If there’s anything to know about the NCAA Tournament, it’s that talent and gameplay take a backseat to opportunity. There’s nothing sweeter in sports than when an unknown superstar emerges in an unconventional role and leads their team to victory. On the men’s side, at least, I think of DJ Burns, Ty Jerome and Donte DiVincenzo as the players who stepped up when the team needed it most (and are now playing professionally because of their impact).

While the women’s tournament isn’t nearly as Cinderella-heavy as the men’s, the game is still the same. Heroes emerge in unlikely places and matchups matter more than ever. All year, Vanderbilt has had the same identity — a fiery duo of Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre that lead the charge for a fast-paced but undersized team. The assumption for the entire tournament is that teams will game plan against Vanderbilt by slowing the pace down and laser-focusing on West End’s wicked duo.

With all that focus on the top two, cracks emerge in the scouting for other Commodores to steal some spotlight. Here’s my prediction for some unexpected spotlight stealers whose step forward in production could bring Vanderbilt deep into tournament play.

Jordyn Oliver

Oliver is the rock of Vanderbilt’s program. Though her play doesn’t stand out on the stat sheet, her role goes much further than the box scores indicate. This season, Oliver has been tasked with playing a pseudo-four position due to the absence of Sacha Washington and has been solid in that role. She has played above her size, is a great pick-and-roll defender in both the switch and the hedge and has mastered the entry pass from the high-low. 

But Oliver is at her best as a facilitator. On an iso-dominated team, Oliver is Vanderbilt’s distributor with 3.6 assists per game. She’s commonly known to start the offense and can even dish a few dimes on the fast break. However, her revised role as a big has limited her effectiveness as a distributor, relegating her to dribble-hand-offs and preventing her from pushing the ball on the break.

In the NCAA Tournament, efficient pace is key. Teams that speed the game up and maximize possessions are the ones who exceed expectations, so Oliver’s importance as a ball-handler and facilitator, especially in transition, could end up bringing more attention to her, allowing her to find open shooters on the wings and corners. This is especially true against a poor rebounding team like Oregon, who — like Vanderbilt — only has one player over five rebounds per game. Depending on the playing time of Oregon’s center, 6’8 Phillipina Kyei, Oliver might be able to step away from her role as a big and take on a more natural point-forward role that leads the Commodores to an offensive explosion in the Round of 64.

Aiyana Mitchell

If the Commodores can get past the Ducks in the first round, they’ll likely face an exact opposite type of team in the Duke Blue Devils. Led by 6’2 first-year forward Toby Fournier, the Blue Devils have three players that record over 5 rebounds per game, with 6’3 sophomore Delaney Thomas checking in just under that mark at 4.6 boards per game. With Duke’s immense size, an inside-out offensive strategy is almost guaranteed. Duke attempts only 17.5 3-pointers per game, second-lowest in the ACC, despite being the sixth-highest team in scoring (73.3 points per game) and tied for fourth-highest in field-goal percentage (49.9).

With a lot of play happening inside the paint, foul trouble is almost inevitable for the Commodores — which would be detrimental if it were to plague Pierre’s play. But if that is the case, the first number called to limit the damage will be No. 14. Mitchell’s jump in her new role and extended minutes this season has been impressive, but I keep wanting to see more from her. At 6’4, Mitchell should be using physicality to her advantage to come up with rebounds in traffic and position herself around the hoop for tough layups. She has shown flashes of these qualities all season, but it hasn’t become a consistent part of her game.

Expecting her to make a major jump in the tournament might be asking too much, but there is a possibility that in a time of need against an oversized Duke team, Mitchell’s name gets called and she delivers. Whether it’s replacing Pierre or working alongside her, Mitchell’s role against bigger teams will determine Vanderbilt’s tournament success, especially in the later rounds.

Iyana Moore

The tertiary scorer is one of the most important roles in postseason basketball. The WNBA Finals were won because Jonquel Jones stepped up for the New York Liberty, while Kayla McBride remained relatively quiet for the Minnesota Lynx. The lack of a strong tertiary scorer also hurt Iowa over the last two years, as Tessa Johnson exploded for 19 off the bench for South Carolina in 2024 and four of LSU’s scorers put up 15 or more points in 2023. 

To put it simply, someone is going to have to step up and score for Vanderbilt that’s not named Blakes or Pierre; so all eyes turn to Moore.

Four years ago, head coach Shea Ralph convinced Moore to stay in Nashville despite the coaching change, promising her that the new team culture would lead to immense success. Since then, Moore has scored over 1,300 points, including a career-high 37 against Kentucky last season. Yet, she’s never become the bona fide star that can regularly take over games — she’s shown flashes of it but has never done it consistently.

Over Vanderbilt’s last three games, Moore has been electric: 18 points against Missouri, 23 against Tennessee and 16 against South Carolina. She’s been shooting the ball at an insane clip, especially from beyond the arc (48% from downtown over her last three games), and if that continues she’ll be lethal when the team needs her most.

Moore is the heart and soul of this team. She’s been around for every minute of the Ralph era and has emerged as a poised leader who affects the game on and off the court. Last year on this same stage, Moore had 22 and 16 points against Columbia and Baylor, respectively, and with fewer eyes on her now she could explode, etching herself as a March Madness legend. She proved to be up for the challenge in Greenville last week; let’s see if she can do it again.

Vanderbilt will face No. 10 Oregon in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 on March 21 at 4:30 p.m. CDT at the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium.