Who is Mark Byington? Vanderbilt basketball trainer has big winnings

On By Littum

Vanderbilt Basketball may have hit a home drive with his rental of coach Mark Byington.

Byington, in his first season after being employed by James Madison, has already revived Commodore’s fanbase with victories over Tennessee and Kentucky, an almost non-perfect non-conference post and a chance to get a bid for the NCAA tournament.

Although Byington, 48, was a rent under the radar compared to high -profile features elsewhere in SEC, especially John Calipari moved to Arkansas and was replaced by Mark Pope in Kentucky, observers have begun to notice what he has done with Commodores.

Here’s what you need to know about the Vanderbilt -Trainer ahead of the Commodores game Tuesday at home against No. 1 Auburn (6 pm, SEC Network):

Mark Byington has ties to Virginia and Carolinas

Byington is from Salem, Virginia, and he played at UNC-Wilmington, where he scored over 1,000 points in his career and was appointed CAA All-defensive team. He received a master’s degree from Virginia and worked as a candidate assistant and then later Operations Director for Cavaliers.

He also had assistant coaching -Stints on Virginia Tech and Charleston before landing his first main coach job in Georgia Southern in 2013.

Mark Byington Family

Mark Byington has a son, Chase Byington, who is a junior at Ensworth High School in Nashville and plays on the basketball team.

According to Daily News RecordByington’s mother was a primary school teacher and he is the youngest of three brothers.

Mark Byington led James Madison to remarkable disturbances, NCAA -Tournament

Byington had a record of 131-97 in seven seasons in Georgia Southern. He was hired at James Madison in 2020 and had an 82-36 record for four seasons there.

Most notably, Byington led the dukes to a seasonal rebellion by Michigan State in 2023, which led to several weeks ranked in the polls. James Madison ended with a regular season record of 28-3 and won the Sun Belt tournament and earned a No. 12 seed in March Madness.

In March, Byington’s Dukes drew another Big Ten disorder and beat No. 5 Seed Wisconsin. James Madison lost against Duke in the second round.

How does Mark Byington compare with Jerry Stackhouse, Bryce Drew?

Before Byington, Commodores had seen some success since the Kevin Stallings era. Vanderbilt last made the NCAA tournament in 2017, Bryce Drew’s first year. It had not been ranked since 2015.

Bracketology Will Vanderbilt than 8-year-old March Madness drought after Tennessee, Kentucky wins? A look inside the numbers

Byington got the Commodores back in the AP vote on January 27. It’s still left to see if Vanderbilt will do the NCAA tournament, but Commodores is in a good place.

Byington did this despite returning only one scholarship player from last year’s list. Vanderbilt instead brought 10 transfers, led by Jason Edwards from North Texas, AJ Hoggard from Michigan State and Devin McGlockton from Boston College. These 10 transfers are rapidly gelled.

Vanderbilt this season drew disturbances over Tennessee and Kentucky, both of whom resulted in court storms. Commodores last beat two top-10 (at the time) teams in 2007, and the program had never beaten both Tennessee and Kentucky before being ranked in the top 10 in the same year.

What is Mark Byington’s salary?

Byington’s salary has not been published. Because Vanderbilt is a private school, it is not subject to open items. Vanderbilt must report wages for its five highest paid employees on an annual form 990 tax document, but the number for 2024 will not be available until the spring of 2026.

By 2022, Stackhouse received over $ 4 million in compensation.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt -Athletics for Tennessean. Contact her on [email protected] Or on x, former twitter, @aria_gerson.