Why Tenn is having problems recruiting and rebuilding. | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Why Tenn is having problems recruiting and rebuilding.

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vowelguy said:
A prudent person might have waited to make this post until after the Nov signing period was over.
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Tony....prudent?? I think that's what called an oxymoron.
 
Every once in while a squirrel finds a nut. Congrats to Tenn. I really didnt think Mercedes would end up at Tenn. Davis left, and Tucker decommited and now both look like theyre siging with Tenn. Gotta wonder what happened? Like I said things in Tenn are in disarry and this shows thats true. There was talk a few months ago that Mercedes would go with Diamond, then LVille now surprise shes verballed to Tenn. What is happening at Tenn?
 
Looks like they're doing the job they were hired to do.
 
Tonyc said:
Every once in while a squirrel finds a nut. Congrats to Tenn. I really didnt think Mercedes would end up at Tenn. Davis left, and Tucker decommited and now both look like theyre siging with Tenn. Gotta wonder what happened? Like I said things in Tenn are in disarry and this shows thats true. There was talk a few months ago that Mercedes would go with Diamond, then LVille now surprise shes verballed to Tenn. What is happening at Tenn?
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"What is happening at Tenn?" is they are transitioning to a new coach. That involves some uncertainty. Imagine that?! Disarray? Yeah, Vol fans are gnashing teeth over the "disarray" that landed them two top ten recruits.

Just as this Husky fan hopes that Ollie proves to be an even better coach than Calhoun, thanks precisely to being tutored by Calhoun, I'm sure Vol fans hope that Warlick turns out to be a great coach. I could care less whether she turns out to be great or not because I'm fairly certain that Auriemma is the best. I don't think he walks on water, but he's a better coach than anyone, including intrepid Boneyarders. Why should anyone of us be so absorbed about Tennessee? They simply are not a threat, and they even have a few gracious posters when they post over here (who cares what they post on their own board).

Last night there was a Russell post and two Husky posts (Tuck and Jefferson). Granted the Husky posts came later, but the Russell post drew the overwhelming attention. Even the ambiguous "Verbal" title fared much better. I'm with Kibitzer 100% on this, I just don't get it, and this is my last response on Tennessee.
 
If Tennessee gets Davis how many top 10 players will they have on the roster next year?

Massengale, Tuck, Davis and Russell that I know of.
 
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iCannotDeal said:
Graves and thats it....she was #5 per ESPN Hoopgurlz
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Yeah, but if you land Davis (#2), you will have Massengale (I can't remember what she was ranked), Russell (#1), Graves (#5) and Tucker (#8?). That's a petty solid group on the floor together. You have reason to be excited for next year.
 
ericsandiego said:
Tennessee has almost always been athletic. In the past (up to the Parker yaers), it's been enough. Not any more. Tennessee hasn't landed a truly elite recruit since Candace Parker (and by "truly elite", I mean a rating of 98 or above per Hoopgurlz, or one of the top 2-3 players in most any given class). This is not to say Tennessee has not recruited really well. They have.

And Tenn certainly has landed their share of top 10 kids - Bjorkland, Baugh, Johnson, Stricklen, Gray, Massengale, Burdick, Graves and Tucker. All of them were top 10 kids (I'm not sure if i missed any since Parker's class, but i think i got them all). but none of those kids were in the same league as Harris, Charles, Prince, Moore, Lavender, EDD, Griner, Bone, Diggins, Ogwumike, Simms, Hartley, Thomas, KML, Williams, Stewart or Jefferson. Those kids were all either rated 98 or better, or were one of the top 2-3 kids in their class...

Now I totally disagree with Tony if he feels Tennessee is on the way out. But I think it's pretty clear that without getting the uber-elite players, Tennessee simply cannot challenge for a NC. Landing Davis and Russell would be a step in the right direction. If Tenn lands both of them, they could be challenging for a final 4 berth when those kids are juniors. I have no doubt Tenn fans will see it differently, but the reality is that even with first round draft picks Johnson and Stricklen (and they were also on the all rookie team), as well as former #2 Baugh, Tennessee was still incapable of getting past the elite 8.

Tenn has always had the athletes. Crash the O-boards and play stifling defense. That's what Tennessee has been known for in the past. But without at least 3 truly elite players on their roster, they simply won't be getting it done. And for the record, I'd argue that UCONN has 5 truly elite players on their roster at this time - Hartley, KML, and the entire freshman class of Tuck, Jefferson and Stewart. Tennessee doesn't have one single player on their team who is better than those 5. IMHO Graves is the best player on their team (she may not be the "best" this year, but she will be very soon).

