A look at Vanderbilt basketball’s 10 transfer portal additions on 2024-25 roster for new coach Mark Byington

Vanderbilt basketball will basically be starting from scratch in the 2024-25 season. Just one player, JQ Roberts, returns from the 2023-24 team that was the last one under coach Jerry Stackhouse. The rest of the roster consists of two freshmen and 10 transfers.

In general, college basketball teams with this many transfers have not fared particularly well, but this roster is still likely to be a major upgrade from a season ago, with far more talent and experience. Four of the transfers Mark Byington brought in are in their fifth year or more of college basketball, and five more are in their third or fourth year.

It’s a group heavy on guards, with six of the transfers having that as their primary position.

Here’s what all 10 transfers could add to the Commodores’ roster this season:

Jaylen Carey

At 6-foot-8, Carey, a transfer from James Madison, projects to play power forward. He shot 72% from inside the arc as a freshman at James Madison and made 6 of 20 3-point attempts but is a poor free-throw shooter (51%). He likely comes off the bench in his first season while serving as a developmental piece for Byington.

MJ Collins

From Virginia Tech, Collins is a combo guard with size at 6-foot-4. At Vanderbilt, he likely comes off the bench unless he improves his scoring efficiency, with a career .344 field-goal percentage and .274 3-point percentage. He is an 83% free-throw shooter, so improvement might be possible.

Jason Edwards

Edwards, a transfer from North Texas, is a combo guard who likely slots in at the ‘2’ despite a relative lack of size at 6-1, 170 pounds. He’s a true scoring threat who averaged 19.1 points per game with the Mean Green and shot 49% from two, 35% from three and 81% from the free-throw line, solid numbers for someone with such a high usage rate.

Alex Hemenway

Hemenway, from Clemson, projects as a role player who slots in as a perimeter shooter. A sixth-year senior, he is a career 43% 3-point shooter who took 78% of his shots from beyond the arc with the Tigers. He’s played 16.6 minutes per game in his career and likely sees similar usage at Vanderbilt.

AJ Hoggard

At 6-3, 220 pounds, Hoggard is primarily a point guard, with 4.6 career assists per game, but he could also play off the ball in certain lineups. He excels at getting to the basket and finishing, with a career 41% field goal percentage, but he’s not a great 3-point shooter at 30%. At Michigan State, he had 609 assists to just 251 turnovers.

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Grant Huffman

Huffman, a transfer from Davidson, has a similar skillset to Hoggard but in a smaller conference. He’s got size at 6-3 and has shot a career 52% from two but just 29% from three. In his senior season with the Wildcats, he had 169 assists and 66 turnovers. Because he and Hoggard are so similar, it remains to be seen how much they will play together, but both are experienced point guard options.

Chris Manon

A transfer from Cornell, Manon is a 6-5 wing who showed exceptional scoring ability around the basket in the Ivy League, with a 60% 2-point percentage. He attempted threes just 23% of the time in his three seasons at Cornell but improved his 3-point shooting from 30% in 2022-23 to 34% in 2023-24.

Devin McGlockton

McGlockton is a transfer from Boston College, where he put up 10.2 points per game and shot 57.5% from the field in 2023-24. He showed the ability to score from both two (61% in his career) and three (39%). He’s a good rebounder who has more assists than turnovers in his career. McGlockton could play small forward or power forward, but likely spends more time at the ‘4’ due to Vanderbilt’s lack of frontcourt depth.

Tyler Nickel

Nickel, from Virginia Tech, is a big wing at 6-7 who can really shoot. After struggling in a limited role as a freshman at North Carolina, he shot 40% from three with the Hokies. Nickel attempted 67% of his shots from beyond the arc but when he did try for twos, he was efficient there too. Though his natural position is small forward, he could play as a stretch-four as well.

Kijani Wright

At 6-9, 235 pounds, Wright, a USC transfer, is the biggest player on the Commodores’ roster, which likely slots him in as the starting center. In two seasons with the Trojans, he played just 11 minutes per game but did shoot 54% from the field and 68% on free throws. He will need to stay out of foul trouble, as he’s averaged 1.4 fouls per game in those 11 minutes.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball transfer portal additions for 2024-25 roster