re: 2014-15 Tennessee Basketball Recruiting Thread

Seeing is believing.

Martin was left with a great roster to work with, which is the same reason I believe y'all are better off without him. Tyndall was left with complete shite (the real reason I think Cuonzo ran) compared to Cuonzo. He isn't signing all of these players because he thinks they're great players. He's signing them so the program can avoid sinking into a blackhole in his first season like Mississippi State did after they hired Rick Ray. Comparing Tyndall's start to Cuonzo's just isn't logical. Like I said, I could see y'all possibly squeaking into the top half of the conference, but it's FAR from guaranteed.

Obviously having Stokes gift wrapped to him helped a lot as did McRae suddenly becoming a productive player off the bench but that team was expected to be abysmal just as this one is.

There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to this team, but there is tons of talent at the guard position. Much more than on any of Cuonzo's teams.

Woolridge and McBee are worse than all 5 of our current starters. Tatum is about as mediocre as it gets. Maymon was very good that season and Golden was productive but flawed.

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Golden
McBee
Tatum
Maymon
Woolridge

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I'm pretty sure McRae and Stokes started during most of the SEC play if I remember correctly, which is what we are discussing. Golden and Maymon were also very good for y'all that year. I realize y'all were expected to do bad, and y'all did until SEC play, but expecting nothing less than a top half finish with the team he was left with isn't fair to Tyndall. He doesn't have a ready-to-go five star waiting to jump on board mid-season to compliment Golden and Maymon.

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Richardson is an excellent 2 way player.

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That's like us saying Randolph is an excellent 2-way player. Both have the potential to be excellent on both ends, but for right now they're only excellent on one end and serviceable on the other.

I never realized how delusional Vol basketball fans were until I read Volnation last night. Predictions of finishing 2nd and 21+ wins for next season was the norm over there. There are going to be a lot of disappointed VFLs next season.

Those 4 games are calculated into his season average. Levi finished his season strong as well with a 33 point game and a 24 point game in his last 6 games. Doesn't mean I should be expecting that kind of production regularly next year.

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Not sure why he's being a troll, but there's no need to shite on our program. We should be very good next year. I also don't see why y'all have such high expectations for next year. It's a first year coach with a makeshift roster with a bunch of late spring signees. Sure, I could see y'all being in the top half of the SEC, but it's just as likely, if not more likely, y'all end up in the bottom half. It's not like that would mean the program isn't headed in the right direction.

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Why? Because we've seen this exact scenario produce a fantastic team before. See: Bruce Pearl @ Tennessee: Year One. See: Calipari nearly every year with a rebuilt roster. This isn't football where it takes years to build depth and likewise built up/stored talent can carry a coach for years. Basketball is an immediate game, systems and players don't take the time to mature physically/learn the way football does, and while Tyndall was left with a bunch of scrubs he's sure as hell not playing with scrubs now.

With that talent in mind we expect Tyndall and his team to be good. Tyndall's first team may not be tournament good his first year but it should be good.

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Why? Because we've seen this exact scenario produce a fantastic team before. See: Bruce Pearl @ Tennessee: Year One. See: Calipari nearly every year with a rebuilt roster. This isn't football where it takes years to build depth and likewise built up/stored talent can carry a coach for years. Basketball is an immediate game, systems and players don't take the time to mature physically/learn the way football does

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Did you just compare your situation to Cal's? Where is your 5 or 6 five-stars mocked to go in the first round next year? Bruce Pearl did an amazing job at UT, but you're already comparing Tyndall to your former top 10 coach? I know it doesn't take as much time to turn around a basketball program, but it isn't always instantaneous.

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while Tyndall was left with a bunch of scrubs he's sure as hell not playing with scrubs now.

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I have a hard time calling any D-1 basketball player a scrub, but what make you so confident that the 7 players y'all just signed are better than the guys you already have? I could see Chiles and Punter being pretty solid for y'all next year, but I'm not seeing the others as high-impact players. Mostella has the potential, but he's just a freshman. McKnight was solid last year, but he averaged just 7 ppg and 5 rpg at FGCU. I could see him maybe putting up similar numbers, but I would expect no more than that. I'm not really familiar with Baulkman, Carmichael, and McGehee, but the latter two are just freshman and all 3 have a less than impressive offer list.

UT has the potential to be in the top half of the SEC if everything goes well, but I don't see how you can laugh off the possibility of being in the bottom half. Tyndall did a fantastic job with this makeshift class and should avoid the train wreck Rick Ray had at Miss State. When you consider the fact that he could have a full roster when he was left with... what was it? Five players?... that's a massive accomplishment in and of itself.