The VandySports 100: No. 99, Riley LaChance

Our countdown of the 100 best Vanderbilt players we've covered since we started the site in 2003, beginning with No. 100, Riley LaChance.

Honors and awards: 2015 Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team

2015 SEC Freshman of the Week (four times)

2017 All-SEC tournament team

In the VU record book: Career scoring: 15th (1,476)

Career 3-pointers made: seventh (260)

Career 3-pointers attempted: ninth (630)

Career free-throw percentage: seventh (83.3)

Career assists: tied-sixth (423)

Single-season free throw percentage: tied-10th (87.3 in 2014-15)

Before VU: Attended Wisconsin's Brookfield Central High School, where he ended his career as the school's all-time leading scorer (1,643), while also setting marks for single-season scoring (543) and career steals (188). LaChance, who had a 44-point game in conference play as a senior, earned unanimous first-team all-state honors while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor, 48.6 percent from 3 and 81.5 percent from the foul line.

Freshman (2014-15): Started all 35 games for a team that went 21-14 (9-9 SEC) and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals. He led all SEC freshmen in scoring (429), a mark that ranks third in VU history among freshmen. His 102 assists are the third-best mark by a VU freshman. Scored double-figures 24 times and topped 20 points three times, with a season high of 26 (Purdue, Western Carolina). Set season-highs in rebounds (nine vs. Missouri), assists (eight, Missouri) and steals (five, Penn).

Sophomore (2015-16): Played in 35 games and started 19. Was a preseason All-SEC pick, but a season-long shooting slump held him to career lows in most offense categories. Had a season-best 18 points at Alabama.

Junior (2016-17): Played and started in all 35 games, manning the point position much of the season. Scored double-figures 20 times with a high of 24 in a win at LSU, and had a single-game high of seven assists three times. Ranked third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) and surpassed 1,000 points that season.

Senior (2017-18): Played all 32 games and started 31. Scored double-figures 23 times and topped 20 points seven times. Set a season high with eight assists vs. Mississippi State, and also won that game with a 3 at the buzzer (see video at the end of the article). Hit 41.8 percent from 3, which ranked fourth in the league. In league games only, LaChance finished fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1), eighth in assists (3.7), ninth in field goal percentage (46.4), ninth in three-point percentage (39.7) and fourth in 3-pointers made per game (2.7).

Post-VU: LaChance has played the last two years in Belgium, and averaged 16.7 points in 18 games for Okapi Ailstar last season.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: I'm conflicted about ranking LaChance this low. I never struggled with keeping him in the top 100, and I can make a case for bumping him 5-6 spots higher.

The reasons I didn't move him up (in order): LaChance wasn't a good defender, was never a truly a star and the teams he played on (though he did make two NCAA tournaments) didn't much meaningful winning. Those NIT games were the only post-season games VU ever won. The team went 71-64 in his career with a 36-36 league mark and the NCAA teams were 9- and 11-seeds.

On the other hand, I remember making a case that LaChance, statistically, had the best year of any freshman in the SEC in 2014-15. Coming off a disappointing sophomore season, LaChance reacted well to a change in coaching staffs and philosophy, even though he wasn't a good fit for what Bryce Drew wanted to do in a dribble-drive-oriented approach. LaChance--mostly known for his shooting--wasn't a break-a-defense-down threat, and ceded some time to Payton Willis at point that season. But, LaChance made it work because he was so steady with the ball in his hands (a career 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio).

LaChance also played well as a senior in a basically meaningless senior season during which Drew's attention was focused on getting program-changing recruits. I don't know that it's fair to say that staff threw in the towel on 2017-18, but it kind of felt like it. That was a distraction, and the team also lost Matthew Fisher-Davis to injury for most of league play. Coming in the midst of a season where VU nearly finished last, it would have been easy to throw in the towel (as one would probably argue the next season's team did). Some credit should probably go to senior focus and leadership, which would imply some credit to LaChance for that.

All in all, LaChance was a good player who played a ton of minutes and played most of them well. In a parallel universe, I'd love to see how he'd fare as a starting two-guard with a coaching staff prodding him to shoot more: He hit 41.3 percent of his career 3s, but shot just 630 of them. (By comparison, Shan Foster hit 42.1 percent and shot 242 more.)

LATE NOTE: Vanderbilt does not keep school records for minutes played, but according to this, LaChance appears to be VU's all-time leader in that department.