The success of Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball has come as a shock to many this season. Head coach Mark Byington has brought together a band of ten transfers with just two returning players and has led this renovated squad to a 13-2 record through the first two weeks of SEC play. While the performance of individual players may not be as surprising, the team’s ability to form elite chemistry and create a new identity in such a short amount of time is simply incredible.
Jason Edwards, a junior guard brought in from the University of North Texas, leads the team in scoring despite coming off the bench most nights. AJ Hoggard, a fifth-year graduate student from Michigan State, has brought indispensable experience and late-game heroics to go along with his playmaking ability. Devin McGlockton, a junior forward from Boston College, provides crucial size for the Black and Gold, boasting solid averages of 11.2 points and 8.2 rebounds with a field goal percentage of 65.7%.
But perhaps the most impressive — and unexpected — performance of all comes from true freshman Tyler Tanner.
Tanner, a 6’0, 150-pound point guard, was brought in by former head coach Jerry Stackhouse as a three-star recruit from Brentwood Academy, located just outside of Nashville. In 2022-23, he was honored as the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Tennessee, finishing the season with averages of 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.1 steals. To cap off his campaign, Tanner led his team to the state final, recording 22 points and five steals in a championship game win that brought home a state trophy for Brentwood. Even better, he repeated as Tennessee’s GPOY in the 2023-24 season, joining Brandon Miller as the only two players to win the award in back-to-back years since its creation.
Tanner has compiled some remarkable stats for a player in his first year of college. At just 20.9 minutes per game, he’s averaging 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and an extraordinary 2.3 steals while shooting over 53% from the field. Tanner’s impact on the team’s success goes far beyond the box score, though. Per Sports Reference, he has an offensive rating of 149.7, implying that for every 100 possessions he would theoretically score nearly 150 points. To give that number some context, the single-season record for offensive rating by an NCAA Men’s Basketball player is 145.96 by Devontae Cacok in 2016-17.
On the other side of the ball, Tanner possesses a defensive rating of 90.5, meaning that while he’s on the court he lets up just 90 points to opposing players. When put together, these two stats give the first year an impressive net rating of +59.2, suggesting that, with him on the floor, the team would score over 59 points more per 100 possessions than if he were off. Even with his somewhat small sample size of 311 total minutes played, these numbers are nothing to scoff at.
Tanner’s stats speak for themselves. His numbers are unlike those from a Vanderbilt freshman in years — at least since Scotty Pippen Jr. in 2020. But stats are just that: they don’t tell the whole story.
Just watch the film.
The hops
Bounce. Bunnies. Hops. Whatever you want to call it, Tanner has it. He has been fearless, putting his leaping ability on display over the course of the 2024-25 campaign. Perhaps the most impressive example of this came against Cal when Tanner skyrocketed into the air for a putback jam after a missed fastbreak layup by AJ Hoggard. These exhibits have been slightly limited due to a lack of playing time, but when Tanner gets the chance to get up he most definitely takes advantage.
His vertical doesn’t just lead to highlight-reel dunks, though. It also lets him get closer to the rim on layup attempts, providing him with a lower likelihood of missing these shots. This is evidenced by his 74.4% conversion rate on 2-point field goals. Tanner’s jumping ability has even been flaunted when his teammates go up for shots: whether it’s a make or a miss, he follows the shot into the paint and skies for any potential offensive rebound opportunities on most possessions.
The heater
Despite a small sample size of 3-point shots attempted (38), Tanner has shown he can light it up from deep on any given night. In Vanderbilt’s matchup against New Orleans, he went 2-for-3 from long range and dropped an efficient 16 points in just 18 minutes. Back in November, in consecutive games against Cal and Jackson State, Tanner shot a combined 5-for-9 from beyond the arc and tallied 23 total points through the two contests. Although a 3-point percentage of just 28.9% on the season might be viewed as lackluster, his form and shot selection — along with his willingness to keep putting up shots from deep — shows his innate ability as a shooter.
Tanner comes off the bench every game, usually as either the seventh or eighth man to see the floor. He is a first-year with limited playing time that could see his minutes dwindle if he goes on a cold shooting stretch. Even with this in mind, Tanner is always ready to let it fly.
The help
One of the most impressive stats in all of college basketball this season comes from Tanner. Through 15 games played, he has accounted for 31 assists and 0 turnovers.
Read that again.
Not once has he lost the ball to an opposing player, stepped out of bounds, committed an offensive violation or anything of that nature. He ranks first in the country in turnover percentage at 0.0%. Tanner takes care of the rock night in and night out, regardless of the defense he’s up against.
He also has a phenomenal passing vision for a guy who has been in college for just over 4 months. Although his averages may not show it, Tanner exhibits intelligence when throwing the ball to his teammates. He’s shown knowledge of when to hold the ball to prevent turning it over, but he is also more than willing to give it up to anyone on the team. With an assist rate of 16.3%, Tanner has a natural understanding of when to dish it out — expect him to develop into an elite facilitator over his time on West End.
The hands
So far this season, Tanner has racked up 35 steals, placing him second in the SEC behind only Cameron Matthews of Mississippi State. His skill of taking the ball away comes from both his ability to read passing lanes and his defensive intensity.
Despite a lack of experience playing against opponents at the collegiate level, Tanner possesses an innate capacity to read opposing offenses. A steal percentage of 6.3% ranks him first in the SEC and second in the entire nation, and many of these steals come from intercepting passes. Much like a free safety, as some would say, Tanner will take the ball away if it is in the air for too long.
Tanner’s defense goes beyond his ability to jump passes, though. He plays with aggression, intensity and passion on both ends of the floor, but this stands out particularly on the defensive side. Tanner often presses his matchup after the ball is inbounded and sticks with them for a full 94 feet if he has to. By staying with his man, he forces turnovers, whether it be a ten-second violation, a backcourt violation or simply a player losing the ball out of bounds.
With these four elements in combination, Tanner has made himself into a do-it-all player for Vanderbilt — an Avatar, if you will. He is one of the brightest spots on an already overperforming team, and the best part is he’s only a first-year. With more playing experience and games under his belt, the sky is the limit for Tanner. Who knows; maybe he’ll use his hops to reach that as well.
Tanner and the Commodores will look to get back in the win column when they travel to Mizzou Arena to face the Tigers on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2:30 p.m. CST.