I'm from Memphis, grew up there, parents still live there, go home for T-day, etc. Here's a few thoughts in no particular order, JMO and observations from having grown up there. No reason to jump me :mf_surrender::
1.) You guys are missing the point about these two kids allegedly committing to Vandy -- why wouldn't they? They play in the SEC every week (who cares if they get beat? they are on national tv and get the exposure! if they are good enough to play sundays, they will), they get a top notch education that UT cannot even come close to providing, and they are 3 hours closer to home. When your family lives in poverty, 3 hours is a big deal and so is a great education. At the end of the day, if my kid isn't good enough to play on Sundays, I would rather him have a degree from Vandy than from UT and I'm orange through and through.
2.) Right now, I would hesitate sending my kid to play at UT. UT is about to face potentially major sanctions and as much as WE like CDD and his staff, the next AD might not have the patience that we have. Too many unknowns out there despite CDD's excellent efforts to give the appearance of stability on Rocky Top.
3.) Memphis high school coaches have been around for decades and have their hands out. They think they are entitled to something for steering a kid in a certain direction. It's been going on a long time and it's the culture there -- even political -- see Slick Willy Herenton, the entire Ford family. Want to know why Fulmer didn't make Memphis a priority? Would you after the Albert Means debacle? So much money and so many accusations changed hands over that deal it will make your head spin.
4.) Fulmer did pull great talent out of Memphis, but he did so selectively -- Cedrick Wilson, Andre Lott, just to name 2 on the '98 NC team. And sometimes he just swung and missed -- Albert Means. I say it over and over -- the '98 team was ONE THIRD from the state of Tennessee. Yes, we recruited heavily outside the state, but we also found some of our best talent in-state. The fact that they weren't all from Memphis doesn't mean that much to me. The fact that they were in-state means Fulmer was simply being selective out of Memphis. Who, specifically, did Fulmer miss during our championship years out of Memphis?
5.) Unlike Atlanta, Memphis has no black middle class. There is a very small percentage that are government workers and typically those that do make money (doctors, lawyers, etc.) are from somewhere else that have moved to Memphis. Many of the kids from inner city public Memphis high schools can't read and write when they "graduate" high school, have had no father figure, and grew up on the streets. Getting them eligible, even for UT, often times proves close to impossible. Many of these players don't need coaching, they need a father. Why bother? THE example of this is Xavier Crawford. Great article about the X-Man and the Memphis culture here:
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insi...espn.go.com/ncf/insider/news/story?id=6080272 . If you don't know who the X-Man is, you should read up on this. It's a great article and talks about some of the crazy stuff he endured just to get out of high school, and off the playing field, alive.
6.) From 1973- 1995, Memphis had NO conference affiliation. As such, many Memphis kids looked other places to go to school. I've read Ole Miss and Ark on here, but it's not limited to that. While Memphis has many southern qualities, it is really a mid-west town when it comes to sports -- they had the Memphis Chicks (Kansas Royals farm team) for years and now the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis farm). Memphis kids don't grow up Braves fans, they grow up Cardinals fans. . . and it's always been that way. As a result, it's not just Ole Miss and Arkansas that takes Memphis kids, it's mid-west schools as well. Now that recruiting has gone coast-to-coast, it makes it even harder now.
7.) Basketball is an entirely different thing than football in Memphis. There is a reason kids are staying home -- Memphis basketball tradition is much deeper and has far more meaning than Tennessee's. Sorry, but it's true. I think it's funny as hell how pissed folks on this board get for the pressure Memphis is putting on these kids to stay home and play. Why wouldn't the local community do that? They get to play in front of their parents and friends. They get to play in an NBA stadium with NBA players (present and past) and execs watching every game. They get to play for a school with a MUCH richer basketball tradition that UT. The academic standards are lower than UT's (and that's low!). It's an easy choice when it comes to basketball. This business about "what they are doing to those poor kids in Memphis to keep them to stay" is nothing but sour grapes from UT basketball fans.
8.) It is a culture difference in Knoxville. East vs. West. Inner city vs. hillbillies. Black and white (yes, race, I said it!). How do you expect an inner city kid from Memphis who grew up with gang bangers to identify with Rockytop? It's a song about being a WHITE redneck up in Appalachia, moonshine and dirt. Fulmer's favorite recruiting schtick was talking about the UT/Bama tradition -- one that mainly involved white good ole boys playing white good ole boys. I remember seeing an interview with Peerless Price when he talks about not really understanding the rivalry, but appreciating how intense Fulmer was when talking about it. Peerless's lack of understanding about the rivalry didn't have to do with age -- it had to do with race. Another way to look at it -- one of the main things that the players liked about Kiffin is that he had rap/hip-hop music playing at practice. Not calling Fulmer a racist, and not praising Kiffin, but I wonder how many times that would have happened under Fulmer's tenure? How about any of the coach's before Fulmer -- got some motown playing on the loud speakers? From coaches to boosters, white good ol' boys have ruled the roost at Tennessee, so why would these kids come running east when they could have the chance to go somewhere else and not be subject to that environment?
9.) With all that said, I think we will see a gradual change and more and more kids come to UT from Memphis under CDD. First, CDD has no choice but to look to places like Memphis for talent -- when you are at the bottom, you look everwhere. Plus, I'm hoping the VFL program is EXACTLY what a lot of these kids need and it will be a HUGE selling point for momma's of kids in Memphis. Plus, travel is simply easier and cheaper now, there are things like Skype that make communication between parents and kids more accessible, and the fact that the SEC is the best of the best conference means that kids might be more willing to go to a UT when they otherwise wouldn't.
