Four-year starter Brad Tinsley makes the VandySports 100 at No. 80.
Honors and awards: Southeastern Conference Player of the Week (Nov. 15, 2010)
In the VU record book: Single-season assists: eighth and 10th (155 in 2010-11, 147 in 2011-12)
Single-season assists per game: 10th (4.6 in 2010-11)
Career assists: second (482)
Career assists per game: sixth (3.59)
Career scoring: 31st (1,252)
Career free-throw percentage: sixth (83.8)
Before VU: Was the Gatorade Oregon Player of the Year at Oregon City High as a senior, averaging 25 points, seven assists and three steals. Ranked No. 2 on Oregon's "big school" scoring chart at the time of his graduation. Lettered four years in basketball and baseball and twice in football.
Freshman (2008-09): Came to VU as a combo guard, and played mostly off the ball due to the presence of Jermaine Beal. Averaged 11.0 points and 2.5 rebounds, playing in every game while, ranking second in minutes as a true freshman for a team that went 19-12 (8-8 Southeastern Conference) and didn't play in the postseason. Averaged 31.8 minutes in SEC play (second on the team), with a team high 47 assists, averaging 10.9 points and shooting 41.5 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from 3 and 86.1 percent from the line. Scored in double figures 22 times, with a season-high 20 in an SEC tournament loss to Alabama. Led the team in scoring three times and in assists 13 times. Made two big 3s down the stretch of a road win over LSU.
Sophomore (2009-10): Averaged 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in his worst season at VU. The team went 24-9 (12-4) while finishing second in the SEC and losing a first-round NCAA tournament game to Murray State at the buzzer. Set a season high with 18 points in 36 minutes in a loss at Georgia. Ranked third on the team in SEC minutes (26.3) while averaging 7.4 points, shooting 38.8 percent from the field, 23.9 from 3 and 93.9 percent from the line in league games.
Junior (2010-11): Was one of two players to start all 34 games on a 23-11 (9-7) team that lost by three points to Richmond in the NCAA tournament, assuming the point guard role from the graduated Beal. Had the first triple-double in school history (11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) against Presbyterian. Led SEC in assists in all games (4.5) and ranked second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Ranked second on the team in minutes in league games (34.1). Averaged 10.6 points and 3.2 rebounds and led VU in assists (66) in league games, shooting 44.6 percent from the field, 37.3 percent from 3 and 89.6 percent from the line in them. Scored in double-figures in 10 games, with a season-high 18 vs. St. Mary's. Had a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) vs. Davidson. Had nine assists against South Carolina and Kentucky.
Senior (2011-12): One of two players to start every game on a 25-11 (10-6) team that beat Harvard in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Averaged 9.0 points in all games. In SEC regular-season play, averaged 7.2 points, ranking third on the team in minutes (28.1) while shooting .438 from the field, .359 from 3 and 88.5 percent from the line. Had 11 points and eight assists in a win at Marquette. Had 12 points and nine assists in a win at South Carolina. Dished out 10 assists and seven points vs. Lafayette.
Post-VU: Tinsley never got a shot in the NBA, but, played well overseas for three years.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Tinsley may not have been a great player, but he sure checks a lot of boxes. Vanderbilt does not keep official records for career minutes played, but if it did, I think Tinsley would be in the top five; he played 3,919 for his career and best I can tell, Riley LaChance is the school's all-time leader with 4,091. Tinsley's teams also won a lot, going 91-43 and making three NCAA tournaments.
Tinsley may not have been great at anything outside foul shooting (83.8 percent for his career), but, was good at a number of things: 3-point shooting (37.7 percent), passing (4.9 career assists per 40 minutes), avoiding turnovers (2.6 per 40 minutes in his career, and assist-to-turnover rates of 2.1 and 2.5 in his two years starting at the point) and at least respectable in a few more (49.9 percent 2-point shooting, 3.9 rebounds per 40 minutes).
One of the most surprising things about Tinsley's career is that he had just one 20-point game (and he went for exactly 20) in his career. He easily had the ability to average 12-15 points a game, and probably to do it efficiently. But Tinsley knew his role, and that was to blend in and let the team's starts like Beal, John Jenkins, Jeff Taylor and A.J. Ogilvy lead the way, and he did that quite well. And every now and then, he'd wow you with something like the triple-double, or a dunk over Florida's Chandler Parsons (see video below) that reminded you that he was capable of more than anyone realized.
Tinsley had an unusually long, quietly productive career while assuming the roles in which his teams needed him to have success. There's easily a place in our top 100 for a guy like that.
