Vanderbilt guard AJ Hoggard (11) celebrates after making a basket against California during an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Drake and Vanderbilt, both under new coaches and off to an undefeated start, are set to meet Sunday in the Charleston Classic championship game in Charleston, SC
Drake (5-0) beat Miami on Thursday and Florida Atlantic on Friday in two impressive wins in Charleston, but Drake coach Ben McCollum is far from satisfied.
“I thought our guys did a good job executing for about 30 minutes,” McCollum said after the FAU win. “The other 10 minutes we decided not to run.”
McCollum, who won four NCAA Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022), brought four players from his former school to Drake.
One of those players is Bennett Sturges, who was outstanding in Charleston, averaging 19.0 points and 6.0 assists over two games.
Mitch Mascari, a 6-5 shooting guard who also came from Northwest Missouri State, is averaging 18.5 points in Charleston on 9-for-16 3-point shooting.
As for Vanderbilt (6-0), coach Mark Byington arrived from James Madison, whom he led last season to a 32-4 record — the most wins in program history — and an NCAA Tournament victory.
Byington brought in 10 transfers this season, including all five starters: AJ Hoggard (Michigan State); Jason Edwards (North Texas); Devin McGlockton (Boston College); Tyler Nickel (Virginia Tech); and Grant Huffman (Davidson).
Hoggard, who made 83 starts at Michigan State, had 18 points and seven assists in Vanderbilt’s 73-71 win over Nevada on Thursday in Charleston.
On Friday, Nickel scored a career-high 24 points in Vanderbilt’s 76-60 win over Seton Hall. He went 6 of 13 on 3-pointers.
“I learned we’re tough,” Byington said after the win over Seton Hall. “We reward guys who are unselfish. Our guys have to care about each other. When they care about each other, the assists come, the screens come, the good stuff comes.”
Byington said his players planned to take the day off Saturday while coaches pored over the scouting report on Drake.
“They’ve had a really good program in the past,” Byington said of Drake. “They have a new coach who has done an amazing job. I don’t know much (more) about them. It will be a crash study for the next 24 hours.”
–Within field level