Two weeks after firing Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt welcomed its new head coach on Thursday inside Memorial Gymnasium: Mark Byington.
Byington spent the last four seasons at James Madison, where he guided the Dukes to an 82-36 record over his tenure as head coach. Vanderbilt’s hire of Byington comes on the heels of the head coach’s most successful season yet, as the Dukes won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and earned a first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament this past season. Before that, Byington was the head coach at Georgia Southern from 2013-2020.
After Vanderbilt missed the NCAA Tournament for a seventh consecutive season, much of Byington’s press conference naturally revolved around rebuilding the program and the transfer portal. But first, Byington spoke about his excitement for taking the Commodores’ lead job.
“It is an honor to be the basketball coach at one of the greatest universities in the world,” Byington said. “You don’t get into [coaching] for any other reason besides love and passion for it. I want to be an extremely successful coach here.”
Byington went on to address the style and type of basketball that he hopes to bring to Vanderbilt. At James Madison, Byington led one of the nation’s best offenses in 2023-24.
“It is going to be fun, fast-paced and entertaining. I’m going to let these guys use every ability they have on the court. As a fan, you’re going to come and want to watch these young men pour their hearts out for you,” Byington said.
Given the several Vanderbilt players that entered the transfer portal upon Stackhouse’s firing, Byington expressed his desire to retain as much of that talent as possible. Amongst other notable players that entered the portal, Jason Rivera-Torres, Colin Smith and Paul Lewis were all present at Byington’s press conference.
“All the ones who have put their names in the transfer portal, I’ve communicated with. Some of them are open to coming back, so what I need to do in the next few days is convince them that this is the best place for them,” Byington said. “I asked every single one if they liked going to Vanderbilt, and every single one said they loved it. So we have a good start there.”
Along with bringing back Vanderbilt’s former players in the portal, Byington addressed the need to bring in talent from elsewhere. Despite Vanderbilt’s lack of success in recent years, Byington pointed to positive conversations he’s had with players in the portal.
“There are transfers out there that want to be here. I’ve had four days to talk to them, and the reception I’ve gotten from them about the school, conference and everything else has been great,” Byington said. “We’re going to find great basketball players and students and get them here.”
Namely, Byington was asked about the possibility of bringing his former players at James Madison to Vanderbilt. Of the few that have entered the portal after Byington’s departure, the most notable is Sun Belt POY Terrence Edwards Jr., who averaged 17.2 PPG last season.
“Right now, we’re evaluating the roster here but also evaluating every transfer,” Byington said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are [former JMU players to transfer to Vanderbilt]. If some of them are transfers and we’re the best fit for them, then they’ll be here.”
In his previous stops, Byington has largely been known as a program builder. Both at James Madison and Georgia Southern, Byington was able to turn around programs that had found themselves struggling. At Vanderbilt, he is confident much of the same turnaround can take place.
“Vanderbilt is committed, and they want to be successful. And that matches my vision,” Byington said. “It’s a great league, and we’re going to find players who aren’t scared of a challenge.”
As a result of Vanderbilt’s struggles over the past few seasons, attendance, particularly amongst students, has continued to drop at Memorial Gymnasium. At his press conference, Byington emphasized the need to have students, and the wider fanbase, bought into his program.
“One of the things I want to do quickly is let the students know how important they are to the environment,” Byington said. “They bring energy, enthusiasm and might pull us through games when we’re not at our best. I want them to know that they’re a part of it as much as the guys on the team.”
To close out, Byington was asked about how he will measure success in his new role.
“I need to maximize this team to the best of their potential. You will see them get better every single game and be at their best in March,” Byington said. “We can talk about championships and NCAA Tournaments; that is the goal, we are not hiding from it. But continuing to get better will get us there.”
Now cemented as Vanderbilt’s head coach, Byington will hope to navigate the Commodores back to success, starting with a very important offseason.
