2025 Target List

#977
#977
bleedingTNorange said:
St. Louis and Murray State are typically considered solid mid majors, better than who was pushing for Tamba iirc, also don’t think Tamba was ever dropping 40 in a HS game, never mind multiple times.

My thought is we don’t play 10 guys as is, never mind 13 guys, add in the NIL factor and filling the back end of a roster with quality is going to get tougher and tougher imo. Look at this year alone as an example, would having an Okpara and/or Collins on the roster benefit us right now, even if just in practice alone, yea, probably so.
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Offering the younger Okpara May save us NIL on keeping the older Okpata around.
 
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#978
#978
On the recruiting front associate head coach Justin Gainey was in Raleigh last week for the John Wall Holiday Invitational where two significant 2025 targets were in action.

Five-star forward Nate Ament and four-star point guard Chance Mallory were both in action at the event, a convenient development for Gainey and the Vols.

Ament has always maintained that he’s waiting until the spring to sign and that continues to be the case.

It feels like Tennessee is doing as good of a job as possible in this recruitment, but it’s also a dogfight with Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Arkansas all clamoring to get an official visit at this stage.

Ament has already visited Louisville, Texas and Notre Dame in addition to Tennessee.

It feels like Tennessee is in a great position with Mallory, the one time Virginia commit. He had. Brief, but very productive unofficial visit with his parents last month to see the Vols and watch a practice.

Mallory hasn’t come out and named a leader, but it feels like Tennessee might be the team to beat here at the moment, but he has said he doesn’t intend to make a decision until after his high school season.
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-VQ
 
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#979
#979
LeannaVol said:
Offering the younger Okpara May save us NIL on keeping the older Okpata around.
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Also true…retaining your players is always a key, and 99% of the time that requires a NIL boost, we’ve also got at least 2 open spots currently and that’s if the number is 13 and not 15. It’s not Monopoly money and there’s a budget, how do you increase the NIL of returners, land 6-7 from the HS ranks, and still have a budget to add 3-4 quality portal pieces? Gotta try and get creative where you can while also not compromising team chemistry or the type of kids you’re bringing in and overall team culture.

As I’ve said, if we’re recruiting Collins and Okpara to be starters or key rotational pieces next year then I’ve got questions, if they’re being taken to fill out a roster and contribute largely as practice pieces then I’m here for it.
 
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#981
#981
Zyree Collins make it in for his visit? He saw one heckuva show! If we offer him I don’t see how he doesn’t end up here. He’s low key a solid PG prospect.
 
#982
#982
Rob Lewis on Collins visit

“Had a chance to catch up with PG Zyree Collins and his family today after his official visit this weekend.

Not surprisingly he was blown away by the atmosphere yesterday.

great trip for him and his parents.

not 100% on his timetable but don’t think Tennessee could be in any better position after the visit.

wouldn’t be a surprise if he does something soon.”

Sounds like he’s ours if we want him. I hope we do. He’s a nice under the radar 4 year type of player.
 
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#987
#987
bleedingTNorange said:
I feel like there’s a lot of schools who would gladly take Gainey as a backup PG
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Any school would be foolish if they weren’t glad to have Gainey in their team. I like Gainey a lot as a 2 guard, but his handles while improved over last year when being pressured are still suspect. Enough so that I wonder if Igor or Chaz should bring the ball up court and start our offense when ZZZ is on the bench.
 
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#988
#988
walkenvol said:
Any school would be foolish if they weren’t glad to have Gainey in their team. I like Gainey a lot as a 2 guard, but his handles while improved over last year when being pressured are still suspect. Enough so that I wonder if Igor or Chaz should bring the ball up court and start our offense when ZZZ is on the bench.
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Fair. Chaz seems to do well in that role when called upon.
 
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#991
#991
MinisterofDef#92 said:
Well there was that time not too long ago when we signed ZZ and Chandler. And year before that we signed Jaden and Keon.
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Chandler and ZZ was like the perfect storm. A stud 5* PG and a guy who was "just happy to be there", or so many thought. Turns out, we landed two stud PGs and had the position locked down for 4 years. Maybe the Collins kid will end up being similar to ZZ, or so we can hope.

Jaden and Keon were both more combo guards in their one season, though I thought Springer had the ability to develop into a legit PG. Alas, neither stayed long enough to really find out. And their only season as Vols was the garbage post-covid season.
 
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#994
#994
CNeagleVolFan said:
If we get both Mallory and Collins playing them at the same time would be such a good idea. I remember playing Chandler and Zeigler at the same time that year. We had so much speed on the floor.
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Plus it got ZZ experience so it wasn't a "learning on the job" situation the following year. Now, Collins has to earn those minutes and prove he belongs...I don't want us putting him out there if he's a liability...but if he can play and contribute in year 1, absolutely you play them together and get him experience.
 
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#995
#995
This 5th year proposal seems to be getting a lot of traction and many think it will happen, and soon…if it does it’ll be interesting to see if those guys count towards scholarship limits or not, that first of of COVID guys they didn’t count towards the limit, or will it go to 15 and they’ll count? Obviously getting Ziegler back would really change things, however Mashack, Gainey and Milicic would all also be eligible to return.
 
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#996
#996
bleedingTNorange said:
This 5th year proposal seems to be getting a lot of traction and many think it will happen, and soon…if it does it’ll be interesting to see if those guys count towards scholarship limits or not, that first of of COVID guys they didn’t count towards the limit, or will it go to 15 and they’ll count? Obviously getting Ziegler back would really change things, however Mashack, Gainey and Milicic would all also be eligible to return.
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ZZ, Gainey, Mashack, and Igor returning would be huge and put TN right in the middle of NC contention. Probably as the favorite.

Even if the scholarship limit isn’t raised, we have a lot of open spots available.

Dubar is another that could return, but I doubt that a lot of NIL$ would be used to keep him. The other 4 could get really big offers. I think that Boswell would leave though.
 
#997
#997
Thunder Good-Oil said:
ZZ, Gainey, Mashack, and Igor returning would be huge and put TN right in the middle of NC contention. Probably as the favorite.

Even if the scholarship limit isn’t raised, we have a lot of open spots available.

Dubar is another that could return, but I doubt that a lot of NIL$ would be used to keep him. The other 4 could get really big offers. I think that Boswell would leave though.
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Dubar is already in his 5th year, he wouldn’t be eligible, same for Chaz.
 
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