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Following Vanderbilt's 97-65 exhibition victory over UAB on Monday night, a cluster of players gathered around Tyler Tanner and Sebastian Williams-Adams on the Memorial Gymnasium baseline. Their intent was to tease the two during an interview, but their presence also signaled something more: the quick chemistry that big man Bangot Dak had predicted just days earlier.
Dak, one of the few returners from last season's Round of 32 squad, had spoken on Friday about how this year's team—composed almost entirely of newcomers—was meshing rapidly and how their skill sets dovetailed. While his comments weren't groundbreaking, they set a higher bar for a group that some insiders believed might need time to jell, given it is the second-youngest power-five team in the nation.
Yet the playful antics—Brown getting in Tanner's face during the interview, Gabe Nesmith making faces behind Williams-Adams—suggested this team might be ahead of schedule in building camaraderie. And their play a few minutes earlier only reinforced that notion.
Vanderbilt dominated UAB from start to finish, never appearing like a young, inexperienced group. Teams with such labels often struggle to pull away early or let opponents back into games during garbage time, but the Commodores kept their foot on the gas. They outrebounded UAB 53-35, received elite guard play from Tanner, Ace Glass, and Ant Brown, and saw Dak flash the potential that made him one of the most sought-after big men in the transfer portal.
Even their most glaring on-paper weakness—3-point shooting—didn't seem concerning. After starting 1-for-10 from beyond the arc, Vanderbilt finished the night shooting 38% from deep. Everything expected of this group still appears within reach.
Tanner already looks like the best player Byington has ever coached. This may be the best frontcourt and defensive team Byington has had at Vanderbilt. Yet, despite the impressive showing, the players believe it wasn't enough.
"We are younger, that comes with advantages and disadvantages," Williams-Adams told Vandy on SI amid the postgame mob. "We just came out not ourselves and we kind of were all like alright, so what are we doing? Like, that's not us. We've been killing each other in practice and we're going against each other all day. So I just think playing against another opponent, we kind of got a little out of character."
Vanderbilt's dismantling of UAB will raise eyebrows about what this team can become, but the messaging afterward was more of a reminder to pump the brakes than a vote of confidence. Perhaps that's the most intriguing part: this group has already embraced Byington's mentality. They act like him. That means something.
If Vanderbilt's most veteran players had talked up the team after the performance, it wouldn't have been out of line. Tanner had just delivered a Tanner-like show in 22 minutes—18 points, six steals, six rebounds—yet he wasn't satisfied. Williams-Adams scored eight points and showed improved perimeter play, but he wasn't either. Nobody who spoke on the record was.
Clearly, Byington's obsession with improvement has rubbed off. As for what Byington said, it was the most predictable part of the messaging. He noted his team was nervous early, declared they weren't trusting each other, and harped on 17 turnovers, which he called a shame. He talked more about newness and awkward lineups than anything.
"We're not close to [deciding the rotations]," Byington said. "But, this gives me hope."
Following Monday night, there's a lot that should give Byington hope about this assembled group. Even if he's not willing to pump his players up publicly yet, they've looked the part through the first 80 minutes of basketball they've played together. All the caveats about exhibition games apply, but Byington and company can only use them to cover up so much. It's right there to see with this group. It's impossible to ignore.
They're going to be good. Like, really good. They have a chance to win 27 games like Byington's 2025-26 team did, or even more. They could challenge for the SEC regular-season title and play until Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. They could be favored to get out of the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But don't tell them that. They don't want to hear it right now.
They'd rather hear about shooting 16-for-29 from the free-throw line Monday, or too much sloppiness being a theme for this group. Even a mention of their out-of-rhythm offense early in the night would suffice. That's all part of this group's eventual rise, and they're not glossing over it. Perhaps they'll be talking differently in a few months. But for now?
"We were just trying to see a bunch of stuff," Tanner said. "Obviously, Coach wants to see different lineups and everything, but I thought we were focused, locked in. I think we had good energy, so I think it was good for us."