The 2006–07 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball men's basketball team finished with a 22–12 record ( SEC East: 10–6, 2nd) and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The Commodores were ranked No. 19 in the final ESPN/USA Today (Coaches) poll. The team was led by head coach

Kevin Stallings Kevin E. Stallings (born October 1, 1960) is a former American basketball coach, who formerly served as the head coach at Illinois State University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Pittsburgh. He was an assistant coach at Purdue ...

and played its home games at Memorial Gymnasium.

Preseason outlook

Entering the season, Vanderbilt was picked by the media attending the SEC's media days in October to finish 4th in a strong SEC East, behind the defending national champion

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. They returned three starters: swingmen Shan Foster and

Derrick Byars Derrick JaVaughn Byars (born April 25, 1984) is an American professional basketball player and entrepreneur. Collegiately, he played for Virginia, and later for Vanderbilt. He was drafted 42nd overall in the 2007 NBA draft. High school career B ...

and point guard Alex Gordon. Foster was their leading scorer last season and was the third-leading returning scorer in the SEC. Vanderbilt lost two starters: Julian Terrell, their top rebounder (7.2 rpg), and rising-junior DeMarre Carroll, their second-leading scorer (12.1 ppg). Terrell graduated, while Carroll unexpectedly decided to transfer to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

shortly after the 2005–06 season ended, a decision influenced by the fact that Mizzou's new head coach Mike Anderson is his uncle. Junior Shan Foster was named by the league's coaches to the preseason all-SEC first team.

Regular season

The Commodores got off to a rocky 1–3 start that included an embarrassing home loss to Furman (15–16 final record, 8–10

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

). After that, Vanderbilt won 17 of their next 22 games, culminating in an 83–70 home win over then-No. 1

(33–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st). They entered the NCAA Tournament winning only 2 of their last 5 games, including two losses to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

(21–14, SEC West: 7–9, 3rd), but one of the wins was a come-from-behind 67–65 home win over

(22–12, SEC East: 9–7, 4th), their fourth straight win over the Wildcats. Vanderbilt finished the regular season tied for 2nd with

(24–11, SEC East: 10–6) in the SEC East, four games behind eventual national champion Florida (35–5, SEC East: 14–2, 1st).

NCAA tournament

The Commodores were the No. 6 seed in the East Regional and lost 66–65 to No. 2 seeded Georgetown (30–6, Big East: 13–3, 1st) at

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

. The Commodores defeated No. 11 seeded George Washington (23–9, A-10: 11–5, 3rd) in the first round, 77–44, and No. 3 seeded

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...

(26–7, Pac-10: 13–5, 2nd), 78–74, in two overtimes, at ARCO Arena in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, before losing to Georgetown.

Awards

Following the end of the regular season, head coach

was named SEC Coach of the Year by his fellow SEC coaches, while senior

was named SEC Player of the Year by the league coaches (the AP chose Chris Lofton of Tennessee). Stallings has now led the Commodores to 20 wins in three of the last four seasons. Byars led the Commodores in scoring with 17.0 points per game and was a unanimous selection to the All-SEC first team. Junior Shan Foster, who averaged 15.6 points per game, was named to the All-SEC second team. Including NCAA Tournament games, Vanderbilt finished the season 7–3 against teams ranked in the Top 25. Only North Carolina and UCLA had more wins against ranked opponents

Roster and individual statistics

2006–07 schedule and results

, - !colspan=9, Exhibition , - !colspan=9, Regular season , - !colspan=9, SEC tournament , - !colspan=9, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Vanderbilt Commodores Men's Basketball Team Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball seasons Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball The Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores have won three SEC regular-season titles ( 1965, 1974 and 1993) and two SEC Tournament championships ( 1951 a ...

Vanderbilt