2026 Vols Transfer Portal Thread

#10,776
#10,776
oldaaucoach said:
I guess there are several ways to describe what I mean by formidable. If your front court has guys who have the potential to be a mid/late first round or even early second round draft picks in the NBA then I would consider that formidable, as opposed to elite. If you would want to trade your team's guy at the same position for their team's guy, then he is probably formidable by comparison. If all the major pundits refer to your front court as one of the best in the country, then I would say that is a formidable front court. There are lots of ways to define it, but it doesn't necessarily mean your front court is loaded with lottery picks. I hope that helps explain how I look at it.
BTW, I would generally agree with the players you have highlighted above but would probably include Mara as a formidable player. His 26 points and two blks against Arizona were impressive and he effects the game a lot outside of the boxscore by causing opponents to "look over their shoulder" when trying to score in the paint. This year I would throw Haugh in there too as he would have been drafted in the first round this year if he didn't decide to return to FL.
Also, I don't think a formidable big has to be over 7' tall. There are talented bigs like Sanogo that play the 5 position, as you highlighted above. As I have said before, I like Rubin, Lue, and Dewayne but I am concerned about how they will match up with the big bruising front courts of the SEC, as well as with the quality front courts of the top ten teams in the country. I would like to see the VOLS excel at all 5 positions to have a better chance of reaching the FF.
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I'm not sure Haugh is truly a frontcourt player...he's more of a 3 like Nate, I left him in the year I did because he was really the only other forward that saw much playing time.

Mara to me is still too inconsistent and 1 game isn't enough to attach him to the others I bolded. Cause he only scored 8 against Bama and UConn. Hell we held him to 11 as well.

Oddly enough of all those guys listed I only see Yaxel and Condon really fitting a Rick Barnes system. They move well on defense, don't pickup a ton of dumb fouls or make questionable turnovers constantly. I think we don't pursue some of these traditional bigs because they simply aren't what Barnes wants or thinks will work. Otherwise he would've paid JP to stay one more season.
 
#10,778
#10,778
orangejuice said:
Lived in Austin for two years and hated every minute of it. Outside of both being bigger cities than Knoxville, I’m not sure I’d say Austin and Pittsburgh are very comparable. I’ve only been to Pittsburgh once, but outside of both being progressive, they feel very different culturally.

Maybe I’m wrong and there were other reasons, but if he genuinely missed Pittsburgh, Austin feels like an odd choice.
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Isn't Pittsburgh pretty blue collar or is that not true anymore?
 
#10,780
#10,780
Unconditional Surrender said:
Isn't Pittsburgh pretty blue collar or is that not true anymore?
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I visited for the UT football game in 2022, and my experience was good. The city seems to get some bad press, and it exceeded my expectations. Very much enjoyed downtown. If I recall, Pittsburgh has started to be a destination for healthcare technology companies. I think there has been a shift from the manufacturing and steel industries.
 
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#10,783
#10,783
VolGee4 said:
I visited for the UT football game in 2022, and my experience was good. The city seems to get some bad press, and it exceeded my expectations. Very much enjoyed downtown. If I recall, Pittsburgh has started to be a destination for healthcare technology companies. I think there has been a shift from the manufacturing and steel industries.
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There’s still a lot of manufacturing and steel industry companies in the Pittsburgh or more specifically South Western PA region. The city has made excellent strides on infrastructure, hence winning the draft bid. The Healthcare & Healthcare Technology industries have seen a major boom here in the last 5-10 years. It’s certainly not nearly as large or progressive as Austin. Most surrounding areas are very much blue collar and conservative minded.
 
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#10,784
#10,784
VolGee4 said:
I visited for the UT football game in 2022, and my experience was good. The city seems to get some bad press, and it exceeded my expectations. Very much enjoyed downtown. If I recall, Pittsburgh has started to be a destination for healthcare technology companies. I think there has been a shift from the manufacturing and steel industries.
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Downtown PGH is real cool. Driving it is a nightmare (tons on one-way streets and bridges), but the area where Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) and PNC Park is cool, as are the riverfront areas.
 
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