TennaciousD957
I'm Kind of a Big Deal
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Tennessee's 2016 class is six 3 star players. I like many people here are concerned about this class based on only having 3 star players, especially with looking at next season. This of course is assuming at this point we don't get a big man (Yurtseven). I decided to look back at the past recruiting classes by starts to see how Tennessee has fared in regards to stars beginning with the Pearl years. Specially on whether there was any impact the first year or 2, developed into an SEC player, or didn't cut it.
Rivals ratings were used.
3 star players ( b/c there were sooo many I broke them into categories)
No Impact at all
Marques Johnson - transfer and never heard from again
Daniel West - transfer and never heard from again
Dwight Miller - no impact at all
Ray Kasongo - enough has been said here, but possible transfer
Minimal Impact - Role player
Demontre Edwards - very minimal
Yemi Makanjoula - minimal then removed from program
Minimal Impact but could have developed into SEC player?
Quentin Chievous - transfer, has developed at Hampton
Wes Washpun - transfer, has developed at UNI
AJ Davis - transfer, has developed at UCF
Darius Thompson - transfer, appeared to have potential, but has not shown it yet at a stacked UVA
Willie Carmichael - transfer, had to play early - unknown on development but potential was there
Jabari McGhee - transfer, had to play early, unknown on development but potential was there, even more so than Carmichael IMO
Tariq Owens - transfer, had to play early, unknown on development but potential was there, even more so than Carmichael and McGhee IMO
Minimal Impact but has shown signs of being able to develop into SEC player?
Kyle Alexander - had to play early, but showed signs and has size of SEC player
Shembari Phillips - Towards end of the year showed flashes, will play a big role next year
Admiral Schofield - early in the year showed flashes, will play big role next year
Lamonte Turner - practice reports, but really unknown at this point
Impactful Player - SEC production, but had to develop
Brian Williams - Average SEC big man by Junior year
Melvin Goins - JUCO - took until second year, but solid SEC pg
Bobby Maze - JUCO - took until second year, but above avg SEC pg
Derek Reese - Below avg SEC big, but solid role player
Devon Baulkman - JUCO, took until second year, but SEC role player
Armani Moore - Classic developmental player, true SEC player
Josh Richardson - Classic developmental player, all SEC
Kevin Punter - JUCO, All SEC by second year
4 star players
Tyler Smith - Transfer, but instant SEC impact
Wayne Chism - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player, Senior year borderline all SEC
Cameron Tatum - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player.
Phillip Jurick - Transfer, borderline SEC level, mediocre at OK St.
Renaldo Woolridge - Not SEC level player
Kenny Hall - Borderline SEC level player, minimal role playing big man
Trae Golden - Instant Impact player, impactful all 3 years he played
Jordan Mcrae - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player, Senior year borderline all SEC
Detrick Mostella - Developmental player, but by Sophomore year SEC player, Junior year will play a huge role
5 star Players
Duke Crews - instant impact
Ramar Smith - instant impact
Scotty Hopson - instant impact, but also had to develop
Tobias Harris - instant impact - only true one and done
Jarnell Stokes - instant impact, but also had to develop
Robert Hubbs - made first impact this year (junior), still needs to develop, but it legitimate SEC talent).
One thing that jumps out at me, is that even when things were going amazing with Pearl, we still brought in a lot of 3 star players. Many of the 3 star players turned into legitimate SEC players and actually very few of them were busts at the SEC level. In fact it would possible to argue that the 4 star group had an equal percentage of busts. IN addition the the 4 start group all had to develop to be impactful players, minus Tyler Smith who didn't start here, but played well as a Freshman at Iowa.
For comparison out of the 3 stars we got Melvin Goins, Bobby Maze, Armani Moore, Josh Richardson, Kevin Punter including a slew of guys that transferred that have become impactful at other places. Out of the 4 stars we got Chism, Tatum, Golden, and Mcrae with potential for Mostella. At least for Tennessee as a program regardless of coach, we got as many impactful players out of 3 stars as 4 stars.
Obviously the 5 stars are a different story as really none are busts from the standpoint of being SEC levels players. All except Hubbs made an immediate impact, but even the 5 stars (expect Tobias) had plenty of developing to do when they got here.
When I think about this years class combined with last years, I think that we have a ton of 3 star players. Barnes is loading up on the 3 looking for the 50% break point with at least half of these turning into legit SEC players. The other 50% based on history will likely not remain with UT for the duration of their careers. Also when it comes down to wringing our hands over 3 vs 4 star players, there does not appear to be nearly gap as there is between 4 and 5 star players.