Tucker was a HUGE get for Tennessee because up to that point, they'd swung and missed on everyone they went after, even 2nd tier JUCO players. She was the first elite player to take a chance on the new coaching staff. I think that, at least perceptually, opened the doors for other top kids to realize Tennessee was still going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Even if Tennessee lands Davis and Russell, they will need at least 1 or 2 more uber elite recruits to compete with UCONN 2+ years down the road. They'd need Wilson, Turner, Mitchell, or one of the other uber elite from that class (i'm not sure who will the best of that class)... just to have close to the talent UCONN has... And the way Duke has been recruiting, Tenn is looking up at them right now too.
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I count 7 top 20 HS players on this TN roster. Only 2, Spani, and Simmons are upperclassmen. If the land Davis, (and with her brother there and now a top flight class to join her) I would think she leans there. So 3 top ten kids (maybe 1 or 2 more) to join that roster and they can easily be a FF contender. In recruiting like anything you never know. The past few years TN had chemistry, injury's, and other X factors that held them back. New team, new coach lets see. Baylor comes back to earth after this year (you don't just replace a 6'8" stud), and Stanford has 1 more uber athletic sister to go before they go back to being the team that has to out smart you. TN can easily return to the NC picture in a few short years. Yes, there are many if's, but having enough highly ranked players is not 1 of them. What kind of TEAM they become because of them is. I agree they are looking up at the elite teams, but a few more top players and they may just get there sooner than later.
 
asuwish said:
If the land Davis, (and with her brother there and now a top flight class to join her) I would think she leans there. So 3 top ten kids (maybe 1 or 2 more) to join that roster and they can easily be a FF contender.
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agreed
with Davis in addition, they become a F4 contender in 2014 and a NC contender for 2015
 
Tonyc said:
Every once in while a squirrel finds a nut. Congrats to Tenn. I really didnt think Mercedes would end up at Tenn. Davis left, and Tucker decommited and now both look like theyre siging with Tenn. Gotta wonder what happened? Like I said things in Tenn are in disarry and this shows thats true. There was talk a few months ago that Mercedes would go with Diamond, then LVille now surprise shes verballed to Tenn. What is happening at Tenn?
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They have commitments from two top ten kids (one of which is the top ranked player in the class). They may well end up with a few more top 10/top 20 players. If that is being in "disarray," I shudder to think what "on top of their game" looks like.
 
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I think if you read what I wrote you will see why Tenn was having problems recruting. Yes my post came out a little premature not knowing what Holly could do. Holly hit a home run. Congrats to Holly shes overcome alot. With this years class and with Mercedes verballing and looking at Davis and Tucker both who decommitted and are now saying they might be committing, well I have to say if that comes about Tenn is looking to be getting back on track. As far as my comments that Tenn was in disarray I would think you would have to agree looking at the past 4 years and have to say the team underperformed on the big stage. Up til the other day when Mercedes committed after articles that had her going to LVille and with Davis and Tucker decommitting its hard for me to think that those Tenn fans who said Tenn was in disarray werent wrong.
 
Statistically, tony, I am not sure that TN is having trouble recruiting. I just like the model they have used for recruiting for a long time but it still seems to be working in terms of the numbers of recruits.
 
Looks like Tennessee is not having trouble recruiting. The 2013 class for UT is stacking up pretty well.
 
Tenn not having problems recruiting? Well lets see. Two commits, 2 decommits, one re-commit and now Mercedes commits. If you cant see a problem there,well. Something is going on that we dont know about. Good Luck to Tenn with Jannah and Mercedes but dont say theyre not having problems and problems with recruiting. First of all to commit decommit and re commit just might be a problem, dont ya think.
 
Tonyc said:
Tenn not having problems recruiting? Well lets see. Two commits, 2 decommits, one re-commit and now Mercedes commits. If you cant see a problem there,well. Something is going on that we dont know about. Good Luck to Tenn with Jannah and Mercedes but dont say theyre not having problems and problems with recruiting. First of all to commit decommit and re commit just might be a problem, dont ya think.
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Getting two top ten commitments, including the top player in the class, after having a top five class last year is not what I would call having problems or being in disarray. And having a second decommitment means nothing when the player recommitted less than 48 hours later.
 
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