Former Belmont Star Destinee Wells Commits To Tennessee

After entering the transfer portal, former Belmont superstar Destinee Wells has committed to the University of Tennessee, joining the Lady Vols for the 2023-2024 season.

“We are excited to add Destinee Wells to the Lady Vol family,” says Head Coach Kellie Harper. “She possesses a wealth of experience at the point guard position and is a three-level scorer who shoots with impressive accuracy in each of those phases. We are so pleased to have a person and basketball player of Destinee’s caliber joining our program.”

Wells spent three years at Belmont University, breaking records and winning championships. She played 90 games as a Bruin, averaging 18.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 46.7 percent from the field, 38.3 percent on threes and 83.4 percent on free throws. Wells amassed 1,648 points, 427 assists, 292 rebounds and 125 steals while connecting on 381 three-pointers during her time at Belmont.

Ranked as the No. 10 player in the transfer portal by ESPN, she was an All-Ohio Valley Conference First-Team selection and was named OVC Tournament MVP and All-OVC Tournament as well as being named 2020-2021 OVC Freshman of the Year and to the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Wells was selected as the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Year in 2021-2022, and was once again on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List that season.

 

 

 

Belmont Picks Up Malik Dia In Transfer Portal From Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt freshman Malik Dia will be staying in Nashville, playing up the street at Belmont next season after he entered the transfer portal.

Dia committed to Vanderbilt while at Ensworth High School in Nashville where he averaged 22.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game as a senior in 2021-2022, and was ranked as the nation’s No. 31 power forward by ESPN as well as the state’s No. 5 recruit and nation’s No. 28 power forward by Rivals.

The six foot nine power forward averaged 2.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 8.5 minutes per game in 20 games while at Vanderbilt with a season-high 10 rebounds in win over Southeastern Louisiana, and scored 14 points on four made 3-pointers against Kentucky.

 

 

 

Vanderbilt Veteran Jordan Wright Transfers To LSU

Vanderbilt senior and veteran leader Jordan Wright has transferred to Louisiana State University (LSU) for the 2023-2024 season, the athlete announced via social media.

Wright entered the transfer portal after finishing his senior year at Vanderbilt, where he played 33 games, averaging 10.5 points per game, 5 rebounds per game and shooting 40 percent from the field. As a senior, he helped lead Vanderbilt to multiple wins over ranked opponents including Tennessee and Kentucky, where he hit the game-winning shot over the Wild Cats in Lexington. He also led the Commodores to the NIT Quarterfinals, beating Yale and Michigan at Memorial Gym.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native will be joining second-year LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon.

Trevecca Nazarene University Director of Athletics, Mark Elliott, has named Kevin Carroll as the tenth head coach in Trojans men’s basketball history. A veteran coach of twenty-three years, Carroll brings both local and national ties to The Hill, including the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Lipscomb University.

“It’s not shocking there is great interest locally, regionally, and nationally in our men’s basketball coaching position, but we prioritize much more than just a good X’s and O’s coach,” says Elliott. “Kevin Carroll fits our Christian Scholar Athlete mission with his well-defined Live Your Legacy program philosophy. In addition, his spiritual leadership, broad coaching experiences, high-level organizational skills, coach-player relationship focus, local recruiting ties, and strong family values make him an excellent fit for Trevecca. We are excited to welcome Kevin, Caroline, Luke, and Levi to The Hill and Trojan Nation!

The 2023-2024 season will be the twelfth season for Trevecca in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and in NCAA Division II.

“I am honored and excited to be given the responsibility of ushering in a new era of Trevecca Nazarene University Men’s Basketball,” says Carroll. “My family and I would like to thank Dr. Dan Boone, Mark Elliott, and the entire search committee for their tireless work and belief in our vision for transforming this program and the lives of the young men associated with it.”

Carroll’s career includes 10 seasons of head coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels, having most recently served as the head coach of Maryville University-St. Louis from 2010-2017. His tenure was highlighted by setting a program record for wins, eclipsing the 20-win mark for only the second time in the program’s history and becoming the first coach to defeat a nationally ranked opponent.

A native of Wildwood, Georgia, Carroll played collegiately at Berry College, where current Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff initially coached him.

After serving three seasons as an assistant in the high school ranks, Carroll earned his first head coaching position in 2003 at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Atlanta, Georgia. While there, he orchestrated an improbable turnaround, leading the program from single-digit wins in year one to only its second regional title and a share of the program best for wins in 2005-06. In Carroll’s last two seasons, the Golden Lions defeated ten ranked teams, including the No. 1 team in AAAA in the 2006 regional final.

Carroll then moved into the collegiate ranks, reuniting with Acuff as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2006-07.

After one season at UAH, Carroll moved to NCAA Division I with a three-year stay at the United States Air Force Academy. The team reached and won a game at the Mountain West Conference tournament for the first time. Carroll helped recruit players from Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, and Kentucky.

In 2010, Carroll’s successful run opened his first collegiate head coaching position at Maryville St. Louis, leading the program through the transition from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division II. Carroll took the challenge and led the team to its most wins in school history and a share of the GLVC West Runner-Up, just behind the eventual Division II National Champion.

