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I agree about an 8-9 deep rotation. So even cutting off one or two players from the depth chart, you still have at least (2) underclassmen guards. You also are playing Johnson at SG, when realistically, he will probably end up at SF. Another big if is that Johnson, Fulkerson, and Kent all pan out and demand similar minutes to the current top 6 in rotation.

Also, this year our 1-6 were spread out more evenly across the positions:

Bone (SO) - PG
Turner (RS SO) - SG/PG
Bowden (SO) - SG/SF
Schofield (JR) - SF
Williams (SO) - PF
Alexander (JR) - C

vs:

2019 Signee (SO) - PG [Note that this is the only PG]
Jalen Johnson (RS SR) - SF/SG [Note this is the only SG and he is playing somewhat out-of-position]
Yves Pons (SR) - SF
Derrick Walker (SR) - PF
John Fulkerson (RS SR) - PF
Zach Kent (RS JR) - C

So then from your post you agree that the percentages of minutes aren’t guaranteed to be anywhere near 45% for underclassment, and that the development of the current underclassmen as well as how we fill out the 2018 class will play a pivotal part in just how important the 2019 class exactly is?

What happens if 2019 adds a high school PG and 2020 adds a graduate transfer PG, how inexperienced at PG are we then? The graduate transfer route is a game changer, look at that position currently on our roster, just Bone and Turner, yet we can add an experienced senior PG to the roster tomorrow.
 
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I agree about an 8-9 deep rotation. So even cutting off one or two players from the depth chart, you still have at least (2) underclassmen guards. You also are playing Johnson at SG, when realistically, he will probably end up at SF. Another big if is that Johnson, Fulkerson, and Kent all pan out and demand similar minutes to the current top 6 in rotation.

Also, this year our 1-6 were spread out more evenly across the positions:

Bone (SO) - PG
Turner (RS SO) - SG/PG
Bowden (SO) - SG/SF
Schofield (JR) - SF
Williams (SO) - PF
Alexander (JR) - C

vs:

2019 Signee (SO) - PG [Note that this is the only PG]
Jalen Johnson (RS SR) - SF/SG [Note this is the only SG and he is playing somewhat out-of-position]
Yves Pons (SR) - SF
Derrick Walker (SR) - PF
John Fulkerson (RS SR) - PF
Zach Kent (RS JR) - C

Bolded is a huge IF.
 
Bolded is a huge IF.

Fulk is already getting rotational minutes even as bad as he looked, hard for me to imagine he doesn’t get any better than what we witnessed last year.

Kent is obviously a complete unknown so who knows there, agree it’s a big if, but it’s equally as big an assumption on my part that those will be the only 6 upperclassmen come the 2020-2021 season.

That would mean we take no traditional transfers in 18 or 19, and that we don’t take a grad-transfer in 2020. And that’s also to assume the transfer rules don’t change, they’ve talked a lot about allowing kids in good academic standing 1 transfer with immediate eligibility.
 
VQ is saying Tennessee is definitely interested and looking into Carlos Curry, grades may be a stumbling block but if he has the grades I would expect Tennessee to pursue him aggressively.

One name I’m a little surprised Tennessee hasn’t looked into is Pitt transfer Parker Stewart...would sit 1 and play 3. He’s a 6’5” wing that is from Tennessee, can really shoot the ball...would seemingly play his sophomore year behind Turner & Bowden and then have a very good chance at being a 2 year starter.

Also, 2019 Marcus Watson who has been a Tennessee target for a long time is teammates and apparently pretty good friends with DJ Burns...so something to keep in mind there.

Where did Stewart play HS ball? The only kid by that name was from Union City and his dad coached at UT Martin. If that's the same one he might be 6'3 if you included his huge Afro.
 
Where did Stewart play HS ball? The only kid by that name was from Union City and his dad coached at UT Martin. If that's the same one he might be 6'3 if you included his huge Afro.

Yea that’s him 247 and Pitt list him at 6’5”, Rivals and ESPN listed him at 6’4”.
 
bleedingTNorange said:
So then from your post you agree that the percentages of minutes aren’t guaranteed to be anywhere near 45% for underclassment, and that the development of the current underclassmen as well as how we fill out the 2018 class will play a pivotal part in just how important the 2019 class exactly is?

45% could quickly become a reality if any of the players currently on roster don't pan out. But my original range was 35%-45% because of the amount of true guards we will have that are upperclassmen (zero if you don't count any transfers or grad transfers).

bleedingTNorange said:
What happens if 2019 adds a high school PG and 2020 adds a graduate transfer PG, how inexperienced at PG are we then? The graduate transfer route is a game changer, look at that position currently on our roster, just Bone and Turner, yet we can add an experienced senior PG to the roster tomorrow.

Adding grad transfers adds some experience, but we have seen how sophomores and freshman can beat out grad transfers / JUCO / transfers for minutes. And adding a grad transfer / transfer doesn't discount how important those classes are?
 
