A major boost for Vanderbilt basketball Wednesday night with rising Junior Scotty Pippen Jr. withdrawing from the NBA Draft at the 11th hour.

Wednesday was the last day for players to withdraw from the Draft and Pippen decided to return after averaging a whopping 20.8 points per game last season but his Draft status murky at best.

Pippen has played in 54 games and made 53 starts in his first two seasons. He was an NABC First-Team All-District pick and an All-SEC selection by The Associated Press in 2020-21. His 457 points are the seventh-most by a sophomore in a season in Vandy history.

A native of Los Angeles, Pippen also posted the ninth-most assists per game in Vandy history last season and ranked second in the SEC with 4.9 per contest.

Pippen ranked third in the SEC and ninth nationally with 142 made free throws, and second in the SEC with 1.77 steals per game.

A few new faces are joining Pippen and the Commodores this season, among them are graduate transfers Liam Robbins (Minnesota) and Rodney Chatman (Dayton) as well as two incoming four-star freshmen—Gabe Dorsey and Peyton Daniels for head coach Jerry Stackhouse’s third season at the helm of the Commodores.