Vanderbilt Basketball Pre-Summer Depth Chart: Tyler Tanner And The Starters – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt basketball has Tyler Tanner back and is one player away from finishing its 2026-27 roster as it enters the summer program on West End.
Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington says the summer is among his favorite times of year because of the emphasis on teaching and toying with different lineups that he could use. Byington and his staff will work to avoid preconceived notions heading into the summer and won't rule anything out.
Here's what its starting lineup would likely be if Byington would admit it heading into the summer, though.
Starting point guard: Tyler Tanner
Tanner is Vanderbilt’s star, and Byington says he’ll be an NBA player a year from now. He averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 48.5% from the field as well as 36.8% from 3-point range in 2025-26 and is back for one more season on West End. 
As a result, Vanderbilt will go as far as Tanner can take it. He’s its best scorer, will initiate its offense and will be its head of the snake defensively. Vanderbilt’s secondary options appear to believe in where he can take it. 
“This news turned us from a top 25 team to a Final Four contender, in my opinion,” Vanderbilt guard Ace Glass told Vandy on SI. “I’m super excited for this great upcoming season.” 
Tanner appears to have a chance to cement a legacy as one of Vanderbilt’s best ever basketball players if this season goes to plan. He’s the closest thing to a guaranteed starter as this program has had in years. 
Starting shooting guard: Ace Glass
Glass didn’t have much left to prove at Washington State after a freshman season in which he broke the school’s freshman scoring record, now he’s got a chance to prove himself as a power-five player. 
Vanderbilt believes Glass is one of the best off the bounce scorers in the country and will be the complement to Tanner that it went out to get in the transfer portal. If all goes to plan, Glass will take on the Duke Miles role for this Vanderbilt team. 
Glass scored in double figures against Seton Hall, Washington and Gonzaga—which he did it against twice–a season ago. USC was the only power-five team that Washington State faced that Glass didn’t reach double figures against. His best game came in a 40-point outing in Washington State’s overtime loss to Arizona State. 
Now, he feels as if his game can continue to be unlocked at Vanderbilt. 
“I really like how they didn't really have a one and two, they really just both brought it up,” Glass said. “They both catch and shoot. They both did a lot of things. Just having a freedom to catch and shoot come off ball screens, be in isolation, just different things where I don't have to just come off the ball or just come off ball screens. I can have the ball in my hands. That's something I like a lot about coach Byington’s offense.” 
Starting small forward: Chandler Bing
Vanderbilt’s biggest competition for a starting role could be at the three, where sophomore wing Chandler Bing and standout freshman Ethan Mgbako will compete for the role. 
Bing showcased some real defensive value and earned Byington’s trust as a freshman, but he’ll have to add to his offensive skillset if he’s going to be a consistent starter for an SEC team. Vanderbilt’s staff appears to believe in him, and so does Tanner. 
“I've told people since the start of the season, we have a lot of similarities,” Tanner told Vandy on SI during the NCAA Tournament. “He’s just a dog. He'll do anything to win, unselfish. 
And that drive that he has, like, I told him; I see the same thing in me. And that was something that brought us closer.”
Bing will play heavy minutes, but will he start? 
Starting power forward: Sebastian Williams-Adams
This role is a toss up between Williams-Adams and Nebraska transfer Berke Buyuktuncel–who will likely play similar minutes to Williams-Adams–but it’s hard to bet against Williams-Adams’ upside in what will be his most substantial role yet at the college level. 
Williams-Adams averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 stocks per game while shooting 50.5% from the field as well as 30.8% from 3-point range in his freshman season at Auburn, but didn’t play out of the faceup all that much. That will change at Vanderbilt. 
“He thinks that he wants to get me more towards what I was out of high school, just in terms of playing more face up,” Williams-Adams told Vandy on SI. “He says defensively he believes I’m one the best defenders in the SEC so just combining that with a better offensive game, I would say just that was kind of the main thing we've talked about.” 
Williams-Adams is likely to be Vanderbilt’s most improved player, and he’s one of the most valuable frontcourt pieces that Vanderbilt has added in the Byington era. 
Starting center: Bangot Dak
Dak is the most talented big man of the Byington era at Vanderbilt, and it isn’t all that close. He’s going to start, and what he can give this Vanderbilt team will determine its ceiling. 
In 2025-26, Dak averaged 11.5 points per game, shot 49.2% from the field, 25.9% from 3-point range and grabbed 6.5 rebounds per game. Dak also recorded 1.4 assists per game. 
Vanderbilt invested heavily in Dak, multiple sources told Vandy on SI, and will expect him to be one of the best players on its roster. It’s only natural that he’ll start at the five. 
“He said he feels like if I get an improved shot, with how his offense is, that I'll be able to show my abilities to shoot the ball and get to the rim a lot more often,” Dak told Vandy on SI, “And just do what I'm able to do that not many typical big players can do in college basketball.” 
Dak is Vanderbilt’s first seven footer in the Byington era and indicates that its roster build is more mature than previous ones.
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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, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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