Vanderbilt signee Tyler Tanner learned basketball from his dad, whose college records will never be broken
BRENTWOOD — When Tyler Tanner’s mom Jenifer sees her son play basketball, her memory returns to a handsome man in a blue and gray Rice University uniform.
The man is in a low defensive stance, bright eyes, a tenacious guard in one of the nation’s toughest conferences. He was D’Wayne Tanner and Jenifer married him.
Their son is Brentwood Academy senior guard Tyler Tanner, who will play at Vanderbilt next season. Jenifer, who also played at Rice, thinks Tyler and D'Wayne's styles are identical.
“His decision making, his IQ, the way he moves, the way he thinks. His quickness, the way he finishes at the rim. They’re very similar, especially on defense,” Jenifer said.
D’Wayne owns a record that will never be broken: He’s the career steals (291) leader in the Southwest Conference, which disbanded in 1996. He is still Rice’s career and single-season (95) steals record holder.
Tyler, a 6-foot guard like his dad, is a two-time Mr. Basketball finalist and the 2022-23 Gatorade Tennessee boys basketball player of the year. He is 80-9 in three years as a starter. Last season he led BA to its first state title since 2018.
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His basketball heroes tend to be undersized point guards who pack a big punch: Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and former Belmont guard Kerron Johnson.
Then there’s D’Wayne, who is more special than all of them.
D’Wayne Tanner set steals, assists records at Rice
Jenifer Tanner was a good ballplayer. She actually bloodied D’Wayne’s nose in a basketball game the first time they met.
Her husband was competitive too. D’Wayne’s conference-record 291 career steals at Rice from 1987-90 are nine more than Baylor’s Micheal Williams and 27 more than Houston’s Clyde Drexler. Drexler became a 10-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer. Williams still holds the NBA record for most free throws made.
“(Defense) was my calling card at the time,” D’Wayne said. “I was an undersized kid. I found every way I could to change games. It probably was more my heart and passion. I’m not as gifted as my son offensively; never was. So it’s good to see him have those abilities.”
The Southwest Conference was one of the NCAA’s best at that time, with members like Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Houston, Arkansas and TCU.
D’Wayne guarded future NBA players like Lee Mayberry, Todd Day and Lance Blakes.
He still holds the single-season and career steals marks at Rice and is No. 4 (426) in career assists.
“To know he did that is really dope,” Tyler Tanner said. “If there was a highlight tape of him out there, I’d probably watch it a million times. He’s kind of my idol.”
Another footnote to D’Wayne's college career: He co-captained the 1988-89 season with current Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The two remain close.
Those experiences have all in some way been passed to Tyler.
How Tyler Tanner developed into Vanderbilt basketball signee
Tyler used to take a basketball with him almost everywhere he went. He even slept with one sometimes. The balls are still all over the house, his sister Amber says.
“There was no rhyme or reason why I slept with a basketball,” Tyler said. “Obviously it's not comfortable or anything. I think I just wanted everyone to know how much I loved the game.”
He blossomed into one of the state’s top guards and averaged 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.1 steals last season. Drawing comparisons, fair or not, to former BA guard and Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland, he shined in Brentwood Academy’s biggest games. He was the state tournament MVP, scoring 22 points and grabbing five steals against Briarcrest Christian in the DII-AA state championship.
“He sees things in the moment that I don’t see from the sidelines. (It happens) all the time,” BA coach Andy Blackston said. “His upside is still growing. We have yet to see how good Tyler Tanner is.”
Tanner's size and shooting ability were question marks early in his recruitment. But he worked on his long-range shot and made over 30% of them in the second half of last season.
His rim-grazing dunks as a sophomore have become emphatic slams, and his leap can wipe opponents’ layups clean off the backboard.
More: Tyler Tanner is Brentwood Academy's best point guard since Darius Garland, has Vanderbilt offer
“I’ve always been pretty athletic, but I was short,” Tyler said. “As I grew and worked with Scotty Reall, our strength and conditioning coach, he's given me a lot more bounce. I give a lot of credit to him.”
D’Wayne was his son's coach from elementary through middle school and even some AAU ball. Defense was vital to his success at Rice and he made sure Tyler could play both ends of the floor. "It's being in the right spot at the right time," D'Wayne said. "He's gifted with that anticipation."
“I think a lot of my defensive instincts come from him,” Tyler said. “My vision of the floor, getting people open and making people better, he always wanted me to do that at a young age.”
Jenifer loves this dynamic. One season, she and D’Wayne coached Tyler’s Woodland Middle School team together.
She had the perfect view: The man in the Rice jersey teamed up with her only son.
“The two of them together,” Jenifer said, “are fun to watch.”
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA basketball: Vanderbilt signee Tyler Tanner shaped by dad D'Wayne
