bleedingTNorange
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Had a Memorial Day weekend getaway so was out of pocket for much of it, given the addition of Chaz officially and what imo is likely the end of transfer additions figured I would give my overall take on this class.
Definitely don’t think you can be critical, even though many folks tried at various times. This staff showed once again for the second straight year to be patient and let things play out and they once again nailed it. They brought in 5 difference visitors and landed 4 of them, there’s a solid chance they could’ve also landed Tyson had they kept pressing but sounds like they ultimately decided to back off that one a touch. Regardless, if grading this class I struggle to give anything less than an A, I could even see A+, they really checked pretty much all the boxes and when you factor in that they targeted and landed a select number of guys it was truly impressive work done.
Obviously not a ton to be added in about Okpara, Igor or Dubar so just talk about Chaz for a minute. Folks got really impatient about things and criticizing the staff for putting all their eggs into that basket, I really hope they’ll take this as yet another lesson to maybe trust the staff. Ultimately Chaz took the smaller dollar amount to come here, he stayed true to the discussions he had with the staff and that his family had had. Did he get more money than initially Tennessee thought it would take, absolutely, but it was still the lowest number and given the market it’s 100% fair for a player to do that, and for an agent to seek that as well. Tennessee and the staff never wavered, as I said multiple times they felt good and they wanted that last visit and were told they’d get it, as long as that happened then I felt good about things with Chaz.
I made a comment early on into the offseason that I thought Barnes would once again put together yet another Top 5-10 team on Rocky Top, and on paper he and his staff have done just that imo. You return 6 players who in theory should all be at least slightly improved, you add 4 transfers who at their previous stop combine to give you 123.7mpg & 56.9ppg the 5 rotational players you lost gave you 123mpg & 52.9ppg. Obviously nobody expects, or should expect a player to be Dalton Knecht, however what you hope for is that as a group you can make up for what you lost in him. Last year we had 3 double digit scorers per game, we return 1 of them, but I think you hope you can have 4-5 of those guys on the roster this year.
Definitely don’t think you can be critical, even though many folks tried at various times. This staff showed once again for the second straight year to be patient and let things play out and they once again nailed it. They brought in 5 difference visitors and landed 4 of them, there’s a solid chance they could’ve also landed Tyson had they kept pressing but sounds like they ultimately decided to back off that one a touch. Regardless, if grading this class I struggle to give anything less than an A, I could even see A+, they really checked pretty much all the boxes and when you factor in that they targeted and landed a select number of guys it was truly impressive work done.
Obviously not a ton to be added in about Okpara, Igor or Dubar so just talk about Chaz for a minute. Folks got really impatient about things and criticizing the staff for putting all their eggs into that basket, I really hope they’ll take this as yet another lesson to maybe trust the staff. Ultimately Chaz took the smaller dollar amount to come here, he stayed true to the discussions he had with the staff and that his family had had. Did he get more money than initially Tennessee thought it would take, absolutely, but it was still the lowest number and given the market it’s 100% fair for a player to do that, and for an agent to seek that as well. Tennessee and the staff never wavered, as I said multiple times they felt good and they wanted that last visit and were told they’d get it, as long as that happened then I felt good about things with Chaz.
I made a comment early on into the offseason that I thought Barnes would once again put together yet another Top 5-10 team on Rocky Top, and on paper he and his staff have done just that imo. You return 6 players who in theory should all be at least slightly improved, you add 4 transfers who at their previous stop combine to give you 123.7mpg & 56.9ppg the 5 rotational players you lost gave you 123mpg & 52.9ppg. Obviously nobody expects, or should expect a player to be Dalton Knecht, however what you hope for is that as a group you can make up for what you lost in him. Last year we had 3 double digit scorers per game, we return 1 of them, but I think you hope you can have 4-5 of those guys on the roster this year.