Derrick Walker enters Transfer Portal

#52
#52
I never understood how Derrick Walker wasn't able to supplant Fulky. I like Fulky's work ethic and attitude, but his ceiling has only ever been so high. Derrick seems to have the tools and the physical makup to be good, but somehow always seemed to fall short. At the same time, I think he could've fared better if given more minutes in Grant's role. Who knows? If you can't improve under Barnes, a change in scenery may be a desperate attempt at finding success.
 
#53
#53
volme said:
If we have to depend on Fulkerson to do anything then it’ll be a long season. I like some of the things he does but 99% of the time he just looks like the most uncoordinated basketball player in history of basketball players.
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Fully has a ton of heart but was an offensive liability this past season. If he can develop more strength during offseason and some semblance of a post move, then he may be more productive offensively.
 
#54
#54
zjcvols said:
It could mean a plethora of things. It could mean nothing. Just because he enters the portal doesn’t mean a transfer is guaranteed.

However, if Williams declares and Walker leaves, it’s absolutely imperative we get a grad transfer at that point. You’re going in with Burns/Fulkerson/Kent as your big men. That’s not good.
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Why is that not good? Fulkerson is a proven role player, and we know very little about what Burns or Kent can or can’t do . I agree that if Williams leaves adding a grad transfer wouldnt hurt. However I think Burns will hold his own in the paint, and if Kent can stay healthy he should be able to match Kyle Alexander’s production. Either way without Williams next years team is gonna be a much more guard orientated team with Turner, Bowden, and James doing most of the heavy lifting offensively.
 
#55
#55
vavolfan6 said:
I never understood how Derrick Walker wasn't able to supplant Fulky. I like Fulky's work ethic and attitude, but his ceiling has only ever been so high. Derrick seems to have the tools and the physical makup to be good, but somehow always seemed to fall short. At the same time, I think he could've fared better if given more minutes in Grant's role. Who knows? If you can't improve under Barnes, a change in scenery may be a desperate attempt at finding success.
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Walker was not as good of an athlete as fulkerson, and he did not bring the energy that fulkerson did. Walker was slow and couldn’t jump well. There is 3 reasons right off the top of my head.
 
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#57
#57
He isn't really a special player anyway, so I am not losing sleep. I don't expect the Vols to be as good next year anyway, but I hope I am wrong.....
 
#58
#58
Walker really regressed this last year. But if Grant comes back and this opens the spot for Cone (it seems like Bone is gone), this’ll be a + imo
 
#59
#59
"Walker was not as good of an athlete as Fulkerson, and he did not bring the energy that Fulkerson did. Walker was slow and couldn’t jump well. There is 3 reasons right off the top of my head."

Not as good defensively. Walker should be a "Banger" that uses his body to rebound , score and play defense
 
#60
#60
TNRazor said:
If Fulkerson improves any little bit and Burns is as good as advertised then we should be fine down low.
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Fulkerson & Alexanders Sophomore numbers were virtually identical. So if Fulkerson makes any gains we should be OK there. Fulky hustles every game every play where I felt Alexander took a few plays off. So imo, Fulky will never be over a + 20 minute player. Burns better be ready and cross your fingers on Kent and Grad Transfer.
 
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#61
#61
sechamp2012 said:
Fulkerson & Alexanders Sophomore numbers were virtually identical. So if Fulkerson makes any gains we should be OK there. Fulky hustles every game every play where I felt Alexander took a few plays off. So imo, Fulky will never be over a + 20 minute player. Burns better be ready and cross your fingers on Kent and Grad Transfer.
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That's actually a really good point.

Alexander as a true sophomore: 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, 46.6% FG
Fulkerson as a RS sophomore: 3.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, 58.3%
 
#63
#63
cwbytruckers said:
Walker looked lost at times himself. All these Fulky comments are disappointing. He has played his tail off even though he looked uncoordinated at times. If he puts it all together like I hope he can. Then he will be fine. Losing Walker is not a shocker.
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Walker didn’t progress from last season to this season and he saw handwriting on the wall. Best of luck to him
 
#64
#64
T
bleedingTNorange said:
VQ hinting pretty strongly that Walker was “nudged” out, take that how you will.

My guess is making room for Cone/ORN/transfer
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Really hope the first opening to be filled is with cone. Really need another PG. Turner would be better at the 2 IMO.
 
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#65
#65
Fulkerson will hopefully have a breakout season next year. His defense is good, and on offense I think he looks worse than he is when you consider at times he is on the floor with 3-5 potential NBA players (Grant, Admiral, Bone, Bowden?, Alexander?). Hard to even 100% take Turner out of the NBA equation considering he played injured for the entire season.

I think Fulk has the ability to step in as a replacement for Kyle and we don’t lose a ton, assuming he continues to develop.

It would still be really, really nice to pick up some help.
 
#66
#66
Interesting. Wes Rucker is on Swain's show right now and says not only does he think it was mutual with UT/Walker (not surprising), but he expects UT to fill that roster spot with a transfer, not with a high school kid. That doesn't rule out ORN, but it's interesting he thinks UT will more likely replace Walker with a transfer.
 
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#67
#67
AngryButchJones said:
Interesting. Wes Rucker is on Swain's show right now and says not only does he think it was mutual with UT/Walker (not surprising), but he expects UT to fill that roster spot with a transfer, not with a high school kid. That doesn't rule out ORN, but it's interesting he thinks UT will more likely replace Walker with a transfer.
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I expect us to lose all 4 players so I have no real expectations for the coming season. Having said that I'd rather go with HS talent instead of a transfer.
 
#68
#68
bleedingTNorange said:
VQ hinting pretty strongly that Walker was “nudged” out, take that how you will.

My guess is making room for Cone/ORN/transfer
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Not surprising. He didn’t seem to be a fit after last season. Didn’t seem overly engaged, either, and I question how hard he worked on individual skills last offseason. Disappointing considering how impressive he seemed to be immediately on the international trip.
 
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#69
#69
cncchris33 said:
Not surprising. He didn’t seem to be a fit after last season. Didn’t seem overly engaged, either, and I question how hard he worked on individual skills last offseason. Disappointing considering how impressive he seemed to be immediately on the international trip.
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I agree with all that except the engaged part. There were a number of times he was very noticeably vocal during games or lockerrom videos even when he wasn't playing at all
 
#71
#71
BruinVol said:
I agree with all that except the engaged part. There were a number of times he was very noticeably vocal during games or lockerrom videos even when he wasn't playing at all
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I meant during his playing time. Seemed like he was going thru the motions a lot of times. Possibly a frustration with his lack of playing time, and that most of it was coming in mop-up duty.
 
#72
#72
AngryButchJones said:
Interesting. Wes Rucker is on Swain's show right now and says not only does he think it was mutual with UT/Walker (not surprising), but he expects UT to fill that roster spot with a transfer, not with a high school kid. That doesn't rule out ORN, but it's interesting he thinks UT will more likely replace Walker with a transfer.
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Goes along with what I’ve heard, I posted above Cone/ORN/Transfer...and I don’t think it will be a name anyone is mentioning.
 
#75
#75
Since the NCAA opened up the transfer process, off the top of my head I can’t think of any senior transfers in the country that made such a significant contribution that equated to championships. If there is any proof out there in the media I haven’t been able to find it. Walker is certainly not going to make a significant contribution regardless of where he goes and I don’t see any transfers to UT that could do the same.
 
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