At Maryville, he recruited six All-Conference performers, including Maryville’s first-ever GLVC Player of the Year and two DII All-Americans.  His last two stops were as an assistant at the NCAA Division I level, first at Virginia Military Institute (two seasons) and at Lipscomb University, where he’s been reunited with Lennie Acuff since 2019.

Memorial Magic can’t last forever, and even this scrappy Vanderbilt men’s basketball team can’t pull out every win. All good things come to an end, and Vandy’s great 2022-2023 season ended Wednesday night (March 22) when they lost to the University of Alabama at Birmingham 67-59 in the NIT quarterfinals, ending their postseason run.

So many questions surrounded this postseason for the Commodores as they made a run in the SEC Tournament and picked up wins against ranked opponents, but didn’t get the recognition from the NCAA Tournament Committee that many thought they deserved. Liam Robbins had one of the best seasons by a Vandy player in years and Head Coach Jerry Stackhouse was named the SEC’s Co-Coach of the Year after leading the ‘Dores to their best season in nearly seven years.

Fans saw First Four teams Nevada and Mississippi State fail to make anything of their NCAA Tournament bid, and witnessed teams like Rutgers and Clemson, who were picked as the First Four out by the NCAA Tournament Committee, also fail to get past the opening round of the NIT. This made many Vanderbilt fans and some in the Nashville media even more frustrated that Vandy didn’t get a proper shot.

But Vanderbilt seemed to block all of that out and continued to play great basketball, beating Yale and then Michigan 66-65 after going on a 9-0 run in the final minute of the game. The Commodores were electric and created an atmosphere at Memorial that hasn’t been seen in years. Though their run was short lived, the team created memories that they can build off of next season and beyond. This foundation Stackhouse has laid is what Vandy fans have been waiting for since he took over as Head Coach.

Fans should be over the moon after this season and extremely proud of this team. Guys like Jordan Wright, Tyrin Lawrence and Ezra Manjon had fantastic seasons and some brilliant moments in both the SEC Tournament and the NIT. Lawrence is only a junior and has the potential to be that superstar Vandy needs to take the extra step towards an NCAA Tournament bid. Wright also has another year of eligibility, if he decides to take it. If he does, Vanderbilt will have another strong senior class that can lead.

After two consecutive seasons with strong NIT runs, Vanderbilt needs to push harder and get into the NCAA Tournament. Being so close to a bid this year and ultimately being snubbed should fuel the returning roster. That fuel combined with Stackhouse’s recruiting, which is arguably his best yet, (being ranked 43rd in the country and eighth in the SEC by 247Sports) could be enough to make the Commodores legit contenders.

This season was a fun one, but next season, there will be real expectations for this new era of Vanderbilt basketball.

After one of their best seasons ever, Middle Tennessee women’s basketball ended their 2023 season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to the No. 6 seed against Colorado 82-60 on Saturday night (March 18).

The Lady Raiders (28-5), struggled to slow down the Buffalo (24-8) attack, getting doubled up the first quarter, 22-11, after a cold start shooting from the floor (4-for-16). MTSU then climbed back into the game late in the second quarter, cutting the Colorado lead to as few as five points, but a 9-0 run in the final 1:21 of the half from the Buffs left MTSU further behind at the break, 42-28.

“I thought that Colorado came out and really really played,” said Head Coach Rick Insell postgame. “I think they’re averaging five threes a game and tonight they made 13 threes. And we played pretty good defense. On our offensive end, they were very aggressive with us, not allowing us to get into our offense. I didn’t say they were fouling now, they were aggressive, they did a good job. Their game plan was excellent, they caused us problems early and knocked down some shots.

“My girls, they didn’t quit. They just kept playing and executing. I was real proud of them, they had a heck of a season. We put them in the fire all year long and they’ve done a good job.”

MTSU lost Colorado’s shooters in transition as the Buffs sped up the game in the third quarter, setting the net on fire with a 6-for-9 clip beyond the arc in the frame to increase their lead to 26 at the quarter break, making the fourth quarter a formality to end the first game of the night at the Durham Tournament site.

“They were aggressive, with the post players, up top, setting screens,” said junior guard Savannah Wheeler. “All we had to do is try to match their physicality. Credit to them. You know, they did a great job of defending . I thought we had a heck of a year. I’m really proud of this group. Proud that I came here. And just ready to get back to work for next season.”

Wheeler did all she could in her first taste of NCAA action, scoring 15 points at point guard. Kseniya Malashka found success offensively in her final game as a Lady Raider, nailing one of MTSU’s only three pointers of the night while finishing around the rim, ending the night with 13 points. Anastasiia Boldyreva was the only MTSU player to shoot above 50 percent during the night, finishing her evening with 6-of-8 shooting and leading the team with 16 points.

The Lady Raiders found themselves on the Associated Press’s Top 25 multiple times throughout the season and won both the Conference USA regular season championship and conference tournament.