Vanderbilt basketball hires Jon Sanderson, formerly of Michigan, as strength coach

Vanderbilt basketball has hired Jon Sanderson, the former Michigan strength coach, as its strength and conditioning coach for men's basketball, the university announced in a release Thursday.

Sanderson worked at Michigan under John Beilein and Juwan Howard. He was part of Final Four teams in 2013 and 2018. The Wolverines made the Sweet 16 five consecutive times between 2017-22.

He is the only strength and conditioning coach to ever both play and coach in a Final Four.

“The hiring of Jon was very important to our future success,” coach Mark Byington said in a release. “It also shows the commitment Vanderbilt is making in hiring one of the best strength coaches in the country. He will do a great job training our student-athletes and maximizing their potential.”

Sanderson was well-regarded with the Wolverines, but he left the program after a dispute with then-coach Howard. Michigan fired Howard after the season.

After resigning from the Wolverines, Sanderson briefly worked for Illinois as a sports performance consultant.

Byington replaced Jerry Stackhouse in March as the Commodores' coach after a 9-16 season.

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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball hires Jon Sanderson, ex Michigan strength coach