Nov. 12) at Allen Arena. The player to watch is Jalyn Holcomb who averaged 10.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and shot nearly 40 percent from the field.

The Bisons’ men’s team will be opening their season against South Dakota on Wednesday before returning to Nashville to host Campbellsville-Harrodsburg on Saturday. They have ASun Preseason Player of the Year Ahsan Asadullah returning who is going to be a massive problem for defenses across the conference. He led the team in almost every major category, averaging 15.2 ppg, 9 rpg, having 114 assists, and notching 25 blocks.

Lipscomb and Belmont will face off in an early Battle of the Boulevard on Nov. 14 at Allen Arena at 7 p.m. CT.

Steven Boero
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