Vanderbilt's Mark Byington Reveals How Commodores Added Portal Players He Wanted

Mark Byington has changed the culture at Vanderbilt, and he explained how recently.

Vanderbilt Commodores Head Coach Mark Byington works the sideline against the Tennessee Volunteers during their game at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Vanderbilt basketball has seen up and down days over the past few years. It's been an unfortunate part of the university, but better days are ahead.

After a win against Tennessee on Saturday, Vanderbilt got one of its best wins in a very long time. The Commodores, 15-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, are looking to make the NCAA Tournament in Mark Byington's first season.

Byington has found success at other stops, but none will be as challenging as taking over an SEC program. Factor that in with all of the new additions he had to add due to the transfer portal, and it's a good sign that Vanderbilt has found as much success as it has early on.

But that wasn't easy for the Virginia native. He recognized just how challenging it was to build a team at the level he needed to, but he knew exactly what he wanted in a player.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s a dizzy couple weeks there. I mean, it’s nonstop. Guys are in the office,” said Byington, according to On 3's Sam Gillenwater. “It’s a lot when you – it’s easier. I hope this is my future when you’re trying to replace three guys in the spring. We were in a situation where, whether we wanted to or they wanted to, we just had to replace the entire roster.”

Nine players left following the coaching change last year, and while that's become common in college basketball, it isn't easy to find as many players as Byington did.

Not even from the standpoint of the player being good enough to play in the SEC; he's looking for more than that.

“You’re trying to find this. That was our main thing. We try to find character. We try to find competitive guys. They had to make winning number one, alright,” said Byington. “Now, in the NIL days and things like that where, you know, some guys want stats, feel like stats are more money? That wasn’t going to fit with our mission and our team. So the buy-in on that and us trying to figure out who fits that?”

Frankly, Vanderbilt should continue to find success if Byington recruits how he can. There's no excuse for an SEC program in Nashville, perhaps the best college city in America for young adults, not to be an above-average team.

He'll be tasked with that moving forward, but if the first 18 games are any indication, Vanderbilt is moving in the right direction.