A Vanderbilt Career Like Khamil Pierre's Could've had a Special Ending, Instead it was Eerie, Unceremonious

It wasn’t supposed to end like this. 

The career of Khamil Pierre looked to be among Vanderbilt women’s basketball’s most promising in recent memory. She had the dominant season, in which she averaged over 20 points per game. She had the skill set that made you believe that a season like that wasn’t a fluke. She had a partner in crime as good as any in Mikayla Blakes. 

Yet, instead of a decorated career in which she is at the center of bringing Shea Ralph’s program to prominence, it ended ominously in the time of year that no breaking news is good. 

Instead, there was breaking news. It was as ominous and vague as it plausibly could’ve been, too. The screen alerting the country of the news was black with a shade of text and a whole lot left up for interpretation. Ralph hasn’t often had to do a release like this, not many have. She appeared to have a clear intention with it, though. The same intention that all “crisis” communicators have. 

Give everyone enough, but nothing more than that. Be concise, get to the point and get out of there. That’s it. 

“Khamil is a great player, and I have no doubt she will have success in the future,” Ralph said in the release. “Ultimately, it was determined it would be best for Khamil and our program to go in different directions. We wish her the best of luck.”

The way Ralph said it doesn’t make it any less crushing for her program. In the summer following her breakout season, Pierre has been dismissed from Vanderbilt’s program, per a report from Vandy247. 

The player that Ralph showed enough belief in to coach hard is now deprived of any coaching. The player that has the talent of a potential factor on a WNBA team is now without a program or a place to showcase her skillset. The one that Vanderbilt treated like a star throughout the spring and ultimately landed a lucrative NIL deal to stay–instead of transferring to a more powerful program–is now being let go for nothing. 

It’s the ultimate story of what could’ve been within this program. 

What could have been if Pierre and Blakes had given it one more shot within this program. What could have been if Pierre and Ralph had always been on the same page, or if Pierre had been easier to work with at times. Instead, one of Vanderbilt’s best talents is ending her career unceremoniously. 

Perhaps Vanderbilt could pick up seamlessly without Pierre’s scoring punch, but every time something goes haywire it will be natural for it to wonder if Pierre could’ve helped or been the difference in a win or a loss. It will have to do without her unique combination of physicality and mobility. It’ll have to find someone else to be the model of consistency as an off two feet finisher. More importantly, it has to find a robin to Blake’s in aggregate. 

Even if Ralph finds a way to push the right buttons and maximize this group, she won’t ever get to know what it could have done if it had Pierre to turn to on the low block or in the midrange. She had to stand for something, though. 

It’s unclear exactly what the straw that broke the camels’ back was here, but for Ralph–who appears to be as relationship-oriented as any coach of her stature–something did the trick. 

Whatever it was has made things plenty more complicated for Ralph and her program. It’s also made it downright eerie around a program that looked to be ascending towards places it hasn’t been in recent memory.

SEE ALSO: Mikayla Blakes Lands a Spot on USA's Americup Roster