Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington considers his biggest coaching regret to be failing to recruit Stephen Curry while he was an assistant at the College of Charleston. Now, his top priority is securing the best player available.
This regret is shared by many coaches who couldn’t convince Curry, the slender, second-generation shooter from Charlotte Christian, to join their programs. Curry chose Davidson in 2006, starred for three seasons, and then rose to NBA stardom.
Mark Byington Calls Missing Out On Recruiting The Curry Brothers His Top Coaching Regret
Byington appeared on Tuesday’s episode of CBS Sports’ Inside College Basketball Now, hosted by Jon Rothstein. He was asked to name a recruit he really wanted but failed to get, specifically referencing two moments: failing to scout Steph Curry before his 2006 Davidson commitment and missing out on Seth Curry in the years that followed.
He admitted that in 2006, he failed to scout Steph Curry, despite his NBA pedigree as the son of elite shooter Dell Curry. Byington, then an assistant to Charleston coach Bobby Cremins, said he never saw Stephen’s future success coming.
Steph Curry starred at Davidson, leading them to the 2008 Elite Eight, before being drafted by Golden State in 2009 and becoming one of the NBA’s greatest shooters.
Byington said the Cougars also had a chance to recruit Steph’s brother, Seth, several years later. During Seth’s recruitment, their father was present and tried to help them secure his commitment.
“We thought we had a good chance and if we recruited him (Seth Curry) a little bit harder, his brother already knew College of Charleston, and I couldn’t get coach Cremins convinced that this this guy’s going to be good and I was like I’m not making a mistake on another Curry,” Byington recalled.
Seth Curry was eventually recruited by Liberty in 2008 and averaged 20.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He transferred to Duke in 2010 and played his remaining three seasons there. In four seasons, Curry played 141 games and averaged 14.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, and 1.2 spg.
Despite being an undrafted free agent, he played 12 seasons for 10 teams in the NBA, averaging 9.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, and 1.9 apg in 552 games.
Byington lived with the regret of not securing the commitments of the Currys and made sure he would not make another regretful decision.
This season, Byington was able to recruit three three-star freshmen in Jayden Leverett, Jaylon Den-Vines, and Chandler Bing. The trio complements his transfer portal pickups in Duke Miles, Tyler Harris, AK Okereke, Mike James, Frankie Collins, Jalen Washington, and Mason Nicholson.
The recruits have played good music with returnees Tyler Tanner, Tyler Nickel, Devin McGlockton, Miles Keeffe, and Coleson Messer, and helped the Commodores start the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season with a 14-0 record and a No. 11 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll.
