Here's my take on it....all of us here want the program to return to glory as being a perennial top team in women's basketball. There are two ways this is going to happen:
1. Program turns around and flourishes under Holly
2. Program continues to slide, Holly is out and the AD brings on someone new who turns the program around
If Deshields plays next year, we have the same predicament we've had the last 7-8 years where we enter the season as a top 5 team on paper with Final Four potential....but again it's exactly that, on paper. In reality, the teams have had some glimpses of good play, but overall almost every team has come up far short of the enormous expectations the team takes on when they don the LV orange.
If Diamond stayed, realistically I think this is a top 10-15 team that once again falls short of expectations but does take a step forward from last season. This is worst case scenario IMO for 2 reasons:
1. The program isn't really improving since the mediocre effort/attitude is likely still in tact, and the following year you lose Deshields/Nared/Russell. Tennessee wont project to be emerging as a Final Four caliber program and has an uphill battle the following season.
2. The program also isn't tanking which means Holly likely continues coaching for a while longer since on her resume she'll now have 3-4 Elite 8s and 5 Sweet 16s in her 6 year, plus a few SEC titles to toss in there. The AD isn't going to fire her for making 5 Sweet 16s in 6 years with a talented young class on board, so Holly stays and the program will never develop beyond being a consistent Sweet 16 program. All that happens is the problem (coaching) is prolonged.
With Diamond leaving, on paper we look a lot less strong, but I think one of two things will happen:
1. Chemistry improves dramatically and this whole off season lights a fire under everyone's a**. Sure there will be bumps, but a great freshman class has opportunity to play in big games, develop as players and help change the tide of the program. Players like Russell and Nared also get more touches and get a chance to shine. There wont be as much pressure on Holly, and as a result, the team improves and puts together a much better season than we are expecting.
2. More of the same as the last two seasons with poor chemistry and on court effort. Losing Diamond means that we'd probably lose 2-3 more games than we would with her, but another poor season and early NCAA exit means the AD really has to evaluate whether Holly stays or goes. If Holly is the problem and this is what it takes to get her out, this outcome might be the best for the program in the long run. Worst case scenario is we have another underwhelming season and the AD decides to stick with Holly. Only upside to this is that freshmen get opportunity to play and develop their first year.
I'm obviously rooting for option one and honestly believe that with all of the changes, chemistry will be a lot better this upcoming season and players will play through this adversity and help steer the ship in the right direction. That said, I'm more of an optimist and feel this way in most off seasons, so we'll see how it all shakes out.
