Mark Byington Speaks On Jaylen Carey’s Return to Nashville as Tennessee Game Looms

The former Vanderbilt Commodore and now Tennessee Volunteer makes his return to Memorial Gymnasium Saturday.

Tennessee forward Jaylen Carey (23) yells in celebration after scoring a basket during a NCAA basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 17, 2026. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – It was not long ago that Jaylen Carey was wearing the black and gold, helping Vanderbilt pull off an upset win over the Commodores in-state rival, Tennessee. Carey put up a double-double in a win that resulted in a court storm and was a signature win on Vanderbilt’s resume a year ago that lifted the Commodores into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10-seed.

Over the offseason, Carey made a decision that made the fans in Nashville not too happy: Carey transferred to Tennessee, joining head coach Rick Barnes and becoming a hated player in the eyes of Vanderbilt fans.

Saturday, Carey will return to Memorial Gymnasium for the first time since transferring to Tennessee. Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington has not said anything this season about Carey, but with Carey’s return to Nashville looming Saturday, Byington broke his silence.

“I put a lot into him personally, and for his development to help him grow,” Byington said. “So, this is probably going to surprise people, but when you put a lot into somebody, I’m cheering for him. I want him to be successful. I want him to be a good person. I want him to be happy in life.”

Byington’s high road response does not come as a big surprise for people. After all, from the human aspect of the game, Carey is a guy that Byington poured into and cared for and wanted the best for. There was no feeling of hurt or betrayal nor a feeling of revenge in Byington’s tone as he spoke of Carey.

Carey is at a different school now and Byington and the coaching staff have accepted that. Of course, the path Carey has taken is probably not what was initially envisioned when Byington began recruiting him, but what happened happened. Byington just hopes for the best for Carey going forward.

“When you put a lot into somebody, you want that for him. And so, he’s at a different school right now. That’s the path he’s chosen. And years from now, I hope he’s a great father, a great person and hopefully I was a big part of that,” Byington said.

Seeing a player leave after spending so much time recruiting said player, wanting and hoping the player chooses to follow the coach that is recruiting can certainly be difficult from an emotional standpoint.

In college sports nowadays, separation between coaches and players after coaches spend so much time recruiting them has become far more common with the transfer portal. In this current era of college sports, there is no guarantee that a player will be at a school for more than a year.

“It’s almost natural now in college sports. It’s hard as a coach when you really do want to pour into somebody and you do that and you help them through certain things and then they might be gone when a season’s over for whatever circumstances. I don’t like that part,” Byington said. “I hate to sound old school, but I don’t like that part of it. But at the same time, I have to make sure I’m evolving because of what’s going on right now.”

So, there will certainly be no hate or ill-feeling from Byington toward Carey. The crowd at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday, however? That is very likely to be a different story. Whether it be boos or negative chants directed at Carey, there will be no love lost between Vanderbilt fans and the player they used to watch in the black and gold.