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For now, as Mark Byington maps out next season’s Vanderbilt basketball roster, he’s working with two incomparable drafts.
One features the nation’s best returning point guard (arguably) in Tyler Tanner.
The other does not.
Tanner, the former Brentwood Academy standout, has a decision to make soon that’ll reverberate through his campus and city. He declared for the NBA draft after a sensational sophomore season for Byington’s Commodores, keeping open the option of returning to college.
If Tanner does return, it’ll be to Vanderbilt. The question is whether he’ll do that and wait a year on the NBA or stay in the draft this summer. He has until May 27 to withdraw his name.
"We are in a hard situation,” Byington said from his office on May 18, “because we’re not going to be able to replace him if he doesn't come back. I could try to find a kid in Europe right now, but it's not going to be the same.
“But we also need to make sure, with everything (Tanner) has done for us, we can do for him. We need to back him, support his dreams, help him out, help him with information. If it’s this year, we'll do what we've got to. If it’s next year, then we'll have one more great year with him.”
Byington said he traveled to Chicago for a couple of days to support Tanner last week at the NBA scouting combine. The coach has stayed “in constant communication with (Tanner), his agent, his mom and dad throughout the whole process."
“He’s going to be in the NBA. It's either going to be this year or next year,” Byington said. “What they are trying to figure out is, 'Is now the best time?' He's got some things going against him where it’s one of the best drafts in probably 20 years.”
Among Tanner’s reasons to return — yes, the quality of this draft class ranks atop the list. He’s generally projected to go late in the first round or early in the second, and it’d be a contractual gamble on which side of that line the NBA sees him as an undersized guard.
Also, if Tanner returned to Vanderbilt, he’d have NIL riches waiting: “He knows what his contract would be and what to expect here,” Byington said, “and I think everybody is happy with that.”
As for why Tanner might leave?
You saw him last season, right?
His reasons to go were on full display as he became one of college hoops’ breakout stars, leading a 27-win Vanderbilt team in scoring (19.5), steals (86), assists (184) and minutes. He made 48.5% of his shots and scored 27 points to nearly lead the Commodores past Nebraska in a second-round loss that was one of the most entertaining games of the NCAA Tournament.
Previously: As Vanderbilt enters March Madness, Tyler Tanner remains legend few saw coming
We’ve seen enough to know that there’s zero reason, his 6-foot height included, for Tanner to back down and minimize his dreams of maximizing his talent at the next level.
And he hasn’t backed down.
"Right now, I'm just pushing for the NBA," Tanner told ESPN's Jeff Borzello at the scouting combine. "Me, my agent, my family, we’ll have a conversation closer to the deadline . . . but right now, we're really not worried about college. Vanderbilt's a great spot, but my dream is to play in the NBA.”
Tanner has four or five NBA workouts scheduled this week, Byington said, and “he'll have all the feedback that he needs after that to be able to make a decision.”
“I think he can come back here and build a legacy that could be remembered forever," Byington said. "But, also, you're balancing (that) out with his dreams of being in the NBA.”
Vanderbilt’s program has been active in the transfer portal this offseason, adding guard Ace Glass (Washington State), forward Berke Büyüktuncel (Nebraska), center Bangot Dak (Colorado), forward Sebastian Williams-Adams (Auburn) and guard T.O. Barrett (Missouri).
Byington, with one roster spot remaining, said he isn't sure yet how to spend it. “Looking at international players," he said. "Looking at high school players. And then maybe there's a transfer that kind of works out for us, last-minute.”
That all is going to hinge on whether Tanner stays in the draft. If he does, the Commodores will have two spots to try to replace one player when, as Byington noted, “there's really no players left to replace him.”
“What we've tried to do is just have contingency plans and backup plans,” Byington said. “If he comes back, we don't need any of them . . . After (Tanner’s decision), then we've got to figure out what our best move is. Hopefully, it's with him here.
“If it's not, then, yeah, we're going to (have) a big, major hole to fill.”
