Vanderbilt Basketball's Five-Star Freshman Emerges on A Scooter Prior To Season Opener

Vanderbilt basketball's five-star freshman is out for Vanderbilt's opener against Bellarmine on Monday. He appears to be on track to miss more time, too.

Gabe Nesmith will miss Vanderbilt's opener against Bellarmine, and beyond. | Vanderbilt Athletics

NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt basketball freshman Gabe Nesmith emerged from the tunnel with his right ankle wrapped up, rolling around on a scooter prior to Vanderbilt’s season opener against Bellarmine. 

Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington ruled Nesmith out for the opener on Friday, but the injury appears to be more severe than Vanderbilt thought when it initially happened. Nesmith missed time in the preseason for a reason unrelated to his current injury. Byington wasn’t sure of the severity when he spoke Friday, but he didn’t appear all that encouraged. 

“I was just out of town and I haven’t had a chance to meet with everybody,” Byington said Friday. “We’ll know more this afternoon.” 

In the moments following Byington's presser, Nesmith posted on Instagram with the caption "be right back." Byington will address Nesmith’s injury following the game.

Nesmith warmed up prior to Vanderbilt’s exhibition matchup with Miami and appeared to be on track for the opener, but clearly will not be. He may not be ready anytime soon. 

Nesmith committed to Vanderbilt in late June and became the program’s highest-rated commit under Byington as well as the first five-star that the program landed since 2018. Vanderbilt and Nesmith mutually agreed at the time that a reclassification made sense for both sides, but they pushed it down the line so that he could participate in Peach Jam and a number of other high school summer events. But, Nesmith–the cousin of former Vanderbilt wing Aaron Nesmith–joined the team in the late summer and is expected to be a rotation piece this season, if healthy. 

He finished Vanderbilt’s exhibition win over Virginia with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting and made a few highlight plays in the process. 

Byington labels Nesmith as a dynamic all-around scorer and one of the few that can get a bucket at the beginning and end of the shot clock whenever he wants to. He appears to agree with the sentiment that he was among the best scorers in the 2027 class. He’d likely agree that Nesmith was one of the best players in the class, too. 

“Him telling me that and trusting me with saying that I could play a pretty big role in what it takes to win a championship,” Nesmith told Vandy on SI over the summer, “I would say if you're any player that knows yourself, you would you would hear that and be like ‘yeah, maybe maybe this guy should be at the top of my recruiting [list].’”

Now, Vanderbilt awaits Nesmith’s fate. 

This story will be updated.

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