2023 Target List

[TrippieRedd]

*Bronny commits to UT*

*Trippie buys season tickets*

*Trippie takes anything basketball related to every home game Lebron is there and gets him to sign one thing every time*

*Sells everything on Ebay and makes thousands*

I say take him.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

It’s be stupid to turn down Bronny just because of his dad.

If Barnes wants him then that’s all that matters.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

It’s be stupid to turn down Bronny just because of his dad.

If Barnes wants him then that’s all that matters.

I don’t think we’re actually legitimate players for Bronny even if VQ mentioned it in passing.

 

[lastlap]

The list keeps getting smaller!

 

[HippieVol33]

The list keeps getting smaller!

Fine with me. We can really zero in on guys. Plus, there’s always a few guys who show out in the spring and become big time prospects.

 

[Vols till I fall]

Truthfully, Vols fans are too emotional when it comes to recruiting, especially in basketball since most don't give it much attention like they do football.

We can miss out on most of these guys and I would still trust Barnes to have a great season.

People forget that one of UT's best seasons was when Barnes recruited a bunch of 3 stars and developed them for three years.

Tennessee will be fine.

 

[walkenvol]

Truthfully, Vols fans are too emotional when it comes to recruiting, especially in basketball since most don't give it much attention like they do football.

We can miss out on most of these guys and I would still trust Barnes to have a great season.

People forget that one of UT's best seasons was when Barnes recruited a bunch of 3 stars and developed them for three years.

Tennessee will be fine.

In general I feel somewhat this way, but CRB has raised the bar from those first couple classes where he was trying to stabilize our program and get us competitive. He’s achieved that and is now striving for conference championships along with deep tournament runs. Not likely to catch lightning in a bottle again with a bunch of 3* guys who stick together for 3-4 years so he’s trying to recruit at a higher level. We as fans are expecting more and the portal has changed everything. It’s gotten more complicated IMO.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

In general I feel somewhat this way, but CRB has raised the bar from those first couple classes where he was trying to stabilize our program and get us competitive. He’s achieved that and is now striving for conference championships along with deep tournament runs. Not likely to catch lightning in a bottle again with a bunch of 3* guys who stick together for 3-4 years so he’s trying to recruit at a higher level. We as fans are expecting more and the portal has changed everything. It’s gotten more complicated IMO.

Pretty much this. I love Grant and Admiral and Bone and that entire team, but that was lightning in a bottle. Very unlikely we strike gold on a bunch of 3-stars like that ever again. To keep a program operating at a high level and winning a lot of games you have to have talent. And, Barnes is doing his best to elevate our talent. So far he’s done a nice job, but we’ll see how that goes moving forward.

 

[HippieVol33]

Talent will be fine overall IMO. As long as Barnes is here with the program he’s built I don’t see us putting a product on the floor that’s not worthy of the NCCAT.

 

[CNeagleVolFan]

How are we feeling about Estrella and Dilione? Last I heard we likely lead for both. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lead for Demary too. Land at least 2 of those 3 and take a high ceiling guy like Jared Hall as a project/redshirt guy. I would like to get all 3 high rated guys, but if we don’t then I wouldn’t be mad with 2/3 and Jared Hall.

 

[LeannaVol]

How are we feeling about Estrella and Dilione? Last I heard we likely lead for both. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lead for Demary too. Land at least 2 of those 3 and take a high ceiling guy like Jared Hall as a project/redshirt guy. I would like to get all 3 high rated guys, but if we don’t then I wouldn’t be mad with 2/3 and Jared Hall.

With the way kids transfer around now, I am not sure you take a kid knowing it will take him at least a couple of years to develop. No offense to Hall, but it sounds like he would need some time to compete at this level. Better to hold the scholarship in case someone becomes available late imo.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

With the way kids transfer around now, I am not sure you take a kid knowing it will take him at least a couple of years to develop. No offense to Hall, but it sounds like he would need some time to compete at this level. Better to hold the scholarship in case someone becomes available late imo.

It’s messed up but with kids like that you’re almost better letting them go to a MTSU and seeing where they are in 1-2 years and then hitting them up to join your team as an already developed prospect.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

How are we feeling about Estrella and Dilione? Last I heard we likely lead for both. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lead for Demary too. Land at least 2 of those 3 and take a high ceiling guy like Jared Hall as a project/redshirt guy. I would like to get all 3 high rated guys, but if we don’t then I wouldn’t be mad with 2/3 and Jared Hall.

I would say we lead for all 3, but I don’t think any are guarantee locks…in order of likelihood I would go Demary, Estrella, Dilione.

 

[cncchris33]

It’s messed up but with kids like that you’re almost better letting them go to a MTSU and seeing where they are in 1-2 years and then hitting them up to join your team as an already developed prospect.

Yeah, it's sort of turned low-major basketball into the minor league system of high-major basketball.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Yeah, it's sort of turned low-major basketball into the minor league system of high-major basketball.

