Why Vanderbilt basketball signee Tyler Tanner thrives in TSSAA state tournament games

COOKEVILLE – Brentwood Academy's Tyler Tanner will spend his college basketball years at Vanderbilt, but the Eagles senior cracks a smile when talk of the Hooper Eblen Center comes up.

For the past four years, Tennessee Tech's basketball arena has been center stage for the Division II-AA Mr. Basketball finalist, as he's helped guide Brentwood Academy to the TSSAA Division II-AA state tournament each year.

Tanner poured in 36 points — the latest installment of his exploits at Tennessee Tech's gymnasium that led to Brentwood Academy's 63-48 win over Knoxville Webb Thursday in the TSSAA DII-AA boys state semifinal.

"I like playing here a lot," said Tanner, whose Eagles will face Briarcrest Christian for the state title for the second straight year at 1:30 p.m., Saturday. "The goals, the lighting and everything ... just the dynamics of the gym."

Tanner will be playing in his third state championship game Saturday against a team that he's familiar with. Briarcrest Christian handled Pope John Paul II, 76-53, in the other semifinal and features a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards in Jackson Grisham and Fred Smith.

"Both teams are going to be a little different (than last year)," Brentwood Academy coach Andy Blackston said. "I haven't really had a chance to really dig into them. I'm a big 'lock-in one game at a time' so ... But it'll be a good challenge."

Tanner had 22 points in last year's TSSAA basketball championship game against the Saints and he'll be the focus of their defense Saturday. The 2023 Mr. Basketball finalist and Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year, connected on 5-of-10 3-pointers and scored 12 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter as the Eagles (25-7) pulled away from the Spartans (24-5) in the second half.

It was the second straight year that Blackston's team eliminated Knoxville Webb in the semifinals. In that game, Tanner went for 24 points.

"I'll have to watch the film but (Tanner's shots) looked like they were a long way from the rim," Knoxville Webb coach Ricky Norris said. "He's a great player.. They're not a team you want to play from behind against, because of him."

Tanner's debut on the Hooper Eblen Center as a freshman in 2021 resulted in 22 points against Christian Brothers in the semifinals. He struggled in a championship game loss to MBA with just four points, no rebounds and two assists. He had 11 points in a BA loss to Knoxville Catholic in the 2022 state semifinals, the only time Tanner failed to reach the championship game.

In Tanner's six DII-AA state tournament games played at the Eblen Center he's averaging 19.8 points.

"There's a lot of internal motivation for me, as being a leader getting back here," said Tanner, who had four steals in the first quarter against Webb. "It's always a goal to get back here, to get that gold ball. All of us are on the same page right now."

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Teammate, and Tennessee football commit, George MacIntyre has been playing with Tanner since the fourth grade. His seven points in the third quarter helped BA claim the lead for good. He's been a first-hand witness to some of Tanner's memorable games.

"It's a lot of fun," MacIntyre said of playing with Tanner. "I feel like two or three time I'm back-screening or something, I just turn around and see the ball go into the net. I assume Tyler shot it. Usually when we're winning big games like this, it's because of Tyler."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.