Tyler Tanner’s preseason trophy case keeps filling up, and the latest nod puts Vanderbilt’s guard in rare company.
Basket Under Review named Tanner the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year and a First-Team All-SEC selection for 2026-27, while also slotting Vanderbilt at No. 7 in its SEC preseason poll. The outlet went even bigger on Tanner nationally, ranking him No. 3 in the country behind Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears and Florida wing Thomas Haugh.
In its Vanderbilt preview, Basket Under Review made the case for why Tanner’s decision to return matters so much for the Commodores. “Is it a wise bet to come back and hope you actually do become a lottery pick in a much less loaded class?
Perhaps, but it's best for Vanderbilt above all,” the outlet pointed out in its preseason Vanderbilt preview. “In terms of players returning to college basketball this season, Tanner has the highest Box Plus-Minus at +11.4 (the same as lottery pick Kingston Flemings) and is one of just three players (Braden Huff at Gonzaga and Terrence Hill, Jr. at Tennessee) to post a +7 or higher BPM to go with a 125+ ORtg on 25%+ or higher Usage%.”
Tanner backed up that buzz with a huge 2025-26 season, averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 steals and just 1.9 turnovers per game while shooting 48.5% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range. He led Vanderbilt in scoring and started drawing NBA Draft attention as conference play got underway, but ultimately pulled his name from the draft and came back to Nashville.
That return fits the arc of his time with the program. Tanner signed with Vanderbilt the day after the Commodores hit rock bottom in a loss to Presbyterian on opening night of the 2023-24 season, and he has stayed committed through a coaching change and whatever other opportunities may have been available this cycle. Now he enters the season with a chance to go down as one of the best players in school history.
Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said over the summer that the spotlight won’t shake him. "He's gonna get a lot of attention, and it will not change him one bit," Byington told Vandy on SI over the summer.
"He will not feel any kind of pressure, and he really won't react to it. That's who he is, his upbringing and what he's about.
But everything that he gets is deserving of because of how he played last year."
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Jared Curtis Returns To Georgia With One Huge Vandy Decision Under Pressure
Jared Curtis choice to commit to Vanderbilt over Georgia was always going to come with a different kind of spotlight. Instead of signing up to sit behind a roster stocked with national title talent, he picked the path that offered a chance to be a centerpiece early in his college career, and that decision has already shaped how Commodore fans view his arrival.
Now he is heading back to Georgia with an injury adding uncertainty to an already meaningful moment. Vanderbilt expected him to be a significant part of what comes next, and the timing of this trip only heightens the stakes for a player whose biggest decision was about opportunity, not convenience. How much he can actually give against the Bulldogs is still the question hanging over the week. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilts New Standard Faces Its First Real Test
Coming off its first-ever 10-win season, Vanderbilt has moved from hopeful upstart to a program with real expectations, and the next step comes quickly. The Commodores are aiming not just to build on last years breakthrough but to keep pushing toward the kind of standard that would put them in position to chase something even bigger.
No. 2 Georgia offers the first true measuring stick for that ambition. The Bulldogs have recent national titles and the sort of depth and dominance Vanderbilt is trying to emulate, which is why this matchup feels like more than just another SEC game. Even with the underdog label hanging over them, Vanderbilts players and coaches have kept the focus on internal goals, treating the trip as a benchmark for where the program stands now and where it still wants to go. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilts Georgia Hopes Still Hinge On One Unsettled Decision
Vanderbilts preparation for Georgia still has one central question hanging over it as freshman quarterback Jared Curtis works through an injury and tries to get himself ready for Saturday. Curtis is expected to make an effort to play, and his availability will come down to a pregame evaluation after he was limited in practice this week.
Curtis did complete Fridays walk-through without any issue, which at least keeps the door open for him to be available when the Commodores face the Bulldogs. Even so, Vanderbilt is heading into the matchup with the kind of uncertainty that can shape a game plan right up until kickoff. [Read more 🡒]