Jolette Law hired at Tenn

The proof of the pudding will be in the LOI's. If Tennessee gets a strong (top 5) 2013 class, it will bode well for the future of Tennessee women's basketball.

Again, is it the institution of the coach? This has yet to be determined. Certainly was the coach for Davis.

Where did you read that they expect to get those six?. And who is "they"?

(Russell, DeShields, Gray, Tucker, Scaife and Mavunga, if they are talking HG.)

I'm just pulling some legs. But I believe those are the 6 they are focusing on.

Law had terrible results as a head coach - I don't know why some RU fans continued to tout her for a future HC at RU. But she can recruit - the problem was, she could also drive players out of the program, this happened several times at IL. And I am guessing she coached a style of play that she lacked the players to execute. Did pull some amazing upsets, a few times.

She was well liked and respected as a recruiter, and also well liked by the players, in a role where CVS (to a degree) played the bad cop to her "good cop".

As we have discussed before, some folks just are not cut out for head coach.

A fair and accurate assessment.

Gas??? You should take some pepto.

Well we have all seen first hand where that offensive prowess has taken Rutgers and Illinois.

exactly! roger that over and out

Well considering that Rutgers has gotten top 3 recruiting classes the last two years without Law's help, I don't think it she was the recruiting force. I mean she was selling a HOF coach, which she won't be at Tennessee.

i would respectfully suggest that having a sick coach for the past few years was the larger issue..especially considering pat's track record before this last senior class. TN does not have a problem making great players...we lead the WBNA in players and had 4 players drafted this year. i have full confidence in this group of coaches.

Ding Ding Ding.....we have a winner.

Law did a very good job as RU's top assistant and then lead recruiter. She was followed by Carlene Mitchell (now the head coach at UCSB), who also did a top job. It should be noted however that while RU's recruiting successes remained top level when Law left, the results on the court did not. This is not to draw a direct connection, just to state the facts. As others have noted, Law may fit in better as an assistant.

Mickie DeMoss was considered a great recruiter when she was an assistant at Tenn, left to become a head coach and didn't have the same recruiting results running her own program. Also didn't have much success recruiting at Texas or when she returned to Tenn as an assistant.

It will be interesting to see if Jolette will be able to regain her recruiting touch at Tenn. She was not considered successful at Illinois and will need to overcome that perception that recruits might have. She's been out recruiting with limited success over the last three years. Obviously it should be easier for her to recruit for Tenn. Time will tell.

New head coach. Two new assistants that are the main recruiting coaches. 2013 class is in the stretch run.

It's not an easy situation for Tennessee. It will take a lot of convincing by the staff and faith on the part of the recruits they are targeting to have a successful 2013 class.

I'm sometimes amazed at how desperate we fans are to search out good news, and how we latch onto and promote "facts" and conclusions that we so wish to be true.

Law's greatest recruiting class at IL was 16, 36, 108, 149 (2008). Followed by 50, and 89 in 2009. Despite this "great" recruiting, she amassed a record of 69 wins & 93 losses during her stay at IL. This record was amassed in the B1G, not exactly the strongest conference in the land. Yet, TN fans seem happy with Holly's choice, so I also assume they will be happy to match these recruiting numbers?

The ability to attract players with high rating numbers is not a particularly valuable skill. It's picking and retaining highly rated players that should be rated higher than the number assigned by the raters. That is key.

I'm not sure how much credit Law should get for her Rutgers recruiting. It's a lot easier to ask a recruit to come play for CViv than it is to attract recruits when a lesser coach is at the helm. I'd tend to give more weight to her performance at IL than at RU.

At TN, the die is cast. The coaches are in place, and hope runs rampant. Now we must wait.

Yes, we will see how Jolette and the rest of the TN staff does. I am sure they will do just fine. It is one thing to recruit, I am anxious to see how they develop their players. The recent track record isn't the best, especially this past senior class, many of whom were 1st round draft picks by WNBA..... it wasn't just Pat's illness that held them from any Final 4's.... something caused those teams not to perform, whether it was coaching or players themselves, who knows.

I think TN has good players, they just have to be brought to their maximum potential. Hopefully this staff as it has been configured can get the job done.

+1

Not sure what "just fine' means. Become a top 5 team? top 10? top 20? Tennessee is used to being one of the best programs in the country. Their fans demand it. This year will be an interesting season for them. They do have talent. But they have some distinct weaknesses. Size on the perimeter. Size in the post. Experience in the post as well. And they have some injury concerns.

They have a lot of questions to answer and their performance in the upcoming season is only one. The recruitment of the class of 2013 will say a lot of how these young women look at the retirement of Pat and how that impacts Tennessee.

As has been said many times, only time will tell. Certainly not what we say here.