Julian Phillips in the transfer portal

5 star rankings are handed out way too liberally in the recruiting industry, especially in basketball. Common fans, understandably, interpret a 5 star rating to mean that a kid is going to come in and be a stud as a freshman. Without doing the research to confirm, there are probably 10-15 players in most classes that fit that billing, yet there has been an average of 28 5 star recruits in the last three classes. The recruiting industries and casual fans are on completely different pages when it comes to 5 star ratings.


3 different types of 5 stars: You have your rare ones like Anthony Davis

You have your JJJ types. Good when healthy, but played in a so-so division in high-school. Over ranked. Decent 4 year player. Will do more good than bad for your program

You have your Scotty Hopson types. Completely hyped up as the next coming of LeBron James, but just Complete busts.
 
3 different types of 5 stars: You have your rare ones like Anthony Davis

You have your JJJ types. Good when healthy, but played in a so-so division in high-school. Over ranked. Decent 4 year player. Will do more good than bad for your program

You have your Scotty Hopson types. Completely hyped up as the next coming of LeBron James, but just Complete busts.

Uh...what about the 6-10 5 stars every year that go in the 1st round of the NBA draft? You seem to have passed over a very large "5 star type"
 
3 different types of 5 stars: You have your rare ones like Anthony Davis

You have your JJJ types. Good when healthy, but played in a so-so division in high-school. Over ranked. Decent 4 year player. Will do more good than bad for your program

You have your Scotty Hopson types. Completely hyped up as the next coming of LeBron James, but just Complete busts.

Hopson average more points a game than JJJ
 
Anyone that thinks Phillips is a good basketball player is delusional. Great defender but in this day and age you need to be able to play offense and he is inept at it.
Let's see, he's on scholarship at UT and is a likely NBA draft pick, but you say he's not a good player? Interesting.
He's very young and skinny and was hurt later in the season.
As he gains mass and strength he'll match up much better with bigger opponents. That will help his confidence too. If he applies himself he'll be fine offensively as well as defensively.
 
Wonder if we're being outbid like the Michigan player all but admitted upon his transfer to Kansas. He made a point of saying he wasn't getting six figures at Michigan.
 
I'm sure there's much better college basketball in him, but he doesn't want to stick it out here under Barnes. Probably feels he should have been given 32-40 minutes a game because of his prospect status.
At least he is going to stick it out on the college level, as he should.

I'd like to have had the chance to find out how good last year's team would have been with Kennedy Chandler. That's just like I'd have liked to have seen Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer stay here at least another year. I'm not sure how much better any of these guys are with the "professional" experience they've gained so far.
 
He’s going to get drafted in the late first or early second round. This is just a contingency plan since we filled his spot. I’m surprised he hadn’t done it already. Most draft prospects in his position already had.
 
JJJ Freshman year= 29.9 min./7.4 pts/5.5 RB/FG%37/3FG%36.7/STL0.9/ASIT 2.9/FT%77.8/TO 2.5/
JP Freshman year= 24.1 min./8.3 pts/4.7 RB/FG%41/3FG%23.9/STL0.6/ASIT 1.4/FT%82.2/TO1.3/
Overall their stats are close I believe he would be a solid player like JJJ but IMO his ceiling is a G league or European league. Just a bit over starred for both, injuries seem to be a problem for both especially JJJ and he did more min/game his Freshman year.
 
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Anyone who has ever worked with an instructor to get his golf swing fixed knows how you go through a period where your swing gets worse, and your whole game falls apart. At some point you'll be convinced you're wasting your time and your money.

Phillips played like a great, young athlete with a head full of new-but-not-yet-absorbed knowledge in his head. In the process of trying to learn the new things the coaches were teaching, and stepping up in competition without the benefit of a corresponding step up in his physical body, it's predictable that a 5-star would get discouraged.

It's probably a place his head has never been before.

We've heard many stories of athletes who got discouraged and wanted to go home, but a strong parent kept him here and wouldn't let him walk away defeated.

But what happens if there are dissenting voices coming from family? I have no idea if any of this is the case here...

but all this is far more logical than assuming that Phillips is not a very good basketball player, or that Barnes destroys offensive skillsets, while being unable to coach certain positions. Every person and every situation is unique.
Sounds like you are describing what Jalin Hyatt said about himself. He had to have a mind/attitude change to become great and put in the work and patience.
 
First time poster - Just an observation but Phillips seemed to shy away from tough coaching. During the Vandy game at Memorial, Coach Barnes ran a beautiful out of bounds play for Phillips. Instead of dunking it, he tried to run the clock out. Coach Barnes got on to him. Any confidence that was there, appeared to disappear after that game. Some kids like adversity and thrive on it and others run from it. Phillips seems to be the later.
 
After all the tennessee talk about the WR and the SS you would not release him to anyone?
They came from other conferences. Doesn’t apply to this conversation. I don’t know if the SEC transfer restriction deadline applies to basketball tho.
 
What are we losing exactly? The guy played as soft as anybody on the team. He actually regressed and lost confidence over the course of last season. By the end of the year he could barely handle a pass without fumbling it away. Very streaky shooter, hesitant. I think he’s got a ton of potential, but it probably won’t be reached in college.
 
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