Vanderbilt basketball has found its newest head coach. The Commodores are hiring James Madison coach Mark Byington as its newest head coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello first reported on Monday.
The 47-year old Virginia native has been a college coach for 11 years, spending the first seven years at Georgia Southern and the last four years at James Madison.
In 11 seasons as a head coach, Byington’s teams have posted a combined 213-133 record including an impressive 82-36 record in four seasons at James Madison.
Byington is coming off his best season as a head coach, leading James Madison to a 32-4 record this past season. The Dukes won the Sun Belt Regular Season Championship and tournament before upsetting Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and falling to Duke in the Round of 32.
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It was the first time, Byington has made the NCAA Tournament in his coaching career. The Dukes also won the Sun Belt regular season in his first season at James Madison.
Byington takes over atop the Vanderbilt program after an unsuccessful five years for Jerry Stackhouse. The former North Carolina standout spent five seasons leading Vanderbilt to a 70-92 record and two NIT appearances.
Vanderbilt hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in eight years and hasn’t won a tournament game 13 years. Byington joins a challenging SEC that’s improved significantly in recent season. The SEC put eight teams in the NCAA Tournament this season an despite a disappointing open weekend of the tournament, the conference has definitively improved in recent years.
