Vanderbilt Out with Foot Injury (UPDATE: Vanderbilt Still Not Practicing)

[Blue Heaven]

I truly think that if we don’t see him play tomorrow then we won’t see him play at all.

He isn't going to play tomorrow but I feel we can have hope he returns sometime this season. The workout video was good to see but it's a much different animal to go all out in a game. He is close it seems.

[Friendsofcoal]

I just don’t see Cal bringing him in after Jan 1 and him being so far behind the rest of the team. There would be a good possibility that it would make him look bad and hurt his draft stock. It’s just a really big roll of the dice for the kids future...JMO

[KevinHall]

If he is not fully practicing by mid Jan then I doubt we ever see him play here. Just too bad but a big risk when you have to recruit a new team every year.

[GOCAT15]

This has the Diallo situation written all over it again. Vanderbilt is currently a first rounder in some mocks, but not a lottery pick. It's possible he starts practicing with the team once he is healthy but doesn't play(depending on when he is back to 100%), and then we can just hope he comes back next year.

[Catsrock]

I just don’t see Cal bringing him in after Jan 1 and him being so far behind the rest of the team. There would be a good possibility that it would make him look bad and hurt his draft stock. It’s just a really big roll of the dice for the kids future...JMO

You're probably right, but I don't like that its come to this culture with pro prospects. I think it should be based solely on him being fully healthy. Clearly he shouldn't be brought in if not 100%. But the fear of him "looking bad" doesn't fly with me. The scouts know he's been out with injury. They take that into account. If he's not NBA ready that would be revealed in the draft combine anyway--it is like the Diallo situation PLUS a history of lingering/repetitive injuries. So if he intends to try the draft in 2018 it seems to me he needs to show the NBA that he is healthy and can hold up. If his plan is to wait till 2019 to jump then he needs to hit the floor and develop his game against someone above AAU competition.

It's not just me selfishly wanting our best team on the floor. I truly think if he's healthy his best way to help himself is to play ball. The one and done rule was put in by the NBA to help teams avoid the crippling mistakes--Kwame Brown type misses. Trying to hide doesn't show them what you're made of.

And from a UK fan perspective we shouldn't expect him to step on the floor and transcend us to a top-flight team in his 1st game either. But if he's healthy now he could certainly elevate our prospects 3 months from now. Going back to the way things went for Diallo I'd think he'd want to try it a different way especially if he wants to test the draft waters in a few months.

[GOCAT15]

You're probably right, but I don't like that its come to this culture with pro prospects. I think it should be based solely on him being fully healthy. Clearly he shouldn't be brought in if not 100%. But the fear of him "looking bad" doesn't fly with me. The scouts know he's been out with injury. They take that into account. If he's not NBA ready that would be revealed in the draft combine anyway--it is like the Diallo situation PLUS a history of lingering/repetitive injuries. So if he intends to try the draft in 2018 it seems to me he needs to show the NBA that he is healthy and can hold up. If his plan is to wait till 2019 to jump then he needs to hit the floor and develop his game against someone above AAU competition.

It's not just me selfishly wanting our best team on the floor. I truly think if he's healthy his best way to help himself is to play ball. The one and done rule was put in by the NBA to help teams avoid the crippling mistakes--Kwame Brown type misses. Trying to hide doesn't show them what you're made of.

And from a UK fan perspective we shouldn't expect him to step on the floor and transcend us to a top-flight team in his 1st game either. But if he's healthy now he could certainly elevate our prospects 3 months from now. Going back to the way things went for Diallo I'd think he'd want to try it a different way especially if he wants to test the draft waters in a few months.

I agree, the only reason that I ever would feel that a player shouldn't jump in the mix 3/4 through the year is because we had a stellar team and would be afraid it would mess with the chemistry. But that is not the situation we are currently in and I would think this team would welcome him on the court with open arms even if it meant them losing a little playing time.