Jerry Stackhouse, Ezra Manjon, and Tyrin Lawrence spoke to the media earlier today at SEC Media Days in Birmingham. Here are five things we learned after the Commodores’ media session.

Last season, Vanderbilt was penalized at the end of the season for their non-conference losses to Grambling and Southern Miss, but also their margin of victory in the wins. Ever since the NCAA switched from the RPI to the NET as the main criteria on a team’s NCAA Tournament resume, coaches across the country have had to adjust their style of play early in the season. The NET includes more components than just winning percentage. It takes into account strength of schedule, location of the game, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.

With that in mind, Jerry Stackhouse made it clear that they’ve made adjustments within their approach to facing non-conference opponents early in the season.

“We've been forced to do it a little bit. There's parity now.”

Obviously, Vanderbilt fans are not happy with the NET ranking metric, but it also sounds like Stackhouse isn’t the biggest fan either. After last season, you can expect this team to keep their foot on the gas late in these non-conference games.

“I think it's sad that it's the case because of these metrics. If you're up with a 20-point lead, you can't put your guys in at the end of the bench, you have to try to maintain that 20-point lead. That's the reality of how it's weighed with the different rankings and things like that. We're going to finish games.”

After last season and after today’s comments from Coach Stackhouse, expect this team to keep their foot on the gas late in these non-conference games. Not just non-conference games though, I’m sure this staff will keep the same mindset in conference play as well.

Going back to last season, Stackhouse even made a football reference on how they felt going into non-conference play, with some challenging opponents on the schedule.

“I think we got punt returned by it a little bit last year. We thought we were going out and playing a really competitive schedule.”

Yes, last season was a tougher-than-normal non-conference slate, but that didn’t actually help Vanderbilt. It became the sole reason they were left out of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, this season, Coach Stackhouse believes the non-conference slate is challenging, but there are more teams he feels like this group can dominate.

“I think we still got competitive teams, but it's teams we feel we can get away from.”

In today’s age of transfer portal, NIL, and even the NET ranking, Stackhouse is diving headfirst into the modern era of college basketball. He wrapped up his comments in regard to the schedule adjustment with some pointed remarks.

“Do like everybody else. When in Rome, do what the Romans do. We try to beat the hell out of everybody in our early non-conference games, then if you falter a little bit during the SEC season, which we didn't, but it didn't pan out for us as well. We kind of learned from that and we're going to try to adjust accordingly, try to go in and win the games, win 'em with the best that we can, then hopefully have as much success in the SEC, knowing that those games weigh quite a bit, as well.”

I’m not sure there’s a more quote-worthy coach in the SEC than Coach Stack. There’s an intrigue heading into this season that makes his media appearances interesting to watch. Today, he was confident but also loose.

When asked about his excitement for year five, he made a bold statement about his backcourt, which includes Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence.

“We return in my mind one of the best backcourts in our league and possibly in the country. We've been able to add some pieces around them, so really excited.”

There are some other dynamic backcourts in the SEC, but we can all agree that Manjon and Lawrence are in that upper tier. By the end of the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if Vanderbilt’s backcourt is one of the hotter talking points down the stretch of the season.

Coach Stackhouse is good for at least one chuckle out of the media members during each session. Today, when asked about the addition of Kentucky assistant Brad Calipari (John Calipari’s son), he got really sarcastic.

“Brad, he spilled the beans on everything. We got it all. We have all the scouts and everything right now. We're going to leave the Kentucky scout completely to Brad (smiling).”

In all seriousness though, there is a level of intrigue with this hire that creates an interesting storyline when Kentucky and Vanderbilt meet this season. Coach Stackhouse really wanted an experienced skill coach and he came upon Brad Calipari after asking around. Not only did his dad, John Calipari, reach out to Coach Stackhouse, but Pistons executive Dwayne Casey was also a reference for Brad.

“He's been great. I reached out once we had those on-court positions and trainers. Obviously, coach (Calipari) reached out on his behalf, and a couple of other people that I really trust. Dwayne Casey reached out on his behalf. But Brad is a guy on his own merit, he's really worked his butt off. He's doing a great job with our guys.”

The timing of this move feels critical, especially since Vanderbilt possesses one of the best backcourts in the conference. It’ll be interesting to see the impact Calipari has on guards like Lawrence, Manjon, and Lewis, but also the young guys like Jason Rivera-Torres, Isaiah West, and Malik Pressley.

