'16 TN F Braxton Blackwell

#254
#254
Grandpop said:
You have a MUCH better chance at Blackwell now. Much better.
Click to expand...
Even if you aren't his Grandpop, Blackwell's parents felt uncomfortable around Tyndall. With Barnes at the helm, being a great person and a person of god, Blackwell's parents should feel much more comfortable with Barnes at helm. Not a knock on Tyndall but the reports were that Blackwell liked Tennessee but his parents weren't a fan of Tyndall.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#255
#255
iKrager said:
Even if you aren't his Grandpop, Blackwell's parents felt uncomfortable around Tyndall. With Barnes at the helm, being a great person and a person of god, Blackwell's parents should feel much more comfortable with Barnes at helm. Not a knock on Tyndall but the reports were that Blackwell liked Tennessee but his parents weren't a fan of Tyndall.
Click to expand...

His parents are smart people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#257
#257
CAVol said:
Very smart.
Click to expand...

Were you not a fan of CDT's? I thought you liked him from the beginning. Just curious if I had interpreted that incorrectly, or if you changed your mind on him, and if so, why? Coaching philosophy? Personality? NCAA issues?

Again, just curious because I thought you were a fan after attending practice as a guest last preseason.
 
#258
#258
cncchris33 said:
Were you not a fan of CDT's? I thought you liked him from the beginning. Just curious if I had interpreted that incorrectly, or if you changed your mind on him, and if so, why? Coaching philosophy? Personality? NCAA issues?

Again, just curious because I thought you were a fan after attending practice as a guest last preseason.
Click to expand...

I was a fan but I, like Hart, was deceived. He is a very personable guy and everything I had heard from my friend who played for him at LSU was positive. I liked the way his teams played but I wasnt a fan of him personally. With everything coming to light recently I'm now not a huge fan. I said they were very smart because they obviously saw through the BS that I couldnt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#259
#259
cncchris33 said:
Were you not a fan of CDT's? I thought you liked him from the beginning. Just curious if I had interpreted that incorrectly, or if you changed your mind on him, and if so, why? Coaching philosophy? Personality? NCAA issues?

Again, just curious because I thought you were a fan after attending practice as a guest last preseason.
Click to expand...

His coaching philosophy and his recruiting. His zone sucked imo. I'm sure someone will throw some numbers at me to make his zone look good, but I got sick and tired of watching open looks. Never mind the hot shooter, he will eventually miss - DT's defensive plan.

His recruiting was Cuonzo - like . When you are recruiting against Tulsa and Texas ST, then you need to move on.

I do like Shembari though, no way that kid is just a 3 star.
 
#260
#260
CAVol said:
I was a fan but I, like Hart, was deceived. He is a very personable guy and everything I had heard from my friend who played for him at LSU was positive. I liked the way his teams played but I wasnt a fan of him personally. With everything coming to light recently I'm now not a huge fan. I said they were very smart because they obviously saw through the BS that I couldnt.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I had a feeling that was the case. Thanks for being so candid. He fooled a lot of people along the way.
 
#261
#261
vols 30 said:
His coaching philosophy and his recruiting. His zone sucked imo. I'm sure someone will throw some numbers at me to make his zone look good, but I got sick and tired of watching open looks. Never mind the hot shooter, he will eventually miss - DT's defensive plan.

His recruiting was Cuonzo - like . When you are recruiting against Tulsa and Texas ST, then you need to move on.

I do like Shembari though, no way that kid is just a 3 star.
Click to expand...

I like Shembari a lot too, and if Schofield were 3" taller, I'd like him a lot more as well. His skill-set is pretty average for a 6-5 guy, but if he were 6-8+, he'd be recruited at a much higher level with that skill-set.

I agree on the zone. I like zone defenses when they are appropriate, but like Zo, and his man defense, I can't stand when a coach is so married to a particular philosophy that it takes an act of Congress to convince him to try something else.

CDT's recruiting wasn't great, but I'm not sure we really got to see what his actual capabilities were in that aspect. His first class was thrown together last minute, and still higher ranked than the group of guys he allowed to leave. The 2015 class was collateral damage resulting from the black cloud of the NCAA investigation. Completely Tyndall's fault, but he was never going to succeed on the recruiting trail with that looming.

