Column: Vanderbilt Passes First Test, But Mark Byington Has a Message
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NASHVILLE—There Vanderbilt’s players stood on a line on the baseline at Memorial Gymnasium as they all waited to be introduced. It was an equal playing field that defies the idea of Division-I basketball in every sense.
The age of conference realignment is as unequal as any between well–funded programs and ones that aren’t invested in all that much. Revenue sharing came in an effort to make the sport more equal, yet it’s almost done the opposite. Yet, when Vanderbilt’s players stood there they were equals.
No starting lineup was announced, no preconceived notions regarding Vanderbilt’s starters were tolerated, no player appeared to have a significantly louder reaction from the crowd than everyone else. It was just the way Mark Byington and staff like it.
Everyone had to earn everything. Fortunately for this Vanderbilt team, this group that’s still learning each other appeared to prove its keep a bit against a Virginia team that appears to be primed for the NCAA Tournament.
“You can't overreact on anything that happened today,” Byington said. “You got a chance to see this team is talented and we got a chance to be good.”
It still had its moments of chucking the ball out of bounds, fouling a 3-point shooter and taking ill-advised shots in a close game, but that’s to be expected. Even through its shortcomings, Vanderbilt looked as if it belonged on Thursday night.
In some ways, it looked more like an SEC team than it has in the past. Its size was noticeably more prevalent at every position besides point guard on Thursday. It didn’t get beat up on the glass or significantly outshot. It had four ballhandlers that looked capable of running the show. It looked like a vitalization of the vision of what Byington thought this could look like.
It looked like what it did on Thursday was repeatable.
Perhaps this team doesn’t have a star like it did a year ago in Jason Edwards, but it had a pair of 20-point scorers in Oklahoma transfer Duke Miles as well as a 19-point scorer in sophomore guard Tyler Tanner. It’s going to look to do this by committee and with a group that’s already bought in to their increased roles.
"This is a good team that I can go out there and compete with," Miles said. "With coach having me expand my role, and trusting me, and trusting the other guys as well, we're going to make a deep run for sure."
If Vanderbilt is going to make a deep run like Miles says, it’s going to look back on Thursday as the start of something. Those within Vanderbilt’s locker room believe it can be a special group, but it’s still got plenty to work through before it gets there.
This is merely the start rather than anything near the finish. It’s a time in which Byington stood on the sideline and toyed with lineups to see what he’s got, he liked ones with Frankie Collins and Tyler Tanner alongside each other as well as bigger ones in which AK Okereke can play the three and Tyler Harris played the two.
Vanderbilt won on Thursday, but neither coach involved was all that worried about that.
“Tonight was what it is,” Byington said. “It's the first game. You can't overreact in a good way or a bad way. We're not winning a national championship because of this, and we're not going to suck because of this.”
Instead, Vanderbilt finds its strengths, it finds weaknesses that it didn’t envision having. It passed its first test, but it cares more about how it can adjust before it faces another one in a week against UAB.
As Byington says, don’t overreact. Some of it was great, Vanderbilt is glad some of it wasn’t on TV.
“We got 17 days to get better before our first game,” Byington said “We did some things well. I thought we played hard, then we obviously made mistakes. And usually we make mistakes when these scrimmage or exhibitions are behind closed doors. You guys got to see them.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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