Kentucky basketball plays at Vanderbilt. It might be facing the SEC Coach of the Year
Last March when Vanderbilt turned from a former NBA All-Star to a mid-major coach in hopes of revitalizing its basketball program, casual fans asked the same question.
Who in the world is Mark Byington?
Nine months later, the 48-year-old Byington might just end up as the SEC’s Coach of the Year.
Byington is bringing Memorial Magic back to Memorial Gym. Kentucky’s opponent for a 2:30 p.m. EST game Saturday in Nashville, Vanderbilt is 15-4 overall and 3-3 in the SEC.
That’s a vast improvement over last year’s 9-23 record under Jerry Stackhouse, the former North Carolina All-American and NBA star who was fired after five seasons and zero NCAA Tournament appearances.
The school promptly hired Byington. A three-year starter as a player at UNC Wilmington under Jerry Wainwright — ex-UK guard Carlos Toomer was among his teammates at UNCW — the Salem, Virginia, native was an assistant coach under Pete Gillen at Virginia, Tom Herrion and Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech and James Johnson at Virginia Tech before being named head coach at Georgia Southern in 2013.
Byington produced a 131-97 record in seven seasons in Statesboro, including four 20-plus win seasons before Byington took over at James Madison in 2020. His record over four seasons in Harrisonburg: 82-36. JMU went 22-11 in 2022-23 before a stellar 32-4 campaign in 2023-24. That included a 72-61 win over No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before the Dukes were whipped by Duke 93-55.
James Madison’s success caught Vanderbilt’s attention. (JMU hired Morehead State coach Preston Spradlin as Byington’s replacement.) The Commodores had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 under Bryce Drew, and not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2012 under Kevin Stallings.
Nine players departed after Stackhouse’s firing. That prompted Byington to bring in 11 transfers, including Michigan State guard AJ Hoggard, North Texas’ leading scorer Jason Edwards, Virginia Tech sharpshooter Tyler Nickel and James Madison sophomore center Jaylen Carey.
The result was a 12-1 start, Vandy’s best since 2007-08. The Commodores opened 2025 conference play with an 80-72 victory at LSU. After losses to Mississippi State (76-64) and at Missouri (75-66), the ‘Dores beat South Carolina (66-63) and upset No. 6 Tennessee (76-75), sparking a court-storm at Memorial Gym.
“When you’re trying to build something, you want people to buy in, you want them to support,” Byington told Rocky Top Insider. “Sometimes they’re apprehensive until they see results. But they showed up, created a great environment, and had a great crowd. They helped us win.”
“I’d give Mark and his staff a lot of credit for it,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “I’d also give the players a lot of credit for it because we’ve seen it around the country where it hasn’t worked. If I were from the outside looking in, I would say what I would say about our guys, I think they knew what they were looking for. I think how he wants to play and I think he’s got guys to fit his system how he wants to play.”
Tuesday night, Vandy ran into the No. 4-ranked Alabama buzz saw, losing 103-87 in Tuscaloosa. There’s no shame in losing on the road to a team No. 7 in the NCAA NET rankings.
Through Tuesday’s games, Vandy was 37th in those same rankings. Ken Pomeroy had the ‘Dores ranked 48th in adjusted overall efficiency, 41st in adjusted offensive efficiency and 73rd in adjusted defensive efficiency. Last season, Vandy finished 183rd in the kenpom rankings.
What are the characteristics of Byington’s teams? They take care of the basketball. Vandy ranks 16th in turnover percentage. They also rank 16th in forcing turnovers. Vandy is 27th in bench minutes. The coach likes to push the pace. Vandy ranks 47th in adjusted tempo.
And they win. Bruce Pearl has Auburn ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. Todd Golden has Florida at No. 5. New Kentucky coach Mark Pope has the Wildcats at No. 9. But when you ask who is Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington, he might be doing the best coaching job of them all.
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
