Hearing Mark Byington's introductory press conference is scheduled for Thursday.

I listened to an pre-tournament interview. He said he had been talking with Dusty May since May was in a similar position entering the NCAA tournament last year and obviously handled it successfully.
In the podcast with Chris Dortch, he said more than once that he wasn't sure how Byington got connected to Vandy but that he hoped someone in the industry who knew the potential of Vanderbilt basketball had recommended the job to Byington. I have a feeling that May recommended this job to Byington.

Let's consolidate portal entry wishlist .

Thusfar, a rising star center from Stanford ( Raynoud ) , Ivy League stud PG from Harvard ( Mack ) , former VU'er tweener from Belmont ( Dia ) , Belmont team mate and MVC Frosh of Year SG who nailed over 45% of his 3's ( Tyson ) .

Please add accordingly

With so many options available for the entertainment and sports dollar here in Nashville, how does VU compete ?
Clearly winning , and winning consistently would help, but how else could VU grow a fanbase, or lure old fans back ?
I’ve had friends drop out over the years citing any number of reasons, some saying they would come back if _______ ( fill in the blank ) . Not a single one that I know ever came back. Even through the CJF era, they didn’t come back, saying it was a flash in the pan, etc.

Getting butts in seats , who actually cheer for VU is at the very top of the list of issues concerning VU sports right now.

Any constructive ideas out there ? Or is it simply going to be a function of wins/losses ? Would pricing adjustments make a difference ? VU’s tickets are far and away the cheapest in the SEC already. Would dropping them further only add fuel to the fire of Alabama, Georgia, and of course UT fans snatching them up ? Toss Texas’ enormous and rabid cult like followers into that mix now too.

thoughts ? Ideas ? solutions ?

I was speaking with a coach at a D1 school on the east coast. I was asking him about Mark Byington. Here was the comment:

He is good. A really good coach. He is going to work really hard. One other thing. He will not be on the golf course. I can promise that!

Presented by Sutherland & Belk. We will record at 9:30.

If anyone is paying attention the the Preds, what they have done is amazing.

Right now, they have come back from a 4-1 deficit to tie it up against Vegas with 6 to go.

I know a couple guys may be out for a while but anyone know the status of Kozeal? He got a couple of at bats Sunday. Hoping Tuesday was just a rest day. This team has depth but it's starting to get tested.

He's out for the season after having Tommy John, Tim Corbin said.

Candice must walk into into CDDs office and get these transfer restrictions eliminated.

75% of the NIL transfers are not currently available to us. Maybe more.

We have a coach. We have NIL. We have facilities.

This is the last barrier to immediate success.

Will the HC bring all his assistants with him and anyone know if they are good recruiters?

PG from Harvard, led Harvard with 17pts and 5 assists per game and is originally from DC area. Go get him Coach Byington! This is the perfect transfer for us, thought there will be a long line of suitors

JMU's best player has entered the portal, this is a must-get for Vandy.

Login to view embedded media

I hadn’t watched JMU all year(or much CBB for that matter) but I was able to see the Wisky game. The played with extreme energy, pressed, and pushed the ball upcourt. I love this style of ball. I’d imagine it’s difficult to prep for and I’d like to believe it will help him ‘croot.

Prior to that matchup I had no idea JMU had won 30 plus games.

Dude has a solid background and he didn’t skip any steps. That’s important to me. Long time assistant for a legendary coach. Won at Ga Southern and that’s not an easy place to win. That school and its fans really support football and baseball. Not so much with basketball.

I think he’s got an excellent shot at being successful IF, and it’s a big IF, he gets the support needed.

I’d like to hear some basketball guys thoughts. I’m not a basketball guy and I get starstruck by teams that fast break. For example, my YouTube feed is full of old Loyala Marymount games and Turkish massages. @DoreFan would like your take on the hire.

Good to see him get a big league deal.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39815186/orioles-sign-veteran-tony-kemp-major-league-contract

Senior guard Bella LaChance has entered the transfer portal. She has one year left of eligibility.

LaChance spent the past 4 season with Vanderbilt. She appeared in 22 games this past season and averaged 0.5 points per game.

Her most productive season was 2022-23 when she averaged 3.7 points per game.

I think with a new competent offensive staff he’s gonna be a big piece.

Login to view embedded media

Any football updates ?

Saw it referenced on Twitter this morning that Men’s Basketball would have a $7M NIL budget. Any validity to this? Would be a game changer.

Our players in the portal are few imo...good or bad this new staff doesn't need to start from scratch. We have a few players that can play ball... Hopefully he can get Smith back and if im not mistaken Ven-Allen Lubin is not in the portal as of yet. This is a very interesting part of the new Staff....how much do they know about each player, how quickly can they get up to speed on what they have and other than the obvious of needing bigs....I look forward to seeing what they keep...and who they go after.....

Getting excited the more I know about the new guy... just glad he is a professional college coach....

Not sure if this has been posted if so I apologize but this article talks about the 4 yrs of coach and what he did while there. Really good stuff (and I know they wa t to make their program sound good for them to be able to hire the next coach but hard to dispute some of these things , I know VU tried to make Stack sound good I. Their article but the accomplishments and trajectory completely different).