Vanderbilt Commodores

The Mind Games Behind Jaylen Carey’s Dominant Performance Against Texas

Jaylen Carey’s intense energy and unique celebration are giving Vanderbilt an advantage. Read how his mind games and dominant play helped beat Texas.
Taylor Hodges|
Vanderbilt Commodores forward Jaylen Carey (22) reacts after a basket plus one against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium.
Vanderbilt Commodores forward Jaylen Carey (22) reacts after a basket plus one against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

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The mental aspect of games is just as important as the physical side. Whether it’s playing a certain song or behaving in a certain way, coaches and players are constantly looking for ways to improve their chances at winning.

Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Carey has a rather unique act he does to get inside the other teams’ heads. After making a big dunk or shot, Carey will run head-first into the padded stand for the hoop. In the Commodores’ 86-78 win against Texas, the Longhorns saw it plenty of times.

“It’s a little fear tactic,” Carey said in Saturday’s post-game press conference. “Make them back down, you know? Let y’all know that y'all are not crazy to me.”

Carey may seem crazy to opposing players, though, which served him well against Texas. Carey scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington seems to be OK with the show of emotion, too.

"I love positive emotion,” Byington said. “I don't know how you describe that one. I don't know if that's negative or positive, but he's in a zone out there. We've kind of got to set the tone and be a certain way. Everybody talks about height, but there's something to be said for a guy that's 260 pounds of muscle that can also battle like a football player out there too. We need him. He's important. We're not that deep there, but he kind of gives us a different personality with our whole entire team."

Vanderbilt fans should hope Carey stays in that zone with the Commodores’ next six games all being against ranked opponents. That slate of games starts Tuesday against current No. 1 Auburn, who will most likely fall from that top ranking after losing to No. 6 Florida on Saturday.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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