As for next season, I am not as worried as I believe we have identified players on our team that will be impactful SEC players (Phillips, Schofield, Alexander, Mostella, Hubbs, Turner, and have a crop of 6 more 3 stars which likely will be at lest 3 more SEC players to the table). Of course as everyone has said the missing piece is the 5 star instant impact in the post........paging Omer...
Rivals ratings were used.
3 star players ( b/c there were sooo many I broke them into categories)
No Impact at all
Marques Johnson - transfer and never heard from again
Daniel West - transfer and never heard from again
Dwight Miller - no impact at all
Ray Kasongo - enough has been said here, but possible transfer
Minimal Impact - Role player
Demontre Edwards - very minimal
Yemi Makanjoula - minimal then removed from program
Minimal Impact but could have developed into SEC player?
Quentin Chievous - transfer, has developed at Hampton
Wes Washpun - transfer, has developed at UNI
AJ Davis - transfer, has developed at UCF
Darius Thompson - transfer, appeared to have potential, but has not shown it yet at a stacked UVA
Willie Carmichael - transfer, had to play early - unknown on development but potential was there
Jabari McGhee - transfer, had to play early, unknown on development but potential was there, even more so than Carmichael IMO
Tariq Owens - transfer, had to play early, unknown on development but potential was there, even more so than Carmichael and McGhee IMO
Minimal Impact but has shown signs of being able to develop into SEC player?
Kyle Alexander - had to play early, but showed signs and has size of SEC player
Shembari Phillips - Towards end of the year showed flashes, will play a big role next year
Admiral Schofield - early in the year showed flashes, will play big role next year
Lamonte Turner - practice reports, but really unknown at this point
Impactful Player - SEC production, but had to develop
Brian Williams - Average SEC big man by Junior year
Melvin Goins - JUCO - took until second year, but solid SEC pg
Bobby Maze - JUCO - took until second year, but above avg SEC pg
Derek Reese - Below avg SEC big, but solid role player
Devon Baulkman - JUCO, took until second year, but SEC role player
Armani Moore - Classic developmental player, true SEC player
Josh Richardson - Classic developmental player, all SEC
Kevin Punter - JUCO, All SEC by second year
4 star players
Tyler Smith - Transfer, but instant SEC impact
Wayne Chism - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player, Senior year borderline all SEC
Cameron Tatum - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player.
Phillip Jurick - Transfer, borderline SEC level, mediocre at OK St.
Renaldo Woolridge - Not SEC level player
Kenny Hall - Borderline SEC level player, minimal role playing big man
Trae Golden - Instant Impact player, impactful all 3 years he played
Jordan Mcrae - Developmental player, but by Junior year full blown SEC player, Senior year borderline all SEC
Detrick Mostella - Developmental player, but by Sophomore year SEC player, Junior year will play a huge role
5 star Players
Duke Crews - instant impact
Ramar Smith - instant impact
Scotty Hopson - instant impact, but also had to develop
Tobias Harris - instant impact - only true one and done
Jarnell Stokes - instant impact, but also had to develop
Robert Hubbs - made first impact this year (junior), still needs to develop, but it legitimate SEC talent).
One thing that jumps out at me, is that even when things were going amazing with Pearl, we still brought in a lot of 3 star players. Many of the 3 star players turned into legitimate SEC players and actually very few of them were busts at the SEC level. In fact it would possible to argue that the 4 star group had an equal percentage of busts. IN addition the the 4 start group all had to develop to be impactful players, minus Tyler Smith who didn't start here, but played well as a Freshman at Iowa.
For comparison out of the 3 stars we got Melvin Goins, Bobby Maze, Armani Moore, Josh Richardson, Kevin Punter including a slew of guys that transferred that have become impactful at other places. Out of the 4 stars we got Chism, Tatum, Golden, and Mcrae with potential for Mostella. At least for Tennessee as a program regardless of coach, we got as many impactful players out of 3 stars as 4 stars.
Obviously the 5 stars are a different story as really none are busts from the standpoint of being SEC levels players. All except Hubbs made an immediate impact, but even the 5 stars (expect Tobias) had plenty of developing to do when they got here.
When I think about this years class combined with last years, I think that we have a ton of 3 star players. Barnes is loading up on the 3 looking for the 50% break point with at least half of these turning into legit SEC players. The other 50% based on history will likely not remain with UT for the duration of their careers. Also when it comes down to wringing our hands over 3 vs 4 star players, there does not appear to be nearly gap as there is between 4 and 5 star players.
As for next season, I am not as worried as I believe we have identified players on our team that will be impactful SEC players (Phillips, Schofield, Alexander, Mostella, Hubbs, Turner, and have a crop of 6 more 3 stars which likely will be at lest 3 more SEC players to the table). Of course as everyone has said the missing piece is the 5 star instant impact in the post........paging Omer...
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