Nashville, TENN--Vanderbilt has its new head men's basketball coach.
James Madison head coach Mark Byington is expected to be Vanderbilt's choice to replace Jerry Stackhouse, per multiple reports.
Byington has a career record of 213-133 between his seven years at Georgia Southern and four at James Madison.
The 47-year old head coach reached his first NCAA Tournament in 12 seasons as a head coach this season with a 32-win campaign that included a round of 64 win over fifth-seeded Wisconsin.
That one NCAA Tournament is the only one on Byington's rèsumè, that rèsumè is also without an NIT berth or a CBI berth. The results, in particular the number of NCAA Tournament berths, largely aren't at the level of other candidates.
Perhaps that is telling, but it's also misleading in some ways. The former James Madison coach has won in some places that not many others have.
Prior to Byington's tenure, Georgia Southern had won 20 games in a season just three times over a 20-year span. Byington won that many games four times in his seven seasons there and got to the SunBelt championship game in his second season.
Perhaps Vanderbilt could be striking early on a good personality with an up-tempo offense that has had his team playing as hard as anyone down the stretch and had some interest for high-major gigs, though.
James Madison was a top 70 team in KenPom offensive and defensive efficiency while playing having a top 70 pace in the country, as well.
"The turnovers help us to get out and play a faster tempo but then on offense we're trying to attack from the very beginning of the possession to the end." Byington said in an interview with Ken Cross. "It is a philosophy of ours; try to get easy shots, try to push, try to attack."
That's the type of style that Vanderbilt may have to play to be competitive in the SEC nowadays. Bytington's teams will likely play a more exciting, fast-paced style of basketball than Vanderbilt has in recent memory.
"We're an aggressive team on both ends of the court," Byington said on the Bleav in DMV hoops podcast. "We're gonna try to really push the pace on offense. Really kind of take the first good shot that we can get but at the same time having the IQ to know if that's not a good one. On defense we're gonna be very active.
"Our base is gonna be the same, hopefully that we're disrupting the other team enough to get stops or get turnovers." Byington said about his defense. "I think a lot of times you'll look at our teams and you'll see the true meaning of positionless basketball. I know a lot of people say it but we actually did it. You'll see my center bringing the ball down the court 5-10 times in a game."
That style proved to work as James Madison went 2-0 against the BIG10 this season.
The industry concern seems to be whether Vanderbilt will be able to recruit enough under Byington to compete in a high major league. The more Byington you see the more it feels as if that's not a concern worth having, though.
Byington largely used the transfer portal to get old and build his current roster as three of James Madison's five leading scorers came via the portal. That included T.J. Bickerstaff, a 6-foot-9 forward who had previously played at Boston College, Michael Green III from Bryant and Robert Morris, as well as Noah Freidel from South Dakota State.
It feels as the 47-year coach gets it with the portal and knows what comes with taking on a tough job and a rebuild. Now it's time for him to do it.
Byington has plenty to prove at this level, but his personality and experience on high major staffs such as Virginia Tech and Virginia in the past could provide some hope that he can make a quick adjustment to a higher level.
