The Jarred Vanderbilt File

Name: Jarred Vanderbilt

Height: 6’8”

Position: Power Forward

High School: Victory Academy (TX)

AAU: Houston Hoops

Grade: 2017

Background:

Vanderbilt was named an Honorable Mention All-Sophomore this year by Max Preps’s after completing his second season at Victory Prep in Houston, TX. In the fall Vanderbilt attended the USA Developmental Camp and he will compete for a spot on the USA U16 team in late May.

AAU:

Vanderbilt was one of only a handful of freshmen to play in the 17U EYBL last year and he averaged a very respectable 8.2 points and 6.3 rebounds. This year, as one of the key cogs on a 9-3 team, Vanderbilt is averaging 15.4 points and 10. 2 rebounds per game. He exploded during the second live period averaging 17.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per game which included a double-double in each contest. Against Each 1 Teach 1, Vanderbilt went for 26 points and 12 boards in his top EYBL performance of the year so far.

At this point in time, Vanderbilt is an athletic, sinewy, forward that can defend multiple positions on the court. He has the quickness, coordination, and dribbling ability to play the wing on offense, but right now his shooting is still a work in progress as he is just 2-20 from three. He does most of his basket above the rim off of drives to the paint or offensive put-backs. He’s an extremely quick leaper and usually corrals several rebounds by using his elite second jump.

Schools:

“I’m not leaning toward anyone yet, I haven’t narrowed anything down,” said Vanderbilt. “I’m just taking it slow. I’ve still got two years and just trying to build relationships. Kentucky, I’ve heard from Duke, Kansas State, Kansas, a lot of Big XII schools like Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and U of A.”

Quotes:

“The EYBL has been great. Really strong competition. When everyone is playing together we are real good and tough to beat.”

“It’s like a 1-2 punch. If you try to stop him (De’Aron Fox) then you got me, If you try to stop me, then we’ve got him going backdoor. You can’t stop both of us! Its good having a player like that so he can draw attention and leave me open or I can draw attention and it will leave him open. We feed off each other and that’s how we excel.”

“Yeah, I say I’m a point forward. I’m versatile and can switch different positions. I’m trying to be a more definite wing and I can cause miss-matches when I have a smaller defender on me and I can cause miss-matches. I’m rebounding, I’m blocking shots, defending everyone, making plays for my teammates. I want to be the defensive stopper. I’ve been working on it. On this team they want me to guard the best player. I can guard the 1 or I can guard the 5.”

“For one, I’ve gained some weight. I’ve got my frame a little bigger. I’ve put on about 13 pounds since my freshmen year. I do push-ups and sit-ups at home, but at the weight room I’m doing bench presses, squats, calf raises, stuff for my hips. I’ve worked on my ball-handling so that way I can play in and out. Just my outside shooting really, that way I can play all positions.”

“I kind of like LeBron and James Harden, really. That’s who I try to model my game after.”