Vanderbilt basketball adds 4-star center to Class of 2026
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Vanderbilt basketball literally got a big boost to its 2026 recruiting class with the commitment of 4-star center Jackson Sheffield.
The 6-foot-10 center told On3 on Wednesday of his commitment to Mark Byington’s program in Nashville. Sheffield is from SEC country, hailing from Hoover, Ala., but he’s apparently leaving the state of Alabama and heading to Tennessee to start his college basketball career.
According to On3, Sheffield chose Vanderbilt over Maryland, among other programs, so he was close to choosing to go to the Big Ten but ultimately stayed in the South.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Sheffield is the 104th-ranked player in the Class of 2026. Sheffield is also the 14th-ranked center in the 2026 cycle and is the 2nd-ranked player from the state of Alabama.
Sheffield is Vanderbilt’s 2nd commitment in the Class of 2026. The Commodores also have a commitment from 4-star wing player Ethan Mgbako, who is the 65th-ranked player in the Class of 2026.
SEC schools Mississippi State and Oklahoma also made offers to the 240-pound Sheffield, with Tennessee also heavily in the mix with an offer. Memphis, USF and Virginia Tech were also vying for Sheffield’s services, but he’ll be heading to Vandy next year to try to help Byington take the program to the next level in his 2nd season as head coach.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
