What We've Watched and Heard: Vanderbilt Basketball Summer Takeaways

It's been around a month since Vanderbilt basketball got on Vanderbilt's campus as a team for the first time and they've since worked to become one and to figure out where piece fits within a team that looks to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the second-consicutive season.

Here's what Vandy on SI has noticed through a series of livestreams and keeping its ear to the ground.

The size and length on the floor is noticeably better than it was this time last year

Vanderbilt’s offseason emphasis was getting bigger and improving its shooting, the shotmaking potential of this group is still yet to be determined but a look at this group on the practice or pickup floor will show you that Vanderbilt has at least made strides towards their first goal.

Any lineup Vanderbilt throws out there in a pickup game or a scrimmage will consist of at least three players that stand at 6-foot-7 or taller. The only exceptions are Vanderbilt point guards Tyler Tanner, Frankie Collins as well as combo guards Duke Miles and Jaylon Dean-Vines.

Vanderbilt also has a real rotation of five men in Jalen Washington, Mason Nicholson and Jayden Leverett that can insulate it from foul trouble.

If the summer tells you anything, it’s that Washington will be used differently at Vanderbilt than his previous stop. Same with Tyler Harris.

Watch a Vanderbilt pickup game and you’re likely to see Washington and Harris each handling it on the perimeter and taking some off the dribble shots from beyond the 3-point line.

Perhaps Washington will be more of a catch and shoot guy during the season than he is in early summer pickup games, but he’ll be out around the 3-point line far more than he was at North Carolina.

Harris on the other hand will have to create some–although Byington’s scheme can insulate him from some of that responsibility–he’s proven to be capable of doing it and has worked heavily on that part of his game since the spring, but perhaps there’s still room for him to go before it’s time to feel fully comfortable with him as a go get a bucket guy.

Mike James appears to be the more natural ball handler, shot creator and playmaker at this stage, although he’s not as efficient as Harris is. Harris doesn’t have to create as much separation as an average wing because of his size and dynamic shotmaking ability, though.

Vanderbilt’s depth everywhere is better, but it doesn’t have a Jason Edwards level scorer. Maybe that’s okay.

This time last year Edwards and Hoggard were running the show and were ball dominant, which became the case all season. That really isn’t the case when this Vanderbilt team takes the floor.

There’s definite leaders here like Frankie Collins and Vanderbilt’s three scholarship returners, but there’s not an alpha scorer that’s necessarily emerged like Edwards did last summer. That could create some issues late in the clock if it continues, but it may not be the worst thing for this group to not live and die by one guy.

Mike James has more go get a bucket in his game than people give him credit for

James was Vanderbilt’s best player in its first streamed pickup game, which should be taken with a grain of salt but is also an indicator of his game as a whole.

Perhaps James won’t run around shooting contested 3s and make them consistently like he did that day, but he appears to be someone who people within Vanderbilt’s program are high on relative to the national perception surrounding his rèsumè to this point.

It’s not a surprise that James has shown spurts of being Vanderbilt’s best player, but he’s finally healthy and he’s in a system that allows him to let it rip and do his thing alongside other capable pieces. That appears to be translating to his play and energy regarding the situation he’s in at this point.

He’s perhaps the biggest stock up candidate of the summer.

Collins really has control of this thing, it seems

When a guy walks into a pickup game with a cameraman for his Twitch stream, it either means that he’s the outlier of the group or it means he’s got enough comfortability to know that he can do something like that.

Collins appears to have some level of ownership of Vanderbilt’s group and potential to be its leader when it gets to difficult moments. Vanderbilt sometimes appeared to lack that in 2024-25, but may have its lead guy vocally in Collins. He at least appears to have won over a share of the locker room this summer.

It’s easier to do that when you build up some trust as a player, and it appears that Collins can run the show offensively. There’s also some optimism that Vanderbilt’s system and spaced out offense will allow Collins to focus on driving it and facilitating rather than shooting from the perimeter.

A look at Collins within the confines of an unregulated pickup game allows his vision to really shine. Perhaps Byington’s up-tempo offense will allow that to be shown more than it has been before in his career.

This group will go as Collins goes.

Don’t expect a Tyler Tanner level contribution from a freshman

This time last year, all that was bubbling out of Memorial Gymnasium was buzz in regards to what Tanner was doing and how he was maturing over the course of the summer. None of Vanderbilt’s three freshmen have that at this point, which isn’t a surprise.

It would be mildly surprising if Vanderbilt didn’t put the redshirt–if Vanderbilt’s staff still believes in its benefits–on at least one or two of Jaylon Dean-Vines, Chandler Bing and Jayden Leverett. Vanderbilt’s staff hasn’t made any decisions and will be open to evaluation for at least a few months longer. None of the three freshmen were brought in with the intention of them playing significant year minutes in year one, though. It sounds as if the game still looks a tad fast for each of them.

Leverett appears to be the most likely of the three to see some level of playing time in SEC games as a result of foul trouble to Vanderbilt’s other bigs. He looks the part at 6-foot-10, 220 pounds but still has some developing to do in his game.

Don’t count out Dean-Vines and Bing from being impact guys down the line, though. Dean-Vines has flashes of looking like he belongs with Vanderbilt’s veterans while Bing has an SEC wing build and skillset that will be a worthwhile development project.

Perhaps Tanner won’t take a statistical leap, but he appears to be better

The year one to year two leap for Vanderbilt point guards hasn’t happened often over the past couple seasons, but Tanner is a real candidate for it.

Tanner doesn’t look anything of an underclassman at this point and appears to have a different composure about him nowadays.

The mechanics change that Tanner put into place on his jump shot in final games of the 2024-25 season appears to be netting him some results in the summer. At the very least, his motion looks a tad quicker and more repeatable.

AK Okereke showing his practicality

The Ivy League to SEC jump is often difficult for big-bodied primary options like Okereke, but he’s showing the signs that he can be a scorer of impact rather than just a dirty-work guy.

Watch the Cornell transfer in Vanderbilt’s pickup sessions and you’ll see him putting it on the floor, creating separation and rising up for open jumpers. That’s not something that often occurs with guys with his career trajectory and build. Byington says his jumper is still a work in progress, but it seems Okereke can get to his spots.

Okereke likely won’t repeat his numbers or efficiency from Cornell, but he appears to be more of an off the bounce threat and a better passer than Chris Mañon was.