Mark Byington high on Vanderbilt frontcourt: “We’re gonna be fine."
Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington has heard the evaluations surrounding his frontcourt.
He's heard the concern about the height, he's heard the talk of the lack of production. The first-year Vanderbilt coach seems to have a different evaluation, though.
“We’re gonna be fine."
The Vanderbilt head coach didn't hesitate to make that declaration of his frontcourt. The statement was quick and confident.
So was Byington's effusive praise of sophomore big man Jaylen Carey, who contributed to James Madison's 32-4 team as a freshman and was the first player to commit to Byington at Vanderbilt.
"I don’t think people realize how good Jaylen Carey is," Byington told Blue Ribbon and Vandysports. "I do. I coached him for a year. He played behind an all-conference player [otherwise] he would’ve been one of the most highly recruited transfers out there as a freshman. He contributed on a team that was a top 35 team as a freshman. That doesn’t happen."
Byington believes that Carey's 7.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game on 66.9% shooting in his lone season at James Madison wasn't a fluke. The first-year Vanderbilt coach seems to think the skillset will translate.
"He’s gonna play a lot. He’s ready to play."
That possibility of playing time will be aided by what Byington believes Carey's ability is to play multiple positions alongside 6-foot-9 USC transfer Kijani Wright, 6-foot-7 Boston College transfer Devin McGlockton and 6-foot-8 sophomore forward JaQualon Roberts.
“Those four guys, two of them are gonna play together a lot," Byington said. "It’s not like one cancels out another. So even Jaylen Carey can play with Kijani Wright, our biggest guys, because of the skillset and because of the offense."
Byington believes there's more out there for the 6-foot-8 Carey at either frontcourt position.
"He is a physical presence," Byington said of Carey. "His IQ and his feel for the game for somebody that size, you don’t find that very often. He’ll make passes, he’ll make reads, he’ll make shots, skill things that you don’t see. What I’ve got to develop him with is more back to the basket and get him down there because he can really score. He’s so good on the perimeter with making decisions and everything else that it’s more comfortable to him but he can go inside, outside."
As Carey plays the five he'll largely be alongside McGlockton, who will likely make a starter-level impact. That impact will be amplified if the rising junior can be a consistent shotmaker from beyond the arc.
That seems to be a possibility based on what he's shown this summer.
“He has just a level of toughness to him but he also has a high level of IQ," Byington said of McGlockton. "He’s really shooting it well and he’s physical, strong and long arms and everything else."
McGlockton, who will wear number 99 for Vanderbilt, was a focal point at Boston College as he started all 36 games and was top 50 in the country in true shooting percentage.
Byington feels as if the 10.2 point scorer will have a similar role in his system.
"He’s gonna be counted on. He’s gonna have a big year.”
It also feels as if Wright and Roberts will be counted on to contribute in 2023-24 in bigger ways than they've been tasked with in their collective three college seasons.
“He’s a guy who can really move. He’s almost 6-foot-10, long arms, athletic and sometimes those guys, they’re not quick twitched and they can’t separate. He can separate on ballscreens," Byington said of Wright. "He’s a lob threat. Running the court he’s one of our fastest guys. He’s really fast one end to another end. I just love his defense. He can guard different coverages. He can switch. He can guard smaller guys, bigger guys.
"The thing that kinda stands out about him that I didn’t quite know, I didn’t know how versatile he was. That’s on offense and defense, his versatility really sticks out.”
Wright has the look of a primary five while Roberts can play both spots but has been tasked with playing multiple positions throughout the summer, although he's primarily played the four and the five like he did last season at Vanderbilt before the coaching change.
Roberts' development has pleased Byington.
“He’s kinda been one of the bigger surprises for us," Byington said of Roberts. "We know he had his moments last year in his spot opportunities but he’s extremely athletic and if not our best athlete one of them. He’s right there. The thing I think he’s doing is he plays so hard and he’s just gonna make plays because he’s gonna play hard."
Roberts' 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds on 32% shooting don't stick out, but it feels as if Vanderbilt has higher hopes than those numbers would indicate.
It feels as if that evaluation is a microcosm of Vanderbilt's frontcourt. Byington is betting on there being more in there than the numbers, or height, would indicate.
"I think people talk about height, they need to be more worried about wingspan," Byington said. "That’s the more important thing in basketball."
Vanderbilt has projectable wingspans, it has real ceilings, it has physicality. How its production looks in the frontcourt could ultimately determine how far it goes.