Tanner's Rise: Vandy's Hidden Gem

0:00On March 18th, Tyler Tanner's rise at Vanderbilt Basketball shows how colleges can miss talent. This six-foot guard from Brentwood Academy got just a handful of Division I offers, coming out of high school, mainly Vanderbilt, Belmont, and Murray. State. He always felt he dominated his matchups, but his size kept bigger programs away. Vanderbilt grabbed him under coach Jerry Stackhouse and new coach Mark Beignton kept him after taking over. As a freshman, Tanner averaged under six points per game in a limited role. This sophomore year, though, he exploded onto the scene. Team mates and coaches can't get enough of his energy and playmaking. One teammate even said, you can't hate Tanner if you love the game. His drive to prove doubters wrong fuels him, turning that underrated label into motivation every day. Now Tanner leads Vanderbilt with 19.1 points per game, overall in 21.5 in SEC play. He set a program record with 81 steals, shoots nearly 50% from the field, and dishes out

1:01assists with low turnovers. The Commodore started 16 and 0, earning a number 5 seed in the 2026 NCAA tournament. Tanner's drawing NBA eyes too, slotted 30 second overall in a recent mock draft. Close to former Vandy star Darius Garland, he's putting Nashville hoops on notice, urging local teams to scout the area harder for hidden gems, like him.