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Who is Chandler Bing? Freshman crucial for Vanderbilt basketball in March Madness
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- Who is Chandler Bing? Freshman crucial for Vanderbilt basketball in March Madness
Meet Chandler Bing .
No, not the Chandler Bing who stole everyone's hearts in the 1990s. The 6-foot-6 Vanderbilt freshman from Atlanta who has actually never watched "Friends."
His parents weren't diehard "Friends" fans, either. Tara and Calvin Bing named their son after a family preacher, not the beloved sitcom character.
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This Chandler Bing grew up watching Kevin Durant play for the Oklahoma City Thunder , and is living a dream, making his NCAA Tournament debut in the same city . He joined a Vanderbilt team on the rise and helped the Commodores make the SEC Tournament championship game and earn their highest March Madness seed under Mark Byington .
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Byington said he didn't make Bing any promises when he recruited him. If he wanted to get minutes, he'd have to earn them. Bing didn't start the season in the Commodore rotation, but then he started getting some minutes. Now, Bing is a player the team depends on.
"He's turned into a really good player, versatile, can guard, not scared of the moment, is multi-dimensional," Byington said. "He's a guy right now on our team that we depend on and we value everything he brings to our team."
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From when Bing started practicing with the team in June, he noticed something clear. This was a team of collaboration. No one tried to be the star. Going into the tournament, he sees the team chemistry at an all-time high. Everybody wants to see each other win.
He is where he always dreamed of being.
Bing started playing basketball around 4 years old. He always had a basketball in his hand, shooting at the mini hoop set in his door. Bing played high school basketball at Pace Academy in Atlanta, a school that also produced Orlando Magic's Wendell Carter Jr. , Penn State forward Josh Reed and NBA G-Leaguer Matthew Cleveland in the last few years.
He originally committed to Texas State, but eventually decommitted to follow his ambitions to make it to a high major program.
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After making his official trip to Vanderbilt in April, he was pretty confident Nashville would be home. Enticed by the school's top academics, city and coaching staff, Bing signed with the Commodores in early May.
"The coaching staff, I love all of them," Bing said. "They showed me a real sense of community. So this was definitely a place and a program I wanted to be part of."
Bing wants to go into a kinesiology or sports medicine path with his Medicine, Health and Society degree from Vanderbilt.
But before getting his bachelor's degree from one of the best institutions in the country, Bing has the chance to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.
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"It's crazy, it's surreal," Bing said. "This is stuff I've dreamed and prayed for since I was young, and it's amazing to see the work pay off."
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Vanderbilt's Chandler Bing (7) practices during practice and media day for the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., Wednesday March 18, 2026.
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Isa Almeida is a trending reporter for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Isa? She can be reached at ialmeida@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @ialmeidasports. Support Isa's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com .
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Chandler Bing is crucial to Vanderbilt basketball's March Madness