45% could quickly become a reality if any of the players currently on roster don't pan out. But my original range was 35%-45% because of the amount of true guards we will have that are upperclassmen (zero if you don't count any transfers or grad transfers).



Adding grad transfers adds some experience, but we have seen how sophomores and freshman can beat out grad transfers / JUCO / transfers for minutes. And adding a grad transfer / transfer doesn't discount how important those classes are?

Again, there is a ton of variables to try and make a definitive claim like “2019 is Barnes most Important since he’s been here”...could it end up being, sure, could it end up being a smaller class than his first couple, absolutely.

Idk what they’re gonna do, but they add Curry and a guy like Parker Stewart and that picture looks a whole lot different. If transfer policy changes like they’re saying it’s going to then that adds another dynamic too, it’s just waaaay too early to make that kind of claim imo.
 
Waste of time.

Not speaking the same language. BTO thinks everyone that’s been riding pine will develop and whoever we can get between now and June will be good.

He just keeps changing the names of the possibilities. Burns was a sure thing a few days ago. Now we are talking about adding a guy that hasn’t mentioned us at all.
 
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Waste of time.

Not speaking the same language. BTO thinks everyone that’s been riding pine will develop and whoever we can get between now and June will be good.

My point is if you did this exercise 2 years ago that you’d be painting a very similar picture, not a picture that results in a 23-7 season, season long Top 25 ranking, 3 seed in NCAAT and pre-season Top 10 returning team.
 
I’m also saying that underclassmen played about 65% of minutes on this years team, so why are we saying that in 2020-2021 if underclassmen play 35-45% that is some red flag?

Williams/Bowden/Turner/Bone/Fulk/Walker were 6/9 man rotation...4 of those guys had 1 year of game experience and 2 of those guys had none basically.

So in 2020-2021 if you sign a 4 man 2019 class and 4 of those guys see some backup minutes in 2019, how is 2020-2021 that much different than this year from an experience standpoint?
 
2017-2018 rotation w/ years of experience:
Daniel 3yrs
Alexander 2yrs
Schofield 2yrs
Williams 1yr
Bowden 1yr
Turner 1yr
Bone 1yr
Fulk 0yrs
Walker 0yrs



Now just using random names, let’s say 2018 is Curry and Fore the graduate transfer, that leaves 3 open scholarships, let’s say 4 man 2019 class of: Kira Lewis, Marcus Watson, Davonte Gaines and D.J. Burns.

So your 2020-2021 rotation w/ experience:
Walker 3yrs
Fulk 3yrs
Pons 3yrs
Johnson 3yrs
Kent 2yrs
Curry 2yrs
Lewis 1yr
Burns 1yr
Gaines 1yr
Watson 1yr



So I just don’t see how 2020-2021 is likely to be any less experienced than this year team, on paper it’s not. Now maybe you wanna point and say well Fulk is trash and won’t be good, or Pons isn’t gonna develop, that’s fine but that’s simply an opinion that nobody will know the answer to for awhile. There was a time when many wondered why we were fighting off Yale for Grant Williams, or if Lamonte Turnover was transferring out, or if Admiral Schofield was going to get booted off the team.
 
Does anybody know what happened to Curtis Aiken? He's the only PG the Vols have offered in the 2018 class who isn't committed elsewhere besides Akinjo, but it seems like no new news has come out about his existence since like the fall of 2017. Did he quit basketball or something?
 
Does anybody know what happened to Curtis Aiken? He's the only PG the Vols have offered in the 2018 class who isn't committed elsewhere besides Akinjo, but it seems like no new news has come out about his existence since like the fall of 2017. Did he quit basketball or something?

Not sure specifically on Aiken, but this theory would apply to him...there have been some decent options come available at PG: Jamarius Burton since re-opening is being pursued by Butler and Wichita State along with others. Xavier Johnson has re-opened from Nebraska and will have some P5 suitors chasing after him.

It would appear Tennessee doesn’t want to reach on a guy, or add someone who on paper they’ll have for 4 years who they may feel is a reach or not a great fit...especially if they like their chances with guys in the ‘19 class they’ve been recruiting for 2+ years.
 
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Basketball recruiting note from Rob Lewis...

Had a chance to catch up with Richmond grad transfer Khwan Fore after his visit wrapped up.

Did not commit to the Vols but left feeling very good about Tennessee and how he would fit in. Loved Rick Barnes and the staff.

Doesn't have a firm timetable but would like to decide pretty quickly. At this point he's not sure he's making any more visits. The fact that he's considering shutting it down is obviously good news for the Vols.

He's originally from Huntsville, Ala. and told me that getting closer to home was something that was really attractive to him. Also, playing in the NCAA Tournament is a huge goal for him and he understandably thinks that Tennessee is a place where he could make that dream come true.

UAB is really pushing hard for him and he'd probably walk into a much bigger role there than in Knoxville, so that's one to watch. Georgia and Tom Crean are also pushing hard to get a visit.

Will have a full write up from the interview later this afternoon but those are the basics, think Tennessee made a really strong impression on him and put themselves in a good spot.

Posted by Ron in recruiting forum
 
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