Tyler Tanner and Coach Mark Byington helped lead our team to a major victory at Memorial Wednesday Night. (Photo courtesy of the Southeastern Conference).



Our awesome sophomore point guard, Tyler Tanner, from Brentwood Academy in Nashville, led us with 29 points, seven assists and 4 steals, as our 11th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores dispatched of the 13th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, 96-90, before 11,429 fans, which included a terrific student section at Memorial Gymnasium, Wednesday Night on ESPN2. 

We moved to 15-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, and showed the country what kind of team we have. Coach Byington has put together a stellar group of players, led by Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel and Devin “Glock” McGlockton, our three returners, who are excelling both in the conference and on the national stage. Alabama dropped to 11-4 and 1-1 in the SEC. They’re a very good team too. Both teams have a shot to go deep in March/April.

We had four other guys join Tyler in double figures. The great Duke Miles, who had been out with an illness for two games, finished with 19 and 5 steals. Duke leads the conference in steals, and Tyler Tanner is second. Tyler Nickel finished with 12, AK Okereke, our super transfer from Cornell, finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. And the great “Glock” added 10 and 12 boards. 

So it was a phenomenal effort from our team. There were a lot of fouls called. We shot 50 free throws, and sank 35 of them, 70%, and they shot 38 free throws, and sank 29, 76%. They out-boarded us, 49-38, but we had 9 steals to their 3. They committed 13 turnovers, while we only committed 8. Despite the fact that it was such a high scoring game, both our team and their team have great athletes, and can get after it on the defensive end too. 

We shot 46% from the field, and 35% from trifecta, 7-of-20, while they shot 37% from the field, but only 22 percent from triple.

Excellent victory for the guys. Love what Coach By and the team are doing. Tyler T is a superstar, and Duke, Ty Nickel, AK and Glock are stellar players as well. Just gotta keep improving on the defensive end and the boards, and keep building our depth, but we’re still pretty good in those areas at this point. We’ll keep improving. Really excited about this group. 

We play LSU this Saturday, 1/10/26, at 12 P.M. on the SEC Network. Another test. The Bengal Tigers are 12-3 overall and and 0-2 in the SEC, having lost @ A&M, 75-72, last Saturday, and at home to South Carolina, 78-68, on Tuesday. But it’ll be tough. SEC games always are.

Will keep you apprised on our tremendous basketball team.

Five star quarterback Jared Curtis practiced with the team as our football team got prepared for the Reliaquest Bowl, and, according to the players per Vandy Sports, was throwing darts. Excited about the future and very appreciative of what Diego and the fellas did this season going 10-3. Not the finish we wanted, but an amazingly special season. These guys are the foundation for what Clark and this program can achieve in the future. We’ve lost a few pieces in the portal, including safety Randon Fontenette, which hurts, and wide receiver Tre Richardson. But we’ve added some very good pieces, too, and we’ve have some excellent players returning. So, ecstatic for 2026. If Jared, or whoever is our quarterback, can play well, we’ve got a shot to excel once again. 

Our now No.7  Women’s Basketball team is 15-0 and 2-0 in the conference after defeating Arkansas last Thursday on the road, and then No.5 LSU this past Sunday. We defeated LSU, 65-61. The amazing Mikayla Blakes is averaging 25.2 points per game and is leading the SEC and is third in the country in scoring. Appreciate her so much. Coach Shea Ralph has done a terrific job with the women. What a coach, Coach Ralph is. We face Missouri today at Memorial at 6:30 P.M. SEC Network+ will broadcast. 

Will keep you apprised on everything Commodores related. A lot to be excited about.

Thanks and Anchor Down.