Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball is going to make the NCAA Tournament; that much is for sure.
The Commodores just picked up their 20th win of the season with a victory over No. 14 Missouri. Not too shabby for a team projected to finish dead last in the SEC before the season started, right?
Who knows how the Commodores will do in the Big Dance, but even if they lose in the first round, this season would still be overwhelmingly and undeniably positive. Vanderbilt went 9-23 last year and fired former head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Nobody thought the Black and Gold would be in this position. Not by a long shot.
Athletic director Candice Storey Lee deserves credit for overseeing head coach Mark Byington’s hiring process. The coaching staff deserves the credit for their masterful construction of this group of Commodores. And, of course, this ragtag group of ‘Dores deserves the credit for the downright grit they’ve displayed in getting to their 20-9 record.
But Byington was the figurehead of this turnaround. He took a group of 11 transfers, two returners and two first-years and taught them how to be a team. He inherited a lost program coming off a 4-14 SEC season and built it back up. Most importantly, though, the first-year head coach has made Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball a threat in the postseason again.
For that, Byington deserves to win SEC Coach of the Year.
The incredible job Byington has done with this team should not, and frankly cannot, be overstated. Fans in Memorial Gymnasium have been witnesses to that all season, but no more than on March 1. The university announced a whiteout for its final weekend game of the season, and the Commodore faithful did not disappoint, creating perhaps the best atmosphere the old gym has seen this decade. Fans rushed the court after waiting the prescribed 60 seconds to avoid more fines from the SEC. Beating top-15 teams is officially the rule — not the exception — in Nashville.
It might have been hard to believe something special was brewing on West End back in November 2024, but Byington has been honest with the media and fans throughout the season. The first-year head coach didn’t shy away from Vanderbilt’s reality after an early-season slugfest against Southeast Missouri.
“We’re an entirely new team, and we’re figuring things out,” Byington said. “You can put a sign on our locker room right now that says ‘work in progress.’ That’s what we are. We’re learning a lot of these things, and we’ll get better.”
The Commodores have certainly figured things out since that Nov. 10 matchup. Byington’s ability to develop this team into a legitimate competitor in every single game — and the winner of some big ones — is a testament to how deserving he is of the award.
The seven players who lead the team in minutes played this season are transfers. All 145 of the Commodores’ starts this year come from transfers, too. Vanderbilt lost all of its major contributors from the 2023-24 season to eligibility or the portal, and Byington needed to bring plenty of new faces in.
It was always going to take a while for the players to warm up to each other and gel as a team. The Commodores certainly were a work in progress in the middle of their SEC schedule — double-digit road losses to Oklahoma, Florida and Kentucky demonstrated that. Still, the Black and Gold figured out how to defend home court and have lost only two games in Memorial Gymnasium all year.
Now, though, it has become clearer and clearer that Vanderbilt’s current roster is capable of making a tournament run, its first since 2017. That fact, in and of itself, is a testament to Byington’s recruiting ability, leadership and vision for the team’s future.
Vanderbilt has beaten four ranked teams in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Missouri at home. The Commodores also picked up a signature road win earlier last week when they left College Station with a two-point upset over No. 12 Texas A&M.
Everyone knew Byington was a great coach. His turnarounds at Georgia Southern and James Madison supported that thesis. But this? This is next-level.
Byington was predicted to finish 16th in this 2025 version of the SEC — an iteration that many have dubbed the best conference in the history of college basketball. He never had a chance to succeed. Or so we thought.
Now, Commodore Nation can — without question — look forward to postseason hoops. And no, I don’t mean the NIT. Vanderbilt is, in every sense of the word, a lock for the Big Dance. Five ranked wins, an 8-8 conference record and a nearly flawless nonconference record have the Black and Gold firmly inside the bubble for the first time all year, and they aren’t going away.
Jason Edwards has turned into a bona fide, elite scoring option. Tyler Nickel’s shot continues to develop. Chris Manon is becoming one of the SEC’s premier defense/hustle players. Tyler Tanner is blossoming into a star. Devin McGlockton and Jaylen Carey are elite, albeit undersized, centers, and Byington’s team would be nothing without them.
The list goes on. Vanderbilt is getting genuine contributions from all nine of its significant players. It might not be the most talented team full of blue-chip transfers and prospects, but it has one thing going for it that no one can match. Grit.
Vanderbilt’s determination and willingness to fight until the final minute of every game are testaments to a group of passionate players led by a brilliant coach.
So, as impressive as No. 1 Auburn’s season has been this year, and as good of a head coach as Bruce Pearl is, Byington gets my (nonexistent) vote. Auburn was ranked in the AP Top 25 before the season started and was touted as an SEC and national contender from November. It makes sense that the coach of the top team in the conference would win the award, but let’s just take a moment to appreciate what Byington has done.
Memorial Magic is back — arguably better than ever — and here to stay. Now, fans can watch and wait as the ‘Dores close out their schedule, looking to get an extra win or two to bump their ranking.
