Exclusive: Tyler Tanner May Need to Play 40 Minutes, Here's Why He Says He can – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—-In the hours prior to Vanderbilt boarding the plane to Atlantis for its Thanksgiving-week MTE, Spencer Richardson reached out to Vanderbilt point guard Tyler Tanner to wish him safe travels. 
Richardson is Tanner’s trainer and has been as big a piece of his rise as any individual person besides the sophomore guard himself. The idea of him checking in with Tanner was seemingly insignificant considering their previous relationship, but he learned something about the Vanderbilt guard when he received a text back. 
“Man, I’m already looking forward to game three,” Tanner replied.
Tanner knew that he would have an advantage in that game because he knew he would still have the energy that most would generally only have for the first game of a multi-team event that includes back-to-back-to-back games. 
Turns out Tanner was right. 
The Vanderbilt guard went for 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, recorded three assists and didn’t turn it over while playing 30 minutes in the Commodores’ Battle 4 Atlantis Championship win over Saint Mary’s. Tanner played the most minutes of any Vanderbilt player in that game–although Duke Miles and Tyler Nickel also played 30 each. 
“It’s almost like Kim Mulkey said about Mikayla Blakes, ‘she doesn’t get tired,’” Richardson told Vandy on SI, “Same thing with Ty. Ty can play a whole game.” 
Richardson’s theory is being tested these days as Tanner is tasked with running the show for this Vanderbilt team with Miles–who had a minor knee surgery on Wednesday–and Vanderbilt point guard Frankie Collins sidelined with a meniscus injury. The injuries aren’t severe enough to cost either veteran guard their season, but they’re serious enough to put some extra pressure on Tanner for the time being. 
The talk around the floor at Memorial Gymnasium prior to Vanderbilt’s Tuesday-night win was that Tanner may have had to play 40 minutes for this Vanderbilt team to find a way to win against Kentucky–which was on a five-game winning streak prior to coming to Nashville. Tanner didn’t quite have to do that because of the nature of the game–and wouldn’t have anyway because Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington subbed him out right before a media timeout in order to strategically rest him–but him playing all 40 minutes doesn’t appear to be out of the question these days. 
“My body's ready for it,” Tanner told Vandy on SI. “Endurance wise, I can play 40 minutes or 50 minutes. Whatever they need me to do, I can do just because I think I'm in the best shape of my life right now with playing all these minutes and in the SEC and everything. Duke being hurt is not a good thing but, I like having more responsibility and being able to really get my team to a win. That pressure kind of helps me to perform to a higher level and hold myself more accountable.”
Tanner’s performance in Vanderbilt’s 80-55 win over Kentucky wasn’t quite herculean, but it indicated that the pressure to impact the game and run the show was enough for him to answer the call. Tanner played a team-high 37 minutes, went for a team-high 19 points as well as a team-high five assists while going for four steals in the process. 
At least some of that statline has to be attributed to Tanner’s endurance and ability to stay within the flow of the game. Richardson and Tanner each acknowledge that the level of his endurance has the potential to generate a few easy baskets over the course of the game, particularly the way Vanderbilt plays with tempo. 
The mentality that Tanner’s endurance requires isn’t generally that of an underclassman point guard, but Tanner has transcended that label. Tanner's longest outing of the season was his 41-minute outing against Memphis in Vanderbilt's overtime win.
“He's mature beyond his years,” Vanderbilt big man Jalen Washington told Vandy on SI.
”Just the jump that he's taking from, I haven't even seen him play last year, but just hearing about how much of a jump he's made from his freshman year to his sophomore year being able to witness that first hand, is incredible.”
The leap that Washington refers to includes Tanner going from a complementary piece to two veteran point guards to one of America’s best at that position. Perhaps there’s a few older guys around the country that are better than Tanner, but he already has all the boxes checked that those guys do. 
Perhaps the one that applies most to Vanderbilt in its shorthanded state is his workhorse-like nature. 
“I think it’s definitely a strength of mine,” Tanner said. “There will be plays that people take off and I don’t. That just gives me another advantage.”
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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