After a stretch in which Vanderbilt had just Karris Bilal in its 2024 class, the Commodores added another piece on Friday.
Brentwood academy guard Tyler Tanner has committed to the Commodores.
Tanner shares the same high school as former Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland as well as the same AAU team. Tanner played in the Peach Jam just a few weeks ago with Bradley Beal Elite.
The newest Vanderbilt guard and Nashville native also held offers from Ole Miss, Murray State and Belmont.
Tanner continues a stretch of Vanderbilt locking down local guards, his commitment follows that of Goodpasture Christian guard Isaiah West.
West spoke on Tanner this winter when asked who he wanted to add to his class or the next.
“I want him to see this, Tyler Tanner at Brentwood academy, great player, he’s a really really great player,” the Vanderbilt signee said. “I’ve been on him heavy right now.”
West got his wish as the Tennessee Gatorade Player announced his Vanderbilt commitment on Friday.
Breaking down Tanner’s game:
Tanner is a true point guard in every sense of the word.
The 6-foot guard has a nuanced approach as a passer and projects to be capable of leading an offense at the next level.
The Bradley Beal Elite guard averaged 9.4 points as well as 4.8 assists per game on the Nike circuit this summer while shooting 40.9% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range on 15 attempts.
Tanner is also a smooth scorer that is capable of making an impact on all three levels. The Brentwood Academy guard will primarily operate from the perimeter but is a capable driver, although he isn’t the finisher or athlete that Bilal is.
The newest Vanderbilt commit seems to fit the bill of many of the guards that Stackhouse has recently recruited, undersized but smart, poised and capable of scoring in bunches.
Tanner isn’t a can’t miss prospect or one that will end up as a five star but he fits the mold of the young guards that Stackhouse has recently recruited and will have a chance to be an impact player in 2024 with the departure of Ezra Manjon.
Class Impact:
When looking at how Vanderbilt recruits its guards, it's pretty clear that coach Jerry Stackhouse and staff have a type.
Tanner isn't super flashy or a standout athlete but has a lot of the skills that made Paul Lewis and West appealing to the Vanderbilt staff.
As the class of 2024 guard gets on campus at Vanderbilt, he will walk into a situation with plenty of capable ballhandlers like Lewis and West but also playing time on the table after the departure of Ezra Manjon. After the loss of Manjon, Vanderbilt will have to turn to all three of those young guards to fill his minutes and production.
It feels as if Stackhouse has built a solid nucleus to do just that. Tanner and his classmate Karris Bilal will join that group as freshman next season.
The dynamic between Tanner and Bilal will be fascinating as Tanner is the steady, likely primary ballhandler of the class while Bilal is the flashy alpha scorer that may be better when he is given a longer leash and is allowed to try to make those flashy plays.
What will also be interesting is how Vanderbilt ends up distributing those backcourt minutes, most of the pieces of Vanderbilt's young nucleus will have similar size and skillsets that will make role allocation interesting. As far as 2024 is concerned, both members of the class seem to complement each other well, though.
Tanner's commitment and the effort that the Vanderbilt staff put into his recruitment also provides encouragement that they can recruit Nashville at a high level and will continue to moving forward.
Vanderbilt has now landed a Nashville native in three straight recruiting classes. Two years ago it was Malik Dia, it was West last year and now its Tanner.
Recruiting locally will continue to be important for this program as it aims to keep up with the SEC's heavyweights that hold advantages over it on the trail in a multitude of ways. It feels as if Vanderbilt has done that well in recent years.
Tanner's commitment gives Vanderbilt the SEC's sixth-best recruiting class according to Rivals.