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tyler Tanner's NBA draft choice has Vanderbilt basketball in suspense
Continue reading...
One features the nation’s best returning point guard (arguably) in Tyler Tanner.
The other does not.
Tanner, the former Brentwood Academy standout, has a decision to make soon that’ll reverberate through his campus and city. He declared for the NBA draft after a sensational sophomore season for Byington’s Commodores, keeping open the option of returning to college.
If Tanner does return, it’ll be to Vanderbilt. The question is whether he’ll do that and wait a year on the NBA or stay in the draft this summer. He has until May 27 to withdraw his name.
"We are in a hard situation,” Byington said from his office on May 18, “because we’re not going to be able to replace him if he doesn't come back. I could try to find a kid in Europe right now, but it's not going to be the same.
“But we also need to make sure, with everything (Tanner) has done for us, we can do for him. We need to back him, support his dreams, help him out, help him with information. If it’s this year, we'll do what we've got to. If it’s next year, then we'll have one more great year with him.”
Byington said he traveled to Chicago for a couple of days to support Tanner last week at the NBA scouting combine. The coach has stayed “in constant communication with (Tanner), his agent, his mom and dad throughout the whole process."
“He’s going to be in the NBA. It's either going to be this year or next year,” Byington said. “What they are trying to figure out is, 'Is now the best time?' He's got some things going against him where it’s one of the best drafts in probably 20 years.”
Among Tanner’s reasons to return — yes, the quality of this draft class ranks atop the list. He’s generally projected to go late in the first round or early in the second, and it’d be a contractual gamble on which side of that line the NBA sees him as an undersized guard.
Also, if Tanner returned to Vanderbilt, he’d have NIL riches waiting: “He knows what his contract would be and what to expect here,” Byington said, “and I think everybody is happy with that.”
As for why Tanner might leave?
You saw him last season, right?
His reasons to go were on full display as he became one of college hoops’ breakout stars, leading a 27-win Vanderbilt team in scoring (19.5), steals (86), assists (184) and minutes. He made 48.5% of his shots and scored 27 points to nearly lead the Commodores past Nebraska in a second-round loss that was one of the most entertaining games of the NCAA Tournament.
Previously: As Vanderbilt enters March Madness, Tyler Tanner remains legend few saw coming
We’ve seen enough to know that there’s zero reason, his 6-foot height included, for Tanner to back down and minimize his dreams of maximizing his talent at the next level.
And he hasn’t backed down.
"Right now, I'm just pushing for the NBA," Tanner told ESPN's Jeff Borzello at the scouting combine. "Me, my agent, my family, we’ll have a conversation closer to the deadline . . . but right now, we're really not worried about college. Vanderbilt's a great spot, but my dream is to play in the NBA.”
Tanner has four or five NBA workouts scheduled this week, Byington said, and “he'll have all the feedback that he needs after that to be able to make a decision.”
“I think he can come back here and build a legacy that could be remembered forever," Byington said. "But, also, you're balancing (that) out with his dreams of being in the NBA.”
Vanderbilt’s program has been active in the transfer portal this offseason, adding guard Ace Glass (Washington State), forward Berke Büyüktuncel (Nebraska), center Bangot Dak (Colorado), forward Sebastian Williams-Adams (Auburn) and guard T.O. Barrett (Missouri).
Byington, with one roster spot remaining, said he isn't sure yet how to spend it. “Looking at international players," he said. "Looking at high school players. And then maybe there's a transfer that kind of works out for us, last-minute.”
That all is going to hinge on whether Tanner stays in the draft. If he does, the Commodores will have two spots to try to replace one player when, as Byington noted, “there's really no players left to replace him.”
“What we've tried to do is just have contingency plans and backup plans,” Byington said. “If he comes back, we don't need any of them . . . After (Tanner’s decision), then we've got to figure out what our best move is. Hopefully, it's with him here.
“If it's not, then, yeah, we're going to (have) a big, major hole to fill.”
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tyler Tanner's NBA draft choice has Vanderbilt basketball in suspense
Continue reading...
