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What a Buzz-kill: Pearl off to a Poor Start at UT By Jake Lowery Posted Jul 18, 2005
It wasn't so long ago when the University of Tennessee seemed to be drawing some nice talent into their program. Soon after Buzz Peterson's dismissal and the hiring of Bruce Pearl as head coach, the UT Men's Athletic Director, emphasized that Pearl "has got to sign the right kids" if UT will ever climb out of its mediocre spot in the SEC East. Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out that way.
Tyler Smith was on his way to Tennessee. When Pearl got the job, Tyler wanted out. When Mr. Pearl would not release Tyler from UT, Tyler was forced to go to a year of prep school instead of starting his college education. Don't worry too much about Mr. Smith though, he is now getting attention from elite programs from across the country. Boy, what a great coup that would have been for UT. Pearl did pull in one recruit that he had courted while coaching at UW-Milwaukee -- 6-8 forward Ryan Childress.
It remains to be seen whether this was good news for UT though. Three-star signee Matthew Dotson was packing his bags for UT when he got a sad call from the now nearly-infamous Bruce Pearl. "[Pearl] told me to hold off on coming. He said to wait it out until we could decide what was best for myself and for the University of Tennessee. He told me I was coming in behind Ryan Childress and that we played the same position. He kept telling me he didn't want to put me in a position where I couldn't succeed." The saddest part of this situation has been pointed out time and time again: Tyler Smith can't go to college this year because Pearl will not release him from his committment to Buzz Peterson's UT, while Pearl won't genuinely honor UT's commitment to Matthew Dotson. Dotson makes his own case well: "I've had my heart set on UT ever since I signed. They never used the word release, or said anything about pulling my scholorship, butI came to the decision that if I wasn't there to play, then I didn't want to be there...
The part we don't understand is why he didn't let me know when he took the job or when he signed Childress... we were shocked." Beyond those two well-known debacles, Pearl has run into several other recruiting roadblocks. He lost the recruiting battle for the highly touted Jamont Gordon. Gordon is a talented four-star guard from Oak Hill Academy who will be attending Mississippi State in the fall. Forward Maurice Thomas and swingman Desmond Yates had decided on UT at one point, but did not end up signing on the dotted line for Mr. Pearl. Rumors indicated that the move to drop Matthew Dotson was intended to open up a scholorship for Marquette transfer Dameon Mason, who was a four-star swingman prospect coming out of high school. Dameon Mason will be attending LSU in the fall. In a roundabout way, Ross Neltner's choice to transfer to Vanderbilt might have given LSU the scholorship needed to steal Dameon Mason away from the evil orange. Tennessee has been left to desperately try to fill their gaping holes in the low post and wing positions, which will be the focus of their recruiting for probably the next two years. Have you reserved your copy of the VandyMania the Magazine! 2005 Football Preview? If not, reserve your copy now. Cl.ick H.ERE for more information. VandyMania Total Access Members get free shipping.
Mr. Pearl also showed interest in Jerry Smith, who played AAU ball for his son. Smith made an unofficial visit soon after the elder Pearl was hired at UT, and soon after his unofficial visit, UT disappeared from his list. For young teams (such as Vanderbilt), an "off" recruiting year isn't the end of the world. Vandy will be graduating a fantastic point guard, but we have a fantastic backup in Alex Gordon waiting to step in. We will graduate a good post player, but Alan Metcalfe, Ted Skuchas, Kyle Madsen, and Davis Nwonkwo will mature for a year, and Vandy will have a chance to add another veteran post player in Ross Neltner, a transfer from LSU. Tennessee doesn't have the same luxuries. While Vanderbilt loses two seniors, Tennessee loses six. C.J. Watson will be their star this year, and losing him will be tough to overcome. Andre Patterson and Jemere Hendrix, two seniors, have formed the rebounding backbone of this team alongside the inconsistant Major Wingate. Tennessee will also be losing swingman Stanley Asumnu, as well as guards Eddie DeBro and Pee-Wee Gash. The team will be left with a core of Chris Lofton, Wingate, Dane Bradshaw, and two other guards who have seen little playing time, along with Ryan Childress (a forward) and Damion Harris, a center.
That's right -- four guards, two centers, no real swingmen, and only one forward. Bradshaw is the tallest returning guard at 6'4''. Pearl is squirming to make a big impression on people while he still has all of these seniors. The efforts to add Oklahoma State and Texas to the out of conference schedule demonstrate that Pearl knows that it is now or never if UT wants to get on the national stage. But don't worry this season doesn't pan out, Pearl does have a backup plan. He has a verbal commitment from Cordell Passley, who is -- get this -- one of the top 100 rising sophomores in high school. But that just begs the question -- if Pearl couldn't handle verbals from high school seniors, how does he expect to hold onto a 15 year old for three years? And who will be left in the UT locker room to greet this kid if he does sign? Bruce Pearl and Tennessee really need to suprise some people this season, or their program will be on life support. They have already slipped off the list of Brendan Wright, which might help Vanderbilt pitch the "hometown school" angle to the top-five rising senior. With Dennis Felton building the foundations of an impressive program at the University of Georgia, Tennessee might soon find itself locked in the cellar of the SEC East for many years to come.
