As Vanderbilt watched its second-half lead slowly slip away and then completely implode late in the SEC men’s basketball tournament final at the hands of John Calipari and Arkansas, junior guard Tyler Harris was nowhere to be seen.
The 6-foot-7 wing transfer from Washington last offseason wasn’t listed on the No. 22 Commodores’ availability report on Sunday, nor did he appear in the 86-75 loss, the fifth consecutive game Harris has been absent from on the participation sheet.
A native of Hayward, California, Harris last played for Vanderbilt on February 28 at Kentucky, in a 91-77 loss for coach Mark Byington that saw the one-time University of Portland and ex-UW starter log just two minutes with one missed shot to his name.
Although he’ll be part of the Commodores team that opens the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed facing No. 12 seed McNeese State in Oklahoma City, Harris likely won’t play an on-court role for Byington barring injury or the second-year coach having a change of heart.
After Vanderbilt learned of its fate on Selection Sunday, Byington referred to being confident in the eight-man rotation he’s used over the last five games while alluding to “having a couple guys in the wings,” which likely has Harris included in that contingent.
In his first two seasons at Portland and UW, respectively, Harris started 48 combined games, including a career-high 27 in Danny Sprinkle’s first season at the helm of the Huskies, and appeared on track to have a significant role with five straight games to start the 2025-26 campaign for the Commodores.
Over his first five games in non-conference, Harris scored in double figures in every game, including a season-high 17 points in 21 minutes to help lift Vanderbilt to a 92-62 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
Harris made at least two 3-pointers in each of the first four games of the season and has made 10-of-31 from behind the arc, but he has had just one multi-3-point outing, while having 11 games without a made 3-pointer, whereas at UW, he had nine total games with no made 3-pointer to his credit.
The loss of Harris—one of seven players to transfer out of the UW men’s basketball program after Sprinkle’s first season—was certainly felt this season, with the team’s 3-point shooting percentage dipping down to 31.5 from 34.4, separate from the injury plague that affected the entire season from start to finish.
It certainly wouldn’t have hurt to have his availability, given he made 30 appearances despite only getting two starts and minimal minutes towards the end of the regular season. With Harris’s next to non-existent playing time and his history of movement, suiting up for three different schools in three years, whenever Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament run comes to an end, the question begs whether it will coincide with his final game with the Commodores?
