My take on the transfer class

[bleedingTNorange]

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.

 

[ThatVolGuy]

Appreciate the insight and agree on the need for patience, which is at a premium now more than ever.

Interesting comment about backing off on Tyson a bit. I'm curious if you can elaborate on the "why" there.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Appreciate the insight and agree on the need for patience, which is at a premium now more than ever.

Interesting comment about backing off on Tyson a bit. I'm curious if you can elaborate on the "why" there.

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

 

[TrippieRedd]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Shot allocation?

Lmaooooooo cyabye

 

[Stoked]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Lol Barnes was prolly like... the only guarantee you'll get is you're going to play great defense or I'll guarantee you'll be riding the pine

 

[ThatVolGuy]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Wow. I guess I somewhat understand talking about minutes (and I similarly understand Barnes not making any promises there), but—and excuse my ignorance if this is common knowledge—how would guaranteed shot allocation work? That seems like a huge stretch. Shots and the plays that precede them unfold due to a number of factors, so I'm just struggling to imagine how that can be estimated with any real accuracy.

He's a talented kid, but given those asks I understand why we passed. I also think it's a little funny that UNC fans probably feel like it was only the North Carolina mystique that convinced him to go to Chapel Hill.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Wow. I guess I somewhat understand talking about minutes (and I similarly understand Barnes not making any promises there), but—and excuse my ignorance if this is common knowledge—how would guaranteed shot allocation work? That seems like a huge stretch. Shots and the plays that precede them unfold due to a number of factors, so I'm just struggling to imagine how that can be estimated with any real accuracy.

He's a talented kid, but given those asks I understand why we passed. I also think it's a little funny that UNC fans probably feel like it was only the North Carolina mystique that convinced him to go to Chapel Hill.

I don’t think it was some crazy number of minimum shots, shots are going to come with minutes so those things mainly go hand in hand…I think it was just more the idea/promise of being a focal point.

 

[ThatVolGuy]

I don’t think it was some crazy number of minimum shots, shots are going to come with minutes so those things mainly go hand in hand…I think it was just more the idea/promise of being a focal point.

Understood, thanks for the clarification.

I feel like we've flown under the radar a bit, but do you see us being ranked in the top 10 to start the season next year given our portal additions?

 

[GoodTimeVol]

What’s funny is in the transfer portal thread ppl were commenting on how respectful Tyson was during his recruitment only to find out now he was basically in it for himself outside of “team goals” mentality.

Not that it’s a bad thing to want top dollar and certain promises in a contract, but compare that to Lanier’s recruitment and seeing the comments it’s like night and day.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Understood, thanks for the clarification.

I feel like we've flown under the radar a bit, but do you see us being ranked in the top 10 to start the season next year given our portal additions?

I wonder if it’s a bit like last year where analytics likes us more than human polls preseason, I think we’ll be pretty consensus Top 15.

 

[VolArmy74]

Understood, thanks for the clarification.

I feel like we've flown under the radar a bit, but do you see us being ranked in the top 10 to start the season next year given our portal additions?

Gary Parish has us at #14 and he's never exactly a Vol backer.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Would also like to add in that Lanier recruitment should be a reminder that when it comes to Tennessee Trilly really struggles with his info, same thing happened with both Knecht & Ledlum last year. Tennessee staff doesn’t talk much at all, especially national scene, much of his info in the Lanier recruitment came from agent or Kentucky/BYU side.

 

[Putbacks]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Who is his agent? Brandon Huntley-Hatfield’s mom?

 

[cardvolfan]

It will be interesting to watch and see how many minutes Tyson gets at UNC.

 

[Volfan1000]

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.

I think Okpara and Estrella will give Tennessee a low post option that they have lacked since Williams.

 

[esarmstrong]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Sounds like he was jerking UT around. Shot allocation? Never heard of that before.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

It will be interesting to watch and see how many minutes Tyson gets at UNC.

Real question, does he have the speed/quickness that DK DID? How about our portal additions comparisons.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

Hmm. Interesting. UNC is going to be incredibly deep next year, outside of a promised NIL I find it hard to believe he’ll get the minutes and shot allocation he is asking for there either. But whatever.

 

[CAVPUT]

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.

Good write up, but I'll never forgive Chaz for taking all those visits, making me wait for a decision, and toying with my emotions. Anything less than Knecht numbers and a final 4....well...unacceptable.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

Would also like to add in that Lanier recruitment should be a reminder that when it comes to Tennessee Trilly really struggles with his info, same thing happened with both Knecht & Ledlum last year. Tennessee staff doesn’t talk much at all, especially national scene, much of his info in the Lanier recruitment came from agent or Kentucky/BYU side.

This post should be stickied up top for next year lol

 

[pimo1]

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.

GIven the situation and what we lost an A is a fair grade to give. I think we will be a really good team barring some serious chemistry problems. No reason to think that will be a problem but its always a possibility with this many new faces. Honestly, I think this season comes down more to the development of the guys returning than the guys we brought in. If people like Estrella and Philips and Gainey have developed it bodes well for us.

 

[cncchris33]

When Tyson came off his UNC visit and allowed Tennessee staff to visit him in Nashville he upped his asking price, asked for a guaranteed minutes and shot allocation as well. That has never been something Barnes will do, and given they had already landed Dubar at this point Tennessee held way more cards than Tyson did.

AP said on the VQ podcast that he feels that Tyson really wanted to come to Tennessee, but Tennessee kind of backed off because they were a little afraid of becoming too crowded at the wing position and potentially running off a Cam Carr, for instance. Said they felt they got a little of Cade with Dubar, with Milicic, and then with Carr, as well. Interesting addition to what you had already posted above.

 

[TrippieRedd]

AP said on the VQ podcast that he feels that Tyson really wanted to come to Tennessee, but Tennessee kind of backed off because they were a little afraid of becoming too crowded at the wing position and potentially running off a Cam Carr, for instance. Said they felt they got a little of Cade with Dubar, with Milicic, and then with Carr, as well. Interesting addition to what you had already posted above.

Yeah if that’s the case, I’d rather have Carr all day long

 

[CBVols]

I'm really hoping Cam Carr has that breakout type summer and becomes that "Dog" we need on offense. I'm just not sure I have seen that in his mentality on the court. Granted we have not seen a ton of him, he may have it.

 

[omghulkhands]

AP said on the VQ podcast that he feels that Tyson really wanted to come to Tennessee, but Tennessee kind of backed off because they were a little afraid of becoming too crowded at the wing position and potentially running off a Cam Carr, for instance. Said they felt they got a little of Cade with Dubar, with Milicic, and then with Carr, as well. Interesting addition to what you had already posted above.

Makes sense. I felt if we landed all 5 targets, there was going to be a Joker breaking the pool stick type of situation.

And hell. There still might be to some extent.