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#56
#56
Wringing hands over this situation makes no sense to me. We are not losing any studs here. If we had a stable of studs coming in, then no BBB petition would have seen the light of day.

Great recruiting covers a multitude of actual season sins. Two proofs to back this up:
#1 Butch (5-7/No Bowl/USA by a shoestring / 3 blowouts / Can't Beat Vandy @ home) Jones.
#2 Butch (Top 5 Ranked Class / Giant 31 player legacy class / 14 EE class / Studs for 15' / "65K" for O-W game / 99% approval rating / He Gets It) Jones
We love the guy b/c it's obvious the future is bright. Conversely, in hoops, it was becoming obvious deep into the season that the future was NOT bright. Weak incoming class and on court disaster with a great roster. Fans, paying attention, are seeing the future not only the present.

As always, seeing the present is what the national media sees in the Cuonzo Martin situation. "UT fans filed a petition to fire a coach who took them to the Sweet 16" they say. No, the future was looking bleak. This class (and the others basically) said CCM was not going to compete with UK & UF. Recruiting is the future.

Forget CCM/CBP/CDT for a moment. What is it that we (UT family) are really after in the future? A trip to the NCAA every other year on average? One win or a S16 every 5-6 years? IMO, Heck No!

We need to be finding a way to get into the elite of cbb. We have a ridiculously rabid and relentlessly loyal fan base. Our facilities are freaking sick. We're in a power conference that's weak at the moment, but still just had 3 in the S16, 2 in FF, and one in the finals. East TN is gorgeous and the girls are too. Nothing and I mean nothing forbids us from being in the elite of cbb. Not even "were a football school". So are OSU, UM and UF. They found a way to be elite (generally) in both.

Not trying to make this about Pearl, but I think a reporter who asked Grunfeld a question, got to the heart of this matter. Before we played Memphis, he asked Earnie if he were surprised that CBP had taken UT all the way to #2 in the nation. Earnie replied "I'm surprised that he's not already #1". Good, bad, or ugly, that guy was going about becoming a champion. Wow!

This is crux folks! Why does the mindset seem to be about "maintaining mediocrity plus"? We are not trapped in a cbb caste system. But, we seem trapped in a fans / AD / admins mindset though. 100 years ago UK, Duke, UL, UNC, UCLA, UConn, Arizona, IU, OSU did not have one stitch of championship history. The point is, it is NOT a prerequisite to getting championship history (see UF). History makes it easier, yes. But, the more difficult the ascent, the greater the glory on top!

Back to the point. Why flip out over some 2-3 star players who decommit? We weren't winning the SEC with those guys folks. You HAVE to have some studs to win titles. If CDT is the guy to take us to the mountain top, then he may flop this cycle and just get back 1 or 2 similar rated guys. So what. Save the schollies and knock the next 2 years classes outta the park (CBJ style) with JUCOs and/or elite players.

If we don't have a coach that can sell this place to elite talent, then we still don't have the right guy. But, wringing hands over possibly losing mediocrity is a waste of time.

Sorry for the looong rant.
 
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#59
#59
livefaith said:
Wringing hands over this situation makes no sense to me. We are not losing any studs here. If we had a stable of studs coming in, then no BBB petition would have seen the light of day.

Great recruiting covers a multitude of actual season sins. Two proofs to back this up:
#1 Butch (5-7/No Bowl/USA by a shoestring / 3 blowouts / Can't Beat Vandy @ home) Jones.
#2 Butch (Top 5 Ranked Class / Giant 31 player legacy class / 14 EE class / Studs for 15' / "65K" for O-W game / 99% approval rating / He Gets It) Jones
We love the guy b/c it's obvious the future is bright. Conversely, in hoops, it was becoming obvious deep into the season that the future was NOT bright. Weak incoming class and on court disaster with a great roster. Fans paying attention are seeing the future, not only the present.
As always, seeing the present is what the national media sees in the Cuonzo Martin situation. "UT fans filed a petition to fire a coach who took them to the Sweet 16". No, the future was looking bleak. This class (and the others basically) said CCM was not going to compete with UK & UF. Recruiting is the future.

Forget CCM/CBP/CDT for a moment. What is it that we (UT family) is really after in the future? A trip to the NCAA every other year on average? One win or a S16 every 5-6 years? IMO, Heck No!

We need to be finding a way to get into the elite of cbb. We have a ridiculously rabid and relentlessly loyal fan base. Our facilities are freaking sick. We're in a power conference that's weak at the moment, but still just had 3 in the S16, 2 in FF, and one in the finals. East TN is gorgeous and the girls are too. Nothing and I mean nothing forbids us from being in the elite of cbb. Not even "were a football school. So are OSU, UM and UF. They found a way to be elite (generally) in both.

Not trying to make this about Pearl, but I think a reporter who asked Grunfeld a question, got to the heart of this matter. Before we played Memphis, he asked Earnie if here were surprised that CBP had taken UT all the way to #2 in the nation. Earnie replied "I'm surprised that he's not already #1". Good, bad, or ugly, that guy was going about becoming a champion. Wow!

