SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TIPOFF MEDIA DAYS

October 13, 2026

Mark Byington

Vanderbilt Commodores

Men's Media Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome Mark Byington.

MARK BYINGTON: I found out I'm the last person to speak, and so actually this is going to be the first thing I said. I appreciate all you all not only staying for this, but also covering college basketball and especially covering the SEC.

Sometimes there's people get criticized, but we could not do it without you, and we appreciate everything you all do.

Now, something with our team, and Garth mentioned last year, we've made some strides. Last year finished in fourth in the SEC and had a chance to win the SEC Championship in a tournament in Bridgestone. We were right there.

So there's been progress has been made.

Something I really noticed is kind of the sense of belief that's gone on not only throughout Nashville, but our campus.

I take great pride in that; that now we're at a state of our program where the standards are higher. We have higher expectations. We want to go further. But we also know that there's tremendous challenges, and it's not easy to finish higher in the SEC, go farther in the NCAA Tournament.

But I really do like the group that we have. A stat that was just shown to me two days ago, we're going to be the second-youngest high-major Power 5 team in the country. Cal has the first one at Arkansas, and we're right behind him. It's something that I know he's used to. We're getting used to it.

I've noticed the youth on our team at some of our practices, but also I know the talent on our team. When you have a team like that, you know when you're going against older, fifth-year players, you better grow up quick. You better be connected.

I made a decision with the team in the state of college basketball to believe in the guys that I promised something to, that I recruited; and at the same time, I think you're going to see us grow and continue to get better throughout the year.

It's been a great start, but my favorite part of coaching is kind of going on a journey with the group of players that you have. We're at the very beginning of this. We've already had an exhibition game, but at the same time, going and seeing what these guys can do throughout the year, what you are going to see them do in March, and hopefully there's some special memories along the way.

With that, I'll open it up to any questions.

Q. You bring in two guys, T.O. Barrett and Sebastian Williams-Adams, who have previous SEC experience. With a roster as young as your guys' is, how important is it to bring in guys like that who have that kind of experience?

MARK BYINGTON: Well, we play out-of-conference games. Obviously what we see in the SEC -- and the SEC is different. The size, the athleticism, the games, the atmospheres, it's different. Having somebody who has been through that is extremely valuable.

T.O. Barrett did it as a starting guard at Missouri last year, and Sebastian Williams-Adams did it as a starting -- I guess he was a center last year at Auburn.

We're going to lean on those guys. Even though they're young or whatever else, they have experience, and not many people have. Right now it's almost they're going to have to share their story and share leadership with the other guys on the team.

Q. How do you feel about your shooting? I know that was kind of one of the question marks. Some of it's maybe kind of young with freshmen and guys like that, but how do you feel like your team is going to be able to shoot and particularly from distance?

MARK BYINGTON: Yeah, you're always going to say you want do it better. I've been as conscious, any team I've ever coached, in our preparation, our work, our outside work, in shooting this summer and even in our preseason.

We've had specialists come in. And I think all these guys are going to shoot better than what they did before wherever they came. That is the expectation. We've had natural progress with guys who have already transferred into our program where they shoot it better.

I just told our guys the other day. If we pass better, we'll shoot better. It's not always just making shots. It's finding guys to make the right play.

Early on, I think we've had some guys that have done well. I think it's one of those things, too, we will do that better as the season goes along as well.

Q. Do you have an update on T.O. Barrett and Gabe Nesmith?

MARK BYINGTON: Gabe is not practicing right now, but will be. T.O. was a participant in practice the last two days.

And we're trying to get them both going. They're both going to be valuable guys on the team. It's one of those things right now also, too, I think you have a lot of precaution with guys coming back from injuries that I know what's ahead of us. I want to make sure these guys are healthy before they come back, so maybe we're being extra cautious right now.

Q. Defense was a big focus in the offseason, getting bigger rebounding better, getting a bigger inside presence. How pleased are you with what you have and how those guys have played? When you looked for guys in the portal that could do that, how early did the guys that you ended up with stand out to you? Just talk about what went into selecting those guys.

MARK BYINGTON: I think if you look at our team, my first two years at Vanderbilt, we were more offense-driven. Now our steal percentage was high, but there was also some things that lacked in our defense.

The size and length and physicality, that will translate. So we looked for that in the portal. We looked for that in recruiting, whether it was high school players as well.

