Nashville, TENN--The humid Nashville summer mornings are often draining. For Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington that heat was almost refreshing, it meant he could coach basketball again after months of recruiting.

It meant that Byington's spring mission was complete.

As Byington looks back on that completed mission, he believes it was worthwhile. He believes he has something.

Getting to that point took just about everything he had, though.

The first-year Vanderbilt coach was tasked with entirely reshaping its roster after seeing all but one of its scholarship players leave the non-airconditoned Memorial Gymnasium for good.

Those goodbyes weren't sorrowful for Byington, but they meant that he'd have his work cut out for him.

Byington, who at that point was staying within Nashville's city limits while moving his family from Virginia, found out that if he wanted a chance in year one he'd have to go get it for himself. He'd have to ride his bike in to work at 5:00 in the morning, he'd have to keep his phone handy, he'd have to get it right.

The margin for error was smaller than usual for Byington as he went through the honeymoon stage with Vanderbilt's fanbase, but he believes he'll have something to show for his time.

He believes that he and his staff got it right.

“We got everybody we wanted in the spring," Byington said. "Everybody who is here is who we wanted, we didn’t settle, we didn’t take backups. Everybody that’s here is purposeful in our staff and purposeful in fitting what we’re trying to do here."

So do his players.

"We're not rebuilding, we're ready to play right now." transfer guard Jason Edwards said in the spring. "I believe we can win right now."

A comment like that from the confident Edwards wasn't out of left field, it was aligned with what Byington has preached.

He didn't come to Vanderbilt to rebuild, he came to fulfill an addiction that he developed in the spring; coaching in the NCAA Tournament.

Byington saw the blueprint in his James Madison team that went 32-4 and won a game in the dance last season. He needed to get older than Vanderbilt was last season, but he didn't need guys sleepwalking through their fifth years.

He needed guys who believe they have more in front of them.

"Proven players with more to prove," Byington described when describing his blueprint for transfers. "We tried to bring in proven players that have already been at different levels, really good basketball players with more to prove."

Byington believes that Vanderbilt has done that as it enters his first season at the helm.

"We have the right type of men in our program."