Vanderbilt men’s basketball guard Tyler Tanner and coach Mark Byington have more hardware to store after they were named player and coach of the year May 5 by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.
Tanner, a Brentwood Academy graduate who will enter his junior year next season if he opts out of the 2026 NBA Draft, averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game for the Commodores last season. He was named an honorable mention All-American by The Associated Press and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
The first-team All-SEC pick also was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team. He set team single-season records in assists (184) and steals (86). He also is the only player from a high-major program to have more than 700 points, 180 assists and 85 steals in one season and is the first men’s college basketball player to do it since Steph Curry (Davidson) and David Holston (Chicago State) did it in 2008-09.
Byington led the Commodores a 27-9 record, the second-most single-season wins in program history. In the process, he became the first Vanderbilt coach to win at least 20 games in each of his first two seasons.
He also led the Commodores to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and their first tournament win since 2012. They reached the SEC championship game for the first time since 2012 and spent 14 weeks in the AP poll, peaking at No. 10.
The Commodores also passed the 3,000-point mark for the first time in program history.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