And just looking at the size and the way guys move on our team right now, we should be a really good defensive team. You've got to hang your hat somewhere, and right now if you said what are we going to be, we should be able to rebound, we should be able for play defense.

The size of our team is obviously the biggest I've had, but then if you look around the SEC, I don't know the small teams in the SEC. I mean, the size in the SEC is incredible. We'll probably be matched up with and very similar to some teams.

But I do want this. I do want the staple of our team to be defense, because I feel like that will help us in the areas I'm talking about advancing, whether it's in the SEC Tournament, NCAA Tournament. I think those things will help us get a step further.

Q. Mark, can you put into perspective having Tyler back for another year?

MARK BYINGTON: Yeah, it's hard to put in perspective because there's so many things. First off, I'll talk about the basketball player. I think you all know that.

You see what he does on the court. To have a First Team All-League guy back who can do so many things to impact the game, makes others better, can score. He's not scared of big moments. He's been in big moments.

We continue to expect him to expand and keep getting better. The thing I've talked to him about is that might not be shown in a certain stat, but I can tell you he's better. I'm around him every day, and I've watched what he is.

The other side of that is having him back, the person having back. He's as high a character, as good a person as you're ever going to meet. And that is our culture. That shares with the other players on our team. So if your best player will sacrifice and is unselfish and is about the right things, that spreads to the rest of the guys.

Having him back for all those reasons, there's not a more valuable player in the country. Just everything that he can do on the court, off the court, what he means to me, what he means to Vanderbilt. I'm glad we got year three with him.

Q. You guys brought in Berke. Obviously played against him in the NCAA Tournament and saw how good he was. Just kind of the way you guys went about getting bigger, but also getting system fits like that who really complement Tyler. Obviously that was intentional, but if you could talk about kind of what you expect from him and what you have seen so far?

MARK BYINGTON: Yes, we saw first him with BK last year in the Nebraska game. You watch him on film, you're prepping for him. He does a lot of things that help teams win that you don't quite see until you're going against him or scouting him.

So him getting guys open and can pass, can make plays, and also his physicality and experience. So having him come in and then I think he's a great teammate who knows how to play.

Then the other thing I want him to spread to our guys is, you know, he's seen winning. Their team, unfortunately, knocked us out, but got to the Sweet 16 last year. So having more players that not only are old or wise, but understand winning and the things that go into that is very important. So I want him to make sure he's in a leadership role and will be able to help our guys out.

Q. I mentioned Sway, Sebastian Williams-Adams. How would you assess his offseason so far? What made him just a guy that you wanted to bring in after his year at Auburn last year?

MARK BYINGTON: Yeah, I mean, you go against somebody, I think sometimes -- this is what we were talking about with BK and TO -- you really know what they're about and what to expect.

We've known him for years. We recruited him out of high school. We tried hard, and he went to Auburn first. You know, sometimes these days it's never over. Then he goes on to another place, and you're going to cheer for him to be successful because he's a high character.

But when he decided to transfer, we wanted to get involved we very quickly because we think he stands for a lot of things that Vanderbilt stands for. He's extremely smart. He's very intelligent. He's not just a basketball player. He's very good in every area of his life.

Coaching somebody like that I think fits Vanderbilt, but then also on the court I think he brings a level of toughness and kind of versatility that we can really use.

He's gotten better. We've enjoyed being around him. He's getting more and more comfortable every day. He'll be very impactful for us this year.

Q. (Off microphone). I think he had a 40-point game at Washington State. What kind of scorer is he? Is there anybody that you compare him to that you have seen in the SEC or another level of college basketball?

MARK BYINGTON: I can't think of anybody to compare to him right now, but I can tell you, he's a dynamic scorer. He can play point guard or off the ball. He's very good in ball screens, can shoot the ball really well, and we're going to ask him to score.

It's going to be something that we're going to lean on him. He's obviously and his back court mates are going to get really good. He's going to get a lot of attention, but I think he's going to be able to play off of Tyler Tanner and also sometimes he's going to be able to relieve Tyler Tanner and make some plays.

He's going to be an important part of our team, and I think his scoring translates, the way he does it, from Washington State to the SEC. My favorite thing about him is his coachability. He is hungry to get better. So I love the fact he's just a sophomore. He'll keep getting better and better, but he is really driven to be good, and he wants to win.

So I think he's about the right things.