This is crux of this folks! Why does the mindset seem to be about "maintaining mediocrity plus"? We are not trapped in a cbb caste system. We seem trapped in a fans / AD / admins mindset though. 100 years ago UK, Duke, UL, UNC, UCLA, UConn, Arizona, IU, OSU did not have one stitch of championship history. The point is, it is NOT a prerequisite to getting championship history (see UF). History makes it easier, yes. But, the more difficult the ascent, the greater the glory on top!

Back to my original point. Why flip out over some 2-3 star players who decommit? We weren't winning the SEC with those guys. You HAVE to have some studs to win titles. If CDT is the guy to take us to the mountain top, then he may flop this cycle and just get back 1 or 2 similar rated guys. So what. Save the schollies and knock next years class outta the park (CBJ style) with JUCOs and elite players.

If we don't have a coach that can sell this place to elite talent, then we still don't have the right guy. Sorry for the looong rant.
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I know this is an overused phrase, but I wish that l could like your post more than once. Well said.
 
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#60
#60
Fightmaker said:
I know this is an overused phrase, but I wish that l could like your post more than once. Well said.
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Agreed. I wish more members of the media would look under the hood from time to time and see what is really there. Things under Martin weren't all peaches and cream like the run in the tourney suggested. Jerry Green 4 straight NCAA tourney teams yet the program was rotting from the inside.
 
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#61
#61
Looking at Southern Miss roster, most of the players I looked up, no I didn't look all of them up, were 2 Stars. Coach Tyndall did a pretty good job with them. Hope this holds true in the SEC!
 
#64
#64
Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN
IUPUI transfer Ian Chiles has visited Auburn, and is looking at Maryland, Tennessee, South Florida and Western Kentucky.
 
#65
#65
Jonboy said:
Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN
IUPUI transfer Ian Chiles has visited Auburn, and is looking at Maryland, Tennessee, South Florida and Western Kentucky.
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He's a 6-1 shooting guard, i would think that UT would be recruiting size first.......
 
#66
#66
Spartacavolus said:
Martin hit on Stokes and Jrich in recruiting. Moore and DT may pan out ok.
He missed on Pops, Miller, Reese, Edwards, Yemi and Wes. That's 6 misses and 2 hits with 2 unsure in 3 years. That's bad, imo, and these defections wouldn't hurt as bad without those recruiting problems. Since that's his track record to date, how do you assume we are losing 4 good recruits when he's missed on 60-70% that he signed?
That said, what do you not see in the USM recruits that you saw in the ones that were committed to UT? Or are you just assuming they are worse because they were going to play there?
Bad assumption, imo. If you can play, you can play, and players are all over the place and choose schools and coaches for many reasons.
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Reese is a better basketball player than Armani Moore, so you might as well move him to the unsure category.
 
#67
#67
jarnol32 said:
Reese is a better basketball player than Armani Moore, so you might as well move him to the unsure category.
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For now, I still think Armani can develop more because his athletic ability is through the roof. I'm hoping he can develop that short mid-range game similar to JRich, and then work from there.
 
#69
#69
Spartacavolus said:
I don't agree there.
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I guess we will all get to see everyones skills next season. It appears to be all hands on deck.

As an aside, I would be interested in seeing if Ronnie Johnson would be interested in U.T. now that Tyndall is the coach. He is good in the open floor, but didn't fit in at all at Purdue. I know he was looking at Houston and Memphis has been mentioned. Seems like U.T. should through their hat in the ring.
 
#70
#70
Fightmaker said:
I have heard varied reports as to how many scholarships we now have. Does anyone know the true number on this?
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Reports I heard is there were two openings before the 4 de-commits asked for their release. So, if all four defect, there will be six.
 
#71
#71
There is no way he fills all 6 spots this year. Fill a few needs in this class and go after a great class next year. I don't like the idea of adding 4 JC players this year either. We are in same spot in 2yrs with lesser players in upperclassmen. He is in a tough spot right now. Looking more like 3yrs before he will have anything to work with.
 
#73
#73
BigZiti09 said:
Are you talking about the Reese that plays for UT? Derek Reese? That Derek Reese?
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Reese isn't as bad as some make him out to be . He's not starter material , but he's fine off the bench .As far as Moore goes, I was really impressed with how much his shot had improved to go along with his energy . I think he could make a name for himself in Donnie Knoxville's system
 
#74
#74
volbeast33 said:
That's not true.....his first recruiting class had at least two to three guys that were originally suppose to go to Cincy.
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That first recruiting class was disappointing (worse than Dooley did with his first class). I was talking about CBJ's second class where he really picked it up and started recruiting type of talent CPF used to get back in the 90's.
 
#75
#75
TGVol said:
That first recruiting class was disappointing (worse than Dooley did with his first class). I was talking about CBJ's second class where he really picked it up and started recruiting type of talent CPF used to get back in the 90's.
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i know but u cant compare the two bc this is Tyndall's first class and he is trying to fill the roster the best he can right now.....he was quoted on dnj.com yesterday saying and this is for BTO too.

"At this level, you have to for the most part recruit Top-100 high school players and build it with high school players."
 
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