2025 Transfer Portal

[ttharp]

Janiah Barker in the portal. Could be a good fit for us. She’d have more of a role here than she did at ucla. Really took a backseat there. Seems to have her head screwed on better than she did it A&M

I haven’t seen an official announcement on X. Do you know who posted this?

 

[VolBall09]

I haven’t seen an official announcement on X. Do you know who posted this?

I know for certain she’s in the portal.

 

[spojo13]

Maybe, I think the jury is still out on that for long-term success. Brenda has been doing this for probably the longest of anyone and has mostly maintained her success getting to at least Sweet 16s but hasn't been to a final four since 2015. The programs who have consistently been at the very top (UConn, South Carolina) still recruit very, very well from high school, tend to only lose 1-2 players a year in the portal, and then supplement with a few pieces here and there from the portal to fill gaps. For other teams building heavily from the portal (UCLA, TCU, Ole Miss, probably a lot more), we'll see if they can sustain this strategy long-term.

Teams like Duke, USC, and even LSU to some extent (and I think this is what Kim is doing) leaned heavily on the portal early on to get some success but then turned more toward high school recruiting to build their programs for the long-term.

Time will tell which way will work best. On the flip side if you recruit good high school players who are getting plenty of time, winning a decent amount but not winning championships, they can up and transfer to a team they think will. Take Latson for instance. Not sure how many young people these days are willing to stick around for years and not feel their team is vying for championships. It’s a tough tightrope to walk, and I am glad I am not a coach.

 

[brittannica]

Yeah she has a crazy natural ability but just hasn’t found her groove. I’d be cautious but man she’s athletic. Would be a great 3 for us and can stretch the floor and rebound better than Puckett or Darby.

I wanted her last year because I feel like her ceiling is so high. A little shocked to see her leave, but I would be interested for the reasons you listed.

 

[glv98]

Barker is good but def has a scary head. Ole Miss?

I think there’s a very good possibility the silence around portal recruitment is a choice and doesn’t mean there isn’t any. Kim seems very close to the vest.

Also true the best players are going off the boards every day many to our closest competitors

 

[LVsinceJV]

I would take the risk on Barker. I always thought UCLA was a strange decision for her, wouldn't mind having her in orange

 

[Rickster]

Before Kim signed her high school recruiting class or her first portal haul, did anyone know who she was getting? Maybe some did after the fact but I seem to remember some shocked know it all posters. She does “Hold Close” because there are too many unethical folks out there who will attempt to sabotage her efforts.

 

[Knoxville Nation]

Answer two questions first.
1. How many of those teams not named Tennessee beat UConn?
2. Mia & Mya Pauldo beat Mikayla Blakes team in HS. If Blakes can start in the SEC, what does that mean for Mia and Mya?
I’m intrigued as you are on the other side.. enjoy your day.

Starting at Tennessee is no big deal with the constant changes they make. Subs usually come in around a minute later. We've seen that ALL yr. So saying that is totally unimportant.

 

[Volfan2012]

An inspiring post for non UConn fans.

 

[VolBall09]

Barker is good but def has a scary head. Ole Miss?

I think there’s a very good possibility the silence around portal recruitment is a choice and doesn’t mean there isn’t any. Kim seems very close to the vest.

Also true the best players are going off the boards every day many to our closest competitors

Nah I think USC takes her or could see her going home to UGA where she has a chance to be center of the program.

 

[VolBall09]

She hasn’t taken her visits yet. Only scheduled them.

 

[th2421]

She's never gotten a ton of playing time but her per-40 min numbers are pretty good (12.8 boards, 2.0 blocks), and she was 55% on FGs this year (surprised to see she took, and missed all of her, 11 3-point attempts). I imagine she did play one year with Coach Gabe?

 

[Lucy]

Snobbish for no apparent reason. I’m trying to see your point.
You think a coach only watches teams based on what level of basketball they are coaching at time, and you type that on your keyboard. Wow.
I recall how so many said it would take Coach Caldwell two or three years to have a highly ranked HS recruiting class. She did that in 7 months. Following a very strong portal class in 1 month.
But you convinced yourself speaking about the former staff and the current staff in terms of recruiting is comparable.
Enjoy your day.

You said CKC had seen the majority of these players IN PERSON. Surely you understand Glenville and Marshall were not paying for her to travel extensively to scout kids they were not recruiting. CKC has been a little busy this past season so I doubt she has made a lot of other teams games and we didn’t play a majority of these players. And, regarding comparing the two staffs, I’m not. That was part of my point.

 

[volsagain]

If I knew anyone we were going for would be interesting to discuss. Right now most of the discussion is other teams.

