Five on five: Looking back on Vanderbilt’s season

Vanderbilt Hustler Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew and his staff look on during the Commodores' 68-66 NCAA tournament first-round loss to Northwestern on March 16, 2017.
The 2016-17 season was a strange one for Vanderbilt.
In his first year as head coach, Bryce Drew led the Commodores to their second straight NCAA tournament appearance. Vanderbilt even managed to earn a better seed than a year ago, despite its 8-10 start to the regular season.
What were the most significant aspects of the season? Where does Vanderbilt go from here? Our staff writers go five on five.
1. How will you remember this season? Was it a success?
Robbie Weinstein, Sports Editor: I’ll remember this season for the Commodores’ shocking turnaround, the great basketball they played at the end and possible how the year turned into a springboard for continued success under Drew. Vanderbilt had some excellent wins in the second half of the year, even though the players could have mailed in the season back in January. Instead, they came together and produced one of the most remarkable runs in program history. That’s certainly something the more talented 2015-16 team can’t say.
Cutler Klein, Assistant Sports Editor: This season was most definitely a success. Nobody had any expectations for this team going into the season, and once it got its confidence and developed some chemistry, it looked strong. Going to the NCAA tournament was icing on the cake. At that point, they were playing with house money. An NIT bid would have been a success for this team. Drew deserves a lot of credit for getting these Kevin Stallings recruits to buy in.
Josh Hamburger, Editor in Chief: I’m going to remember this season as a success, as should any Commodore basketball fan. This team was exciting, but undermanned; talented, but streaky. As a fan base, we were frustrated by the ...


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