Can Vanderbilt’s Men’s Basketball Transfer Class Elevate The Program To A New Level? Just A Minute

Mark Byington has added transfer talent from both power conferences and mid-major schools. Will it be enough to take the next step and compete with the top of the SEC?

December 10, 2024; Berkeley, California, USA; Cornell Big Red forward AK Okereke (12) shoots the basketball against the California Golden Bears during the second half at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

With the addition of Cornell transfer forward AK Okereke, Mark Byington has put together a solid class of transfers.

It begs the question: can the commodores take that next step in a loaded SEC next season?

While the loss of leading scorer Jason Edwards, who averaged a team-high 17.0 points per game, to Providence and guard Jaylen Carey to Tennessee, amongst other departures such as guards AJ Hoggard and Chris Mañon certainly hurts Vanderbilt, Byington has still managed to put together a nice roster for the upcoming season.

Vanderbilt has gotten 7 players from the portal, notably Oklahoma guard Duke Miles who averaged 9.4 points and 2.0 assists per game and former Washington guard Tyler Harris, who was the Huskies second leading scorer on the roster at 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

But that is not all. Byington also brought in TCU guard Frankie Collins and NC State guard Mike James, who are both coming off season-ending injuries. Before his injury last season, Collins was arguably TCU’s best player in the first month of this past season at 11.2 points, 4.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. 

Collins also brings defense and postseason experience to Vanderbilt. As a freshman at Michigan, he helped lead the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 as he scored in double figures in Michigan’s Round of 64 game against Colorado State in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In his junior year, Collins won Pac-12 defensive player of the year at Arizona State.

James missed the 2024-2025 season for NC State with a knee injury, but in the 2023-2024 season with Louisville, he put up 12.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

So can Vanderbilt take that next step? 

In this new era of college sports with the transfer portal, Byington has seemed to take advantage of it and has gotten the Commodores to get back into the middle class of a difficult SEC and back into the NCAA Tournament conversation.

It’s hard to tell if Vanderbilt is ready to compete with the top dogs of the SEC such as Florida and Auburn, but Vanderbilt has the potential to go from a team in the middle of the pack to a team that makes its way into the top half of the SEC. Of course, it all starts with Byington and his coaching staff to develop and wait for its newest transfer class to mesh together.