I think we're just cussing all the other teams taking all the players we would like to have. Maybe this is the plan just build through the high school ranks . Had to have transfers this year just to field a team. I'm still excited to have CKC ! Just hope we get some serviceable post players to help out. Still time but it's just to quite

 

[spojo13]

I went back and looked at last year’s transfer thread just to make sure, and we were definitely hearing names before they committed. There was plenty of discussion about Ruby, Spencer, and Zee. Latham was pretty quick on board but we heard about her visit before committing. We also heard about Dwyer’s visit who didn’t end up committing. Whoever was spilling the info last year must be gone because nothing is really leaking this year.

 

[Volfan2012]

I think we're just cussing all the other teams taking all the players we would like to have. Maybe this is the plan just build through the high school ranks . Had to have transfers this year just to field a team. I'm still excited to have CKC ! Just hope we get some serviceable post players to help out. Still time but it's just to quite

Delighted to have her, but hope she does not end up down the rabbit hole depending on any player to stay here. Going to not be much loyalty from any player to stay with you four years. I see players in the portal going for their third of fourth school. If we go the high school ranks takes a little longer, but if you can get them to all stay it is the successful way to go about it.
I remember AD and Coach Kim saying the goal was to win now. High school is not the way to win now. It is part of it, but you need those upper classmen. She was able to keep five strong players and add five terrific high school players. Still to win now work to do. To win later another strong high school class or two you are there if they stay with you.

 

[KnoxLikeUs]

You putting words in a posts. I was specifically talking about Florida State, Florida, Mississippi State, and Ohio State from a year ago.
You take everything out of context. For the most, the players that many have pushed for Coach Caldwell to sign are players that she has seen in the past year that may not be an ideal fit to her system.
She knows this better than you or I could ever dream of in terms of building a roster.
She may or may have not seen a player from Utah play in person but that has nothing to do with the facts.
She seen Florida State in person coaching at Tennessee.
She seen Florida in person when coaching at Marshall and Tennessee. She seen Mississippi State in person at Tennessee.
She seen Ohio State in person. What does Glenville State have to do with?

You said CKC had seen the majority of these players IN PERSON. Surely you understand Glenville and Marshall were not paying for her to travel extensively to scout kids they were not recruiting. CKC has been a little busy this past season so I doubt she has made a lot of other teams games and we didn’t play a majority of these players. And, regarding comparing the two staffs, I’m not. That was my point.

 

[JustaChicken]

This is a great point and probably another big argument for the get the best while you can strategy. What if you turn down a Latson type player to develop your hs recruits then they hit the portal?

This!! There's no guaranteed loyalty nowadays whether it be players or coaches. You really are renting these players & hope they stay. Some of these players transfer multiple times during their collegiate career. UCLA just lost their entire freshmen class for Pete's sake.

 

[Knoxville Nation]

She has been far below the superstar she was expected to be. I guess with the right coach she could get there wonder where she wants to go this time.

Perfect example of a top ranked kid not panning out in college. Not as good as expected. She was no. 3 in a top heavy class.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

 

[37620VOL]

Barker would be perfect in our system, get her here!

 

[VolBall09]

Iyana Moore in the portal out of Vandy. Needs to transfer for her graduate degree. She’s a streaky shooter but has always torn us up.

 

[dazzleme]

SC had nobody averaging over 25 minutes just like us and they were runner up. They still managed to snag Latson and possibly Okot. I don’t think Dawn is going to change her minute distribution next year, so it can be done. Of course, like I said before, it helps to win championships to get that buy in from top transfers.

Exactly. Plenty of great players are fine with less minutes. Not a pearl-clutching issue that some make it out to be. Yes, some players wanna be in all game. Let them go where that can happen.

 

[VolBall09]

I went back and looked at last year’s transfer thread just to make sure, and we were definitely hearing names before they committed. There was plenty of discussion about Ruby, Spencer, and Zee. Latham was pretty quick on board but we heard about her visit before committing. We also heard about Dwyer’s visit who didn’t end up committing. Whoever was spilling the info last year must be gone because nothing is really leaking this year.

A lot of who we were in on came before the coaching change. After the change a lot of the usual people who know what’s up lost their source.

 

[mudcat1973]

In regards to people counting minutes and believing 2 or 3 or more minutes a game is a deal breaker that is driving superstars away, maybe some posters wouldn’t talk if certain posters would stop stirring the pot. This is a brain dead argument posited by people who don’t want to see the Lady Vols succeed on the national stage. It’s like the political lie that keeps getting repeated so, some people, especially those incapable of reasoning for themselves, start to believe. How about before fanning the flames of catastrophe, negative posters take a wait and see attitude to see if all the angst they are perpetuating is valid. None of the posters here are coaching the team and none of you strike me as coaching material, so I doubt any of you know what’s going on with the team, staff or recruiting. You’re just looking for ways to throw shade.

Most players probably do there own research on teams
By looking at stats and watching games of the team's they are choosing from.
Some may listen to family and their agent to help decide.
Most of players aren't going on teams message boards.
Only people getting stir up
Is the ones not giving the players time to make up their mind where they want to go.