'22 SC SF Julian Phillips (Tennessee commit)

#2,001
#2,001
The Dog said:
I know I'm late, but some of us, do have to work, KA-BOOM ! Hot damn, I'm happy, now go get Jefferson
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Just hope he's able to live up to the hype and maybe with all that money he's gonna be eating big between now and the start of the season. Kid needs 20lbs of muscle asap.
 
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#2,004
#2,004
ERvolsfan said:


Anyone have unlocked version??
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For the last several weeks, the rumor mill surrounding Julian Phillips’ college choice has been in high gear.

Through it all Phillips stayed low key and quiet. Thursday afternoon Phillips ended the suspense when he announced he was going to be a Vol.

Phillips kept it so quiet that his future head coach, Rick Barnes, didn’t know of Phillips’ decision until he made it public at his announcement.

“I didn’t tell them actually,” Phillips said. “I spoke with coach Barnes after he watched it. He was real excited.”

Phillips did speak with a Vol Thursday morning. Phillips and fellow South Carolina native Josiah James have a good relationship and it was the senior James who reached out hours before the announcement.

“Josiah texted me this morning and I texted him back. He didn’t really even ask me where I was going. He just told me good luck with everything and that he was still going to be with me regardless of where I go. I told him I appreciated that and it’s always all love.”

Phillips said the decision to keep his recruitment private wasn’t some kind of grand scheme to throw people off. It’s just who he is.

“I think that’s just the type of guy I am. I keep things that are private, private. I keep everything low key if I can. That’s how I did it the first time too.

“I knew how it was getting on social media, but I tried not to pay attention to it. I really tried to hone in on making the best decision for me for next year.”

Phillips acknowledged his decision to be a Vol didn’t come down to the last minute. It was actually made earlier this week.

“I probably knew two days ago,” Phillips said. “It was one of those things were I had to sit down with my family, my coaches and see what the best fit for me was. Ultimately, we decided it was Tennessee.”

That decision centered around a long standing relationship with the Vol staff, a couple of players and style of play.

“It made me real comfortable because I already knew coach Barnes and everybody,” Phillips said. “I had already been down there. It was good knowing that they still wanted me.

“I have a good relationship with Josiah James obviously with him being from South Carolina. I talked to BJ Edwards. I have a pretty good relationship with him as well. I met the rest of the guys on my visit and look forward to getting to know them more.”

As for the style of play, Phillips said he likes how much freedom Barnes gives his players offensively.

“Just how open their offense is. Coach Barnes does a good job getting everybody involved and let the guys go make plays. I think I will be able to knock down shots and make plays for my other teammates and myself as well,” Phillips said.
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#2,007
#2,007
SJAVol32 said:
Before all the transfers went out. We only had a few spots to fill. BJ Edwards(top 100) player had one spot.
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It’s amazing how quickly a roster can change due to the portal. There are, what, 12 scholarship players on a roster? We had one open spot for Edwards and then 3-4 open spots w/in a 45 day window with 5-6 players leaving the team (Fulky exhausted eligibility and Chandler to NBA).
 
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#2,010
#2,010
As for the style of play, Phillips said he likes how much freedom Barnes gives his players offensively.

“Just how open their offense is. Coach Barnes does a good job getting everybody involved and let the guys go make plays. I think I will be able to knock down shots and make plays for my other teammates and myself as well,” Phillips said.
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I found this part reallyyyy interesting because amazingly this isn't the narrative I see being pushed a lot on Volnation about Barnes offense.....
 
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#2,014
#2,014
Willy14 said:
I found this part reallyyyy interesting because amazingly this isn't the narrative I see being pushed a lot on Volnation about Barnes offense.....
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That's because people that don't know what they are talking about think freedom=nothing but isolation offense. Barnes offense does a great job of forcing the defense to constantly move. Run thru screens. Multiple closeouts. Into help, out of help. And what that does is create space/gaps to attack and open perimeter shots.
 
#2,016
#2,016
Get Akawa and especially Jefferson, I will be ecstatic. I think Edwards could excel under the PG whisperer
 
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#2,017
#2,017
bleedingTNorange said:
NIL is gonna have to win just about every recruitment, so that doesn’t really seem like a fair caveat. Phillips specifically mentioned his relationship with Gainey, and Clark is the biggest reason we are front runners for Jefferson. Yes 1/12 but again that was fall, with little time and relationship, spring is looking much better. Not sure you really could ask/expect for a better spring than Key, Phillips, Jefferson, Akawa.
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First bolded statement: True, that's the landscape, now, but wasn't really such last spring/summer/fall. And if so, I've long maintained that our NIL game was behind, only to be told that was a myth.

Second bolded statement: Can't really disagree with that. I'd prefer adding a PG, but it is what it is. I just wish we had hut a a few guys in the fall so we weren't scrambling in the spring.
 
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