Vanderbilt sophomore Tyler Tanner continues to stack up the recognition
Tyler Tanner Is One to Watch
Vanderbilt sophomore Tyler Tanner keeps adding to what’s already been an excellent season.
The Brentwood native landed on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award midseason top 10 list Monday. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list, and Tanner’s name was right there with some of the best point guards in college basketball.
He’s joined by Alabama’s Labaron Philon, Arizona’s Jaden Bradley, Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey, Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears, Purdue’s Braden Smith (who won the award last year), and Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson.
It’s all Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC guys. Vanderbilt is one of three SEC schools on there with Alabama and Arkansas.
Tanner’s putting up 17.8 points, 5.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals a game. He’s shooting 49.1% from the field and 38% from three. He’s scored in double figures in every single game this season, with eight games of 20 or more points. That kind of consistency is hard to find.
The defensive side is where things get really interesting. Tanner’s also on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watchlist, leading the conference with 52 steals. Vanderbilt has the top three guys in the SEC for steals per game right now. Duke Miles leads the conference at 2.8 per game, and Tanner’s right there with him at 2.4.
Fan voting opens Friday at hoophallawards.com, and the fan vote actually counts as one committee vote when they pick finalists. They’ll narrow this list down to five in mid-March, then announce a winner sometime before the Final Four.
Some other good news for Vanderbilt this week. The Commodores jumped three spots to No. 15 in the AP Top 25 Poll. They started 16-0 and got as high as No. 10 before dropping three straight to Texas, Florida, and Arkansas. The Dores bounced back strong though with wins over Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Ole Miss.
Tanner’s been the engine for everything Vanderbilt’s done this year. Now he’s officially in the mix as one of the best point guards in the country.
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