1947-48 was the year of a couple of firsts for the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball team. It was the first time that Vanderbilt ever had a scholarship basketball player: Billy Joe Adcock, who averaged 17.1 ppg that year. And it was the first time that Vanderbilt had a full-time basketball coach: Bob Polk, who would ultimately go 197-106 in Nashville; prior to that, Vanderbilt usually had an assistant coach for the football team double as the basketball coach.
1947-48 was also the last time that Vanderbilt failed to win at least ten games in a season. The Commodores finished that season 8-14; they also went 4-11 in the SEC and finished in last place.