It wasn't so long ago when the University of Tennessee seemed to be drawing some nice talent into their program. Soon after Buzz Peterson's dismissal and the hiring of Bruce Pearl as head coach, the UT Men's Athletic Director, emphasized that Pearl "has got to sign the right kids" if UT will ever climb out of its mediocre spot in the SEC East. Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out that way.
Tyler Smith was on his way to Tennessee. When Pearl got the job, Tyler wanted out. When Mr. Pearl would not release Tyler from UT, Tyler was forced to go to a year of prep school instead of starting his college education. Don't worry too much about Mr. Smith though, he is now getting attention from elite programs from across the country. Boy, what a great coup that would have been for UT. Pearl did pull in one recruit that he had courted while coaching at UW-Milwaukee -- 6-8 forward Ryan Childress.
It remains to be seen whether this was good news for UT though. Three-star signee Matthew Dotson was packing his bags for UT when he got a sad call from the now nearly-infamous Bruce Pearl. "[Pearl] told me to hold off on coming. He said to wait it out until we could decide what was best for myself and for the University of Tennessee. He told me I was coming in behind Ryan Childress and that we played the same position. He kept telling me he didn't want to put me in a position where I couldn't succeed." The saddest part of this situation has been pointed out time and time again: Tyler Smith can't go to college this year because Pearl will not release him from his committment to Buzz Peterson's UT, while Pearl won't genuinely honor UT's commitment to Matthew Dotson. Dotson makes his own case well: "I've had my heart set on UT ever since I signed. They never used the word release, or said anything about pulling my scholorship, butI came to the decision that if I wasn't there to play, then I didn't want to be there...
The part we don't understand is why he didn't let me know when he took the job or when he signed Childress... we were shocked." Beyond those two well-known debacles, Pearl has run into several other recruiting roadblocks. He lost the recruiting battle for the highly touted Jamont Gordon. Gordon is a talented four-star guard from Oak Hill Academy who will be attending Mississippi State in the fall. Forward Maurice Thomas and swingman Desmond Yates had decided on UT at one point, but did not end up signing on the dotted line for Mr. Pearl. Rumors indicated that the move to drop Matthew Dotson was intended to open up a scholorship for Marquette transfer Dameon Mason, who was a four-star swingman prospect coming out of high school. Dameon Mason will be attending LSU in the fall. In a roundabout way, Ross Neltner's choice to transfer to Vanderbilt might have given LSU the scholorship needed to steal Dameon Mason away from the evil orange. Tennessee has been left to desperately try to fill their gaping holes in the low post and wing positions, which will be the focus of their recruiting for probably the next two years. Have you reserved your copy of the VandyMania the Magazine! 2005 Football Preview? If not, reserve your copy now. Cl.ick H.ERE for more information. VandyMania Total Access Members get free shipping.
Mr. Pearl also showed interest in Jerry Smith, who played AAU ball for his son. Smith made an unofficial visit soon after the elder Pearl was hired at UT, and soon after his unofficial visit, UT disappeared from his list. For young teams (such as Vanderbilt), an "off" recruiting year isn't the end of the world. Vandy will be graduating a fantastic point guard, but we have a fantastic backup in Alex Gordon waiting to step in. We will graduate a good post player, but Alan Metcalfe, Ted Skuchas, Kyle Madsen, and Davis Nwonkwo will mature for a year, and Vandy will have a chance to add another veteran post player in Ross Neltner, a transfer from LSU. Tennessee doesn't have the same luxuries. While Vanderbilt loses two seniors, Tennessee loses six. C.J. Watson will be their star this year, and losing him will be tough to overcome. Andre Patterson and Jemere Hendrix, two seniors, have formed the rebounding backbone of this team alongside the inconsistant Major Wingate. Tennessee will also be losing swingman Stanley Asumnu, as well as guards Eddie DeBro and Pee-Wee Gash. The team will be left with a core of Chris Lofton, Wingate, Dane Bradshaw, and two other guards who have seen little playing time, along with Ryan Childress (a forward) and Damion Harris, a center.
That's right -- four guards, two centers, no real swingmen, and only one forward. Bradshaw is the tallest returning guard at 6'4''. Pearl is squirming to make a big impression on people while he still has all of these seniors. The efforts to add Oklahoma State and Texas to the out of conference schedule demonstrate that Pearl knows that it is now or never if UT wants to get on the national stage. But don't worry this season doesn't pan out, Pearl does have a backup plan. He has a verbal commitment from Cordell Passley, who is -- get this -- one of the top 100 rising sophomores in high school. But that just begs the question -- if Pearl couldn't handle verbals from high school seniors, how does he expect to hold onto a 15 year old for three years? And who will be left in the UT locker room to greet this kid if he does sign? Bruce Pearl and Tennessee really need to suprise some people this season, or their program will be on life support. They have already slipped off the list of Brendan Wright, which might help Vanderbilt pitch the "hometown school" angle to the top-five rising senior. With Dennis Felton building the foundations of an impressive program at the University of Georgia, Tennessee might soon find itself locked in the cellar of the SEC East for many years to come.
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