Yup exactly, which I would imagine makes being a coach at that level miserable.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

With that said, I wouldn’t hate taking Hall…you never play 13 guys and with immediate transfer now a thing I think you’ll see fewer guys redshirting than you used to. So how do you keep a roster happy? I would have 2-3 of those development guys on my roster, hoping you hit gold and in a few years they stick it out and are a factor, and if not they transfer. At this point it would seem the only guy like that really on the roster is Tobe Awaka, everyone else is either pretty highly rated or has proven themselves as a player. If you land Demary, Dilione/Cosby, Phillips and Estrella well that’s 4 more “players” to the mix, could use a developmental guy.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

With that said, I wouldn’t hate taking Hall…you never play 13 guys and with immediate transfer now a thing I think you’ll see fewer guys redshirting than you used to. So how do you keep a roster happy? I would have 2-3 of those development guys on my roster, hoping you hit gold and in a few years they stick it out and are a factor, and if not they transfer. At this point it would seem the only guy like that really on the roster is Tobe Awaka, everyone else is either pretty highly rated or has proven themselves as a player. If you land Demary, Dilione/Cosby, Phillips and Estrella well that’s 4 more “players” to the mix, could use a developmental guy.

It’s 4 more “players” to the mix, but we lose a lot next year, and there isn’t a lot behind them that are guaranteed starters. So, at least with 2023, these highly rated players will have a strong chance for playing time.

We lose JJJ, Santi, Key, and most likely Phillips all as certainties. Then, you have guys like Uros and ORN who could come back for a 5th year, but it’s no guarantee. We’re looking at anywhere from 4-7 departures after this season and the only guarantees of good returners are ZZ and hopefully Aidoo. We aren’t sure what Maschack is going to give us or Jefferson.

So, I’m all for taking the best we can get.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

It’s 4 more “players” to the mix, but we lose a lot next year, and there isn’t a lot behind them that are guaranteed starters. So, at least with 2023, these highly rated players will have a strong chance for playing time.

We lose JJJ, Santi, Key, and most likely Phillips all as certainties. Then, you have guys like Uros and ORN who could come back for a 5th year, but it’s no guarantee. We’re looking at anywhere from 4-7 departures after this season and the only guarantees of good returners are ZZ and hopefully Aidoo. We aren’t sure what Maschack is going to give us or Jefferson.

So, I’m all for taking the best we can get.

I’m with you, I’m not saying I would take 2-3 projects in this class, just that I’m ok with that on the roster. Imo the only current one is Awaka, the other guys you expect more from at this stage. If we have to add 7 then I’m sure it will be 1-2 impact transfers at the very least, plus the 4 in the fall we are discussing, so still leaves room for a project type guy in the class imo. I’m not saying we have to take one, and won’t be mad if we don’t, as mentioned in todays climate you can circle back to those guys 2 years from now and still probably get them.

If all those guys leave we return the others and add the 4 mentioned in the fall we sit at…
Zeigler/Demary
BJE/Dilione
Mashack/Jefferson
Estrella/Phillips
Aidoo/Awaka

Still room for 3 but that’s a pretty nice makeup there imo, you add 1-2 impact transfers to that and it’s yet again another Top 10-15 team imo.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It’s messed up but with kids like that you’re almost better letting them go to a MTSU and seeing where they are in 1-2 years and then hitting them up to join your team as an already developed prospect.

Like this guy that’s leading his team in PPG and RPG (16/7)?

Drew Pember College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

 

[LeannaVol]

BTO makes a good case for having a couple of development guys on the roster. I agree with that. I don't want to take a guy just because we have a scholarship available at the end of the recruiting cycle. Barnes and staff found Santi and Ziegler just before the deadline to enroll and it seems like there may be more guys like this becoming available on a regular basis.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

BTO makes a good case for having a couple of development guys on the roster. I agree with that. I don't want to take a guy just because we have a scholarship available at the end of the recruiting cycle. Barnes and staff found Santi and Ziegler just before the deadline to enroll and it seems like there may be more guys like this becoming available on a regular basis.

Jarnell Stokes makes a great case for hanging on to an open spot as well as SV and ZZ.

 

[cncchris33]

BTO makes a good case for having a couple of development guys on the roster. I agree with that. I don't want to take a guy just because we have a scholarship available at the end of the recruiting cycle. Barnes and staff found Santi and Ziegler just before the deadline to enroll and it seems like there may be more guys like this becoming available on a regular basis.

Yeah, I said it earlier (maybe in this thread) that unless you use that 13th scholarship on a kid who can contribute immediately, or someone you really project as a developmental player that hits in their sophomore year, then I see no need to use the spot on someone just to fill the spot. We'd have missed on Stokes, Vescovi, and Zeigler if we had already filled the last roster spot with just anyone. Especially with kids leaving schools left and right, now, having an open spot late in the process or during the mid-season break is pretty important. Almost certainly more important than whoever your 13th man is going to be.

 

[wisvol22]

Jarnell Stokes makes a great case for hanging on to an open spot as well as SV and ZZ.

Wasn't that why we missed out on potentially getting Tshiebwe too?

 

[cncchris33]

Wasn't that why we missed out on potentially getting Tshiebwe too?

Yes

 

[Dallasbowlin]