Tennessee basketball’s trip to play Vanderbilt on Saturday marks more than just an in-state SEC rivalry with postseason implications. It is also the return of Jaylen Carey, a current Vols forward who played for the Commodores a year ago.
Despite spending just one season with Vanderbilt, the Commodore fans haven’t forgiven him for transferring to the state’s flagship university. Upon his return to campus, the student section was quick to get after him, including a profane chant of ‘f*** you, Carey.’
At halftime, Tennessee trails Vanderbilt 35-31. Carey started for the Vols with JP Estrella ruled out for the game due to injury. Carey has posted four points on 2-for-6 shooting with five rebounds and a block through one half of action.
“F*** you Carey,”
—The Vanderbilt student section. pic.twitter.com/srU5DvhFC4
— Joey Dwyer (@joey_dwy) February 21, 2026
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“We’ll certainly talk about it,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said before the game on Carey’s return. “I think this is the new world that we live in now. Guys are going to end up going back to schools where they left. I think it’s going to be the norm now. And I like to think that we all handle it in the right way, everybody that’s involved with it.”
Heading into the game, Carey owned averages of 7.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He was shooting 48.8% from the floor and is 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts.
At Vanderbilt, Carey played in 33 games and made one start. In that time, he averaged 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He saved his best for the Vols, though, posting a combined 32 points and 17 rebounds in two games against UT.
Before his time at Vanderbilt, Carey played his true freshman year at James Madison. He was a contributor off the bench there under Mark Byington. When Byington got the head coaching job for the Commodores, he followed him to Nashville.
