For Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse to secure the third commitment in the Commodores' 2024 class, all he had to do was go back to his high school stomping grounds.
Oak Hill big man Jamie Vinson has committed to Vanderbilt.
Vinson also held offers from Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Cal, Nevada, Tulsa and others.
The Oak Hill big man took an official visit to Vanderbilt on September 24th, the same weekend that the Commodore football team faced off against Kentucky. From there it felt like Vanderbilt had the upper hand in the recruitment.
A little under a month later, Vinson made it official and committed to the Commodores. Vanderbilt's recruiting pitch to Vinson was certainly helped by the 2024 recruit sharing a high school with Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse.
The class of 2024 big man is a regarded as a three-star recruit with upside to transcend that rating, the Oak Hill big man is still tapping into his best basketball after a high school growth spurt of five inches.
Breaking down Vinson’s game:
Vinson has a sky-high ceiling and plenty of tools that pop, it’s just a matter of whether he can reach that ceiling.
Vinson is just scratching the surface of what he can be but has shown flashes of being able to do it all offensively. That includes some nice plays with his back to the basket and prolific dunking off the catch but also some flashes of ballhandling, passing and 3-point shooting.
Those type of plays combined with Vinson’s 7-foot-5 wingspan make it easy to dream about the possibilities of what the 6-foot-10 big man's upside could lend itself to.
That wingspan also makes Vinson a real presence as a shotblocker, the Oak Hill big man can make a real impact on the game with that ability. Not only by blocking shots but also by altering them.
At this stage of the development it feels as if that may be Vinson's most valuable skill along with his ability to flush it around the rim as well as his catch-and-shoot ability.
The 6-foot-10 big man played just over five minutes per game and averaged 3.5 points, 1.3 rebounds as well as .25 blocks per game in conference play at Oak Hill last season. Vinson seemingly took a step forward this summer with Southern Assault on the Adidas circuit and looks to have a bigger role at Oak Hill this season.
That jump, some more polishing and some growth into his frame will be key for Vinson to take enough of a leap to be a contributor early in his college career.
Perhaps Vinson will start as a pick and roll, catch and score big man who can block shots but develops into a more versatile scorer with a more developed frame down the line.
Vinson's numbers don't blow you away, but his upside is undoubtedly worth taking a swing on if you're Vanderbilt. Especially with Ven-Allen Lubin, Lee Dort and Carter Lang all possessing at least two years of eligibility after this season.
Class impact:
Vinson is the third player in Vanderbilt's 2024 class and fills a position that Stackhouse mentioned wanting to add in the class.
The Oak Hill big man's commitment comes to fill that positional need but also comes at a time that feels important for Vanderbilt, a time when it had virtually no momentum on the recruiting trail.
Prior to Vinson's commitment, Stackhouse and staff had lost three-straight 2024 players that had officially visited Vanderbilt since the start of the school year.
Now Vanderbilt has some of that momentum back as well as a complement to its 2024 backcourt pairing of Tyler Tanner and Karris Bilal.
It feels as if Stackhouse and staff will make a run at adding a wing or another big before the recruiting cycle is over but wouldn't be heartbroken if those scholarships were instead used in the transfer portal.
