Three priorities Mark Byington should have as Vanderbilt basketball coach's rebuild begins
Vanderbilt basketball is facing a rebuild under new coach Mark Byington.
The Commodores finished 9-23 in 2023-24 and will lose their leading scorer, Ezra Manjon, who is out of eligibility. Second-leading scorer Tyrin Lawrence went in the transfer portal, and while he could still return, that's not a given.
With the transfer portal open for business, Byington will immediately need to figure out his strategy both with bringing in new talent and potentially re-recruiting players who have already gone in the portal.
Vanderbilt also has three signees: Karris Bilal, Tyler Tanner and Jamie Vinson. Those three players have the option to opt out of their National Letters of Intent, but so far none have done so.
Here's what should be the top priorities for Byington over the next few weeks:
Figure out Vanderbilt basketball transfer portal changes
Vanderbilt has five players who have already entered the portal or declared their intentions to do so: Lawrence, Colin Smith, Jason Rivera-Torres, Paul Lewis and Lee Dort.
Smith and Rivera-Torres made statements leaving the door open to a return depending on the results of the coaching search. But Byington will also have to decide how high of a priority it is to retain each of those players. The system he wants to run, NIL asking price and other transfers he is targeting could all play a role.
Other players, like Ven-Allen Lubin, Isaiah West and JQ Roberts, are not currently in the transfer portal but could be attractive to other teams if they were to enter.
One potential factor with teams that hire sitting head coaches is that the new coach could bring some of his players with him. Sun Belt Player of the Year Terrence Edwards has already entered the portal, and he averaged 17.2 points per game with a career 36.8% 3-point percentage.
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Overcome obstacles Jerry Stackhouse couldn't
In his final press conference after the SEC Tournament, Jerry Stackhouse noted that Vanderbilt had been behind on NIL compared to its SEC peers. While that wasn't the only reason for Stackhouse's record, if the Commodores can't drum up enough NIL support, it's likely that Byington won't have much success either.
Vanderbilt's athletic department has gotten more progressive on NIL. Both football and baseball have seen an influx of money in recent months. But Byington will have to get buy-in from boosters to contribute to a program that has had less recent success than almost any other on campus.
The NIL support will need to come quickly, too, as Byington faces a quick turnaround to recruit portal players.
Mark Byington must win back Vanderbilt fan base
Ultimately, winning will be the most important factor for the fanbase. It's never a bad thing to win a press conference, but coaches who have lots of charisma but little substance will ultimately end up in trouble if they don't win.
At the same time, Vanderbilt's fanbase is desperate for good news. And it didn't help Stackhouse that he alienated fans by making political comments and blocking them on social media.
Byington doesn't necessarily have to be a hype man, but he would do well to avoid those same kinds of mistakes Stackhouse made when communicating with the fanbase.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt basketball: Three priorities for new coach Mark Byington
