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CLEVELAND – After Vanderbilt basketball was sent to Cleveland for Friday’s NCAA Tournament first round game against Saint Mary’s, freshman guard Tyler Tanner heard from an old pal.
Darius Garland wanted to wish Tanner, a fellow Brentwood Academy graduate, luck in his hoops facility.
As oddly enough, Garland had just visited Tanner’s.
Garland’s Cleveland Cavaliers were in Nashville last week, practicing Wednesday and Thursday at Vanderbilt’s newly built Huber Center before Friday’s game at the Memphis Grizzlies. It was a chance for the Cavs to break up the monotony of the season and for Garland to get to go home – he watched Vandy’s SEC Tournament game.
“If there's a Mount Rushmore at BA, for sure he's definitely on it for athletics,” Tanner said of Garland. “He gives back. He shows love to BA all the time.”
While becoming an established NBA star, Garland has remained close to BA and to the Commodores, where he only played five games in 2018-19 before getting hurt in what will always be one of the great what-ifs for Vanderbilt athletics.
Garland, for instance, narrated a hype video that Vanderbilt basketball posted Wednesday night on social media in advance of this NCAA Tournament.
Tanner said he wasn’t necessarily trying to follow in Garland’s footsteps by going from BA to Vandy, but it has ended up that way. The two are friends.
“In middle school, I started working out with him a little bit,” Tanner said. “Throughout the years, we've just gotten closer. ... It's a great asset to have. He's a guy that's been in my shoes and has accomplished things I want to accomplish one day.”
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Darius Garland features in Vanderbilt basketball's NCAA Cleveland trip
Continue reading...
Darius Garland wanted to wish Tanner, a fellow Brentwood Academy graduate, luck in his hoops facility.
As oddly enough, Garland had just visited Tanner’s.
Garland’s Cleveland Cavaliers were in Nashville last week, practicing Wednesday and Thursday at Vanderbilt’s newly built Huber Center before Friday’s game at the Memphis Grizzlies. It was a chance for the Cavs to break up the monotony of the season and for Garland to get to go home – he watched Vandy’s SEC Tournament game.
“If there's a Mount Rushmore at BA, for sure he's definitely on it for athletics,” Tanner said of Garland. “He gives back. He shows love to BA all the time.”
While becoming an established NBA star, Garland has remained close to BA and to the Commodores, where he only played five games in 2018-19 before getting hurt in what will always be one of the great what-ifs for Vanderbilt athletics.
Garland, for instance, narrated a hype video that Vanderbilt basketball posted Wednesday night on social media in advance of this NCAA Tournament.
'Bilt together.
' .#AnchorDown️
pic.twitter.com/bs8Xy0lmZS
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) March 19, 2025
Tanner said he wasn’t necessarily trying to follow in Garland’s footsteps by going from BA to Vandy, but it has ended up that way. The two are friends.
“In middle school, I started working out with him a little bit,” Tanner said. “Throughout the years, we've just gotten closer. ... It's a great asset to have. He's a guy that's been in my shoes and has accomplished things I want to accomplish one day.”
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at [email protected] and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Darius Garland features in Vanderbilt basketball's NCAA Cleveland trip
Continue reading...