I was mainly just curious about CAVol's opinion because I knew he had been high on him from early on, and I was curious if the tenure of dishonesty turned him away, or if it was actual philosophy and coaching.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#262
#262
iKrager said:
Even if you aren't his Grandpop, Blackwell's parents felt uncomfortable around Tyndall. With Barnes at the helm, being a great person and a person of god, Blackwell's parents should feel much more comfortable with Barnes at helm. Not a knock on Tyndall but the reports were that Blackwell liked Tennessee but his parents weren't a fan of Tyndall.[/QUO

No relation myself....but you are accurate.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#263
#263
From a poster on TOS...

Unfortunately have to report some disappointing news regarding the start of the Barnes recruiting machine related to 2 in-state targets. While Shaka Smart and Billy Donovan are both "doing it right" with Blackwell and CPA, Tennessee is not. Barnes hasn't even made the call himself to CPA and assigned an assistant to the job, telling Maddux "I heard you have a player (didn't even mention by name) that we would like to see." While the full court press is coming from Smart and Donovan with Billy D even making an appearance to CPA in the last 2 weeks , this didn't go over well with the CPA brass. Florida in the lead.
Click to expand...
 
#264
#264
To be honest, I'm not shocked by this, have had the impression Barnes wants to basically start from scratch with his guys. It's why I don't think you'll see us pursue Gray, and probably not press hard to keep White, it's why he let Pinkins and Shumate go knowing they had ties to some players we had been recruiting. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, and some of the guys may overlap, but I get the feeling he's looking to cast a new net.
 
#265
#265
bleedingTNorange said:
To be honest, I'm not shocked by this, have had the impression Barnes wants to basically start from scratch with his guys. It's why I don't think you'll see us pursue Gray, and probably not press hard to keep White, it's why he let Pinkins and Shumate go knowing they had ties to some players we had been recruiting. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, and some of the guys may overlap, but I get the feeling he's looking to cast a new net.
Click to expand...

Not good to get on Maddux bad side though. He probably will continue to produce really good players until he gets his call to college coaching.
 
#269
#269
I've never felt great about Blackwell, Maddux is a Vandy guy and with the unstable situation wkth the basketball program it's hard to fault the kid for never giving a real serious look Knoxville's way.
 
#270
#270
bleedingTNorange said:
I've never felt great about Blackwell, Maddux is a Vandy guy and with the unstable situation wkth the basketball program it's hard to fault the kid for never giving a real serious look Knoxville's way.
Click to expand...

IIRC, Maddux is a Vandy guy, but not a Stallings guy, so he doesn't knowingly steer players in that direction in general.
 
#272
#272
bleedingTNorange said:
To be honest, I'm not shocked by this, have had the impression Barnes wants to basically start from scratch with his guys. It's why I don't think you'll see us pursue Gray, and probably not press hard to keep White, it's why he let Pinkins and Shumate go knowing they had ties to some players we had been recruiting. I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing, and some of the guys may overlap, but I get the feeling he's looking to cast a new net.
Click to expand...

As long as he's getting better talent, I don't care where they're from. No more 2 stars or low rated three stars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#273
#273
vols 30 said:
As long as he's getting better talent, I don't care where they're from. No more 2 stars or low rated three stars.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm ok with the occasional 3* unranked guys who may be projects but have potential, like this Kyle Alexander guy, or big dude Duke is looking at, and I'm definitely good with 3* top 150 guys like the Richardson's etc. But there's no question we need to improve the talent level.

By my count we currently have 2 top 150 players on the roster, I haven't looked, but I would just about guarantee that ranks at the very bottom of the SEC.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#274
#274
So this Blackwell kid is gonna be a good one. I just hope we can at least make some type of contact with him. Not that he is a must get but I think he would help greatly in the 16 class
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
#275
#275
BurninOrange said:
So this Blackwell kid is gonna be a good one. I just hope we can at least make some type of contact with him. Not that he is a must get but I think he would help greatly in the 16 class
Click to expand...

I like the attempt to straighten the vessel, that became this thread.

However, I'd be extremely surprised if we pulled Blackwell. Heck, right now I'd be surprised if we got a visit. Jmo
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top