On top of not playing much last season, it’s also been tough for Dort to get work in this offseason. After missing 13 games late last season due to an injury, he’s been slowly working his way back. Coach Stackhouse expects Dort to potentially return in 3-4 weeks, but we’ll see how he progresses.

“I think he's probably maybe three or four weeks away. We're hoping that he's ready to go by opening day. We're not going to force it. I think it's more important for us to be smart, not have any setbacks.”

This coaching staff knows how thin they are in the frontcourt, which is exactly why they’ll be cautious with Dort’s setback. At the absolute worst, if they get Dort back at 100% heading into SEC play, he’d still have an adjustment period. The best case scenario is that Dort plays solid minutes in the nonconference games in order to be physically ready to go before conference play.

“Really if we could have him at full throttle by SEC play, I think that would be more of a realistic goal. If he's ahead of schedule, able to participate in some of the early season games, non-conference games, then so be it.”

In the frontcourt, the Commodores brought in Ven-Allen Lubin, a transfer from Notre Dame, but also Tasos Kamateros, a transfer from South Dakota. It’s difficult to envision Vanderbilt being extremely physical in the paint without Dort, but Coach Stackhouse believes their versatile enough at that position to negate his absence in the meantime.

“I think we have the depth and the ability to play some versatile styles that we can do without him for right now. But he's definitely a big body that we need just from a rim protection standpoint, just his overall presence. He's a good player, and I know he's anxious to show that."

Lee Dort’s status is something every Vanderbilt fan should keep a close eye on because, without him, this team will have to shift their playing style. With him, they’re a more physical team around the rim, which is a necessity in the SEC, arguably the most competitive conference in the country.

The distinguished Joey Dwyer asked Manjon to describe his relationship with Tyrin Lawrence, both on and off the court.

“We’re literally always together. We’re usually eating dinner together somewhere like (Raising) Cane’s or Chipotle.”

The new Raising Cane’s, a widely popular chicken restaurant, on White Bridge Road, is not far from Vanderbilt’s campus, which makes it an easy trip for Manjon and Lawrence.

“There’s a Cane’s ten minutes away so we take turns who drives.”

Then, Joey was bold enough to ask what Ezra’s order is at Cane’s.

“It depends. If I’m feeling really hungry, I’m going to get a Caniac, but I never eat the full Caniac. If I just ate a couple of hours ago, I get a box combo, I usually finish that. With a sweet tea. I try not to drink a lot of sweet drinks, so water for my nutritionist, but…sweet tea.”

Manjon has as much personality as any Vanderbilt point guard in the history of the program, which bodes well for the chemistry of this team. Oftentimes, they’ll go as Ezra goes, which creates pressure, but also a golden opportunity for this season.

The off-the-court relationship between Lawrence and Manjon is just as important as their chemistry on the court. After listening to Manjon’s comments when asked about their relationship, it feels like Vanderbilt fans could be in for a treat inside Memorial Gym this season.

When Lawrence hit the portal, there was almost an “end of the world as we know” it feels within the fan base. Many people considered Tyrin’s decision to enter the portal as the beginning of the end of the Stackhouse era.

Pretty quickly, Auburn entered the picture and reportedly offered him a six-figure NIL deal. Earlier today, Tyrin was asked about the programs he was considering upon entering the portal.

“I heard from a lot of teams, a lot in the SEC. As far as considering, I’m sure you guys know Auburn was in the picture. Bruce Pearl, great program, great guy.”

With reported interest from both Auburn and Texas Tech, the perception was that Lawrence would not be coming back to West End.

Well, “not so fast,” said Coach Stackhouse. He and his coaching staff found a way to get Tyrin back to campus and all was well in Commodore Nation.

Despite the interest from Auburn, he said he felt committed to Coach Stackhouse and his vision.

“I think we’ve got a good situation here (at Vanderbilt) and his vision for me, we’ve got a pretty good relationship also.”

When asked about what went into his decision, Lawrence made a comment that Vanderbilt fans will enjoy.

“Going into the portal, I really never wanted to leave Vanderbilt in the first place. Just a few people probably in my ear. Ultimately, me and Coach Stack kept talking and kept developing our relationship throughout the process. I’m happy I came back.”

I’m sure people inside the situation knew Lawrence never really wanted to leave, but for fans, that’s a comment that likely feels refreshing. The laid-back nature of Tyrin Lawrence can be deceiving, he’s a player with conviction and has high hopes for his final year at Vanderbilt