2022 Recruits

[Coach Jumper]

So everyone thinks that the consensus number 9 class in the country is not a good recruiting year. That means only 8 teams recruited better than we did in 2021. We all would like to be number one, but bringing in top ten recruiting classes is the the most attainable goal. Still have hope that 2022 will be our second top ten recruiting class in a row. Were in on some very good players already have number 16 committed so patience to see what happens long time to November.

On paper, yes, we are not the top recruiting class
But as a coach I know, "Stars are for galaxies" (after the top 5-10 they're about as accurate as the ones that called them "stars")

but as they say,,,,THIS is why they play the games on the court, not on paper

 

[Volfan2012]

agree on Reaves too. And I see this potential in Sam and Joy...Coach K has plenty to work with, marquee players in the vets role (Burrell, Horston, Key), good non-recruit pickups to fill gaps and a much stronger than most realize class for this year (I stand by my prediction that Striplin,Puckett and Wynn will be much more than anticipated, "star-ratings notwithstanding and I saw initial potential in Miles that if coached properly will fill a longstanding need (speed-guard))

Yep, dj,,,it is Kellie time now. SHe has the peices in place and a potential game-changer coming in.
The next step for this administration is to get the top 10 recruits...They are often can't miss players and this IS Tennesee
nuff said!

Here is the problem we had with Reaves recruiting. Highly rated recruits but many had issues that were not great for team basketball. We lost about half or more of them for failure to obey team rules. I'm not saying any of them were bad kids just saying they were willing to take advantage of the people that were coaching them in more ways than one. Not one but a variety of team rules were being broken without punishment. That is something you want see anymore. Team had to built from the bottom up and think were headed in the right direction will have more information on that with this seasons results. I'm not giving coach Harper a pass just giving her a chance and that means four seasons to get things corrected. Thus far I like what I see might not in a couple more years, but I believe I will because I think we've corrected a lot of problems with the program and are headed in the right direction.

 

[djtee]

Darth makes his usual BS comments and some posters just go all to pieces....His negativity is like a virus....

Coach J made some excellent comments...
Holly, although a fine person, was not a very good basketball coach; did not like offense, especially the 3 point ball.
This 2021 incoming class is full of talent and will play like champions....

I'm all in on Coach Kellie...

GT i hope she decided to put in an offer as the scouts said she will be a steal for someone

 

[Volfan2012]

On paper, yes, we are not the top recruiting class
But as a coach I know, "Stars are for galaxies" (after the top 5-10 they're about as accurate as the ones that called them "stars")

but as they say,,,,THIS is why they play the games on the court, not on paper

I have seen a lot of the 2022 players play and I've seen our recruits play. Verhulst rated number 7 in the class does not look anymore skilled than Sarah Puckett rated number 43 by premier. That proves true for some of the post players as well like Wolfenbarger and DeBerry vs Karoline Striplin. Wynn can hang athletically with any guard on that list only part of her game that is suspect is probably three point shooting. That can be improved over time with a player willing to work. Not at all disappointed with who we have since many of the recruits rated higher don't seem to be any better or have an overall game that separates them from our players.

 

[PRG]

Kellie has to prove that she can coach, and I mean take the players that she has ( They are not chopped liver by any means ) and get them to the elite 8. If she can do that, then the top 10 will see that, and think that yeah, maybe Tennessee can get to the final four. These High Schoolers want recognition, and getting to the elite 8 is the first building block. There is a huge amount of talent out there just waiting for offers, but a program has to show they are for real, and committing to Tennessee is not a waste of their Gods gift. Kellie is the key to get her players to committ to her system, and also recruit girls that will not make waves in her system. Like I already said, she has to prove to these recruits that she can make them better, individually and as a team.

Another recruiting tool is getting players into the WNBA! Rennia was a good start . Does anyone not think Rae Burrell won’t be a pro ?
Horston and maybe Key should be making it too …. That’s three years in a row with our kids getting drafted ! And Rae was definitely not a top ten ….. and neither is Key ! Just Saying

 

[LadyOrange]

Kellie has to prove that she can coach, and I mean take the players that she has ( They are not chopped liver by any means ) and get them to the elite 8. If she can do that, then the top 10 will see that, and think that yeah, maybe Tennessee can get to the final four. These High Schoolers want recognition, and getting to the elite 8 is the first building block. There is a huge amount of talent out there just waiting for offers, but a program has to show they are for real, and committing to Tennessee is not a waste of their Gods gift. Kellie is the key to get her players to committ to her system, and also recruit girls that will not make waves in her system. Like I already said, she has to prove to these recruits that she can make them better, individually and as a team.

She did this at Missouri State.

 

[sisaq]

Hey! Guess what? If you click and hold on a poster’s name, a little box appears that reads “Ignore.” If you click that “Ignore”
box, you make trolls go away forever!!!

Hahaha

 

[volnationnj]

Coach i agree with you 95-100 % but on this one i need to push back on one issue Holly. Holly was a bad coach and everyone would agree. But Holly decided to hire Sharrona Reaves as the recruiting coordinator and she worked alone. Reaves job was to bring in the top talent and that`s what she did, But at the end of the day Holly could not coach the talent. Like i said before i think we all need to hold judgement Coach Sam and Coach Joy and give them time. For me the only credit i will give Holly is hiring recruiting coordinator Reaves who was tremendous at her job. She was the one oh went out a found Key she was sitting in the stands Key was never on Holly radar and i know. Reaves knew Key was not on of the elites but knew Key could play with them and one day be one. We can all agree to disagree, Good job Coach Jumper,

Holly did close the deal on those recruits. The coaches talk up the recruits but, ultimately, it's the head coach who offers the scholarships and closes the deal.
On edit
There are some players that are so enamored with the LV program that there's not a lot of recruiting necessary to have them go to UT. Unfortunately, their numbers are not as great as they were in the past.

 

[Volfan2012]

Another recruiting tool is getting players into the WNBA! Rennia was a good start . Does anyone not think Rae Burrell won’t be a pro ?
Horston and maybe Key should be making it too …. That’s three years in a row with our kids getting drafted ! And Rae was definitely not a top ten ….. and neither is Key ! Just Saying

My expectations for Key are so high this season doubt she will be able to meet them. She has the ultimate basketball body lot of length and size to be unstoppable still waiting for her to take charge. Horston is held back by poor shooting has it all other than she doesn't make enough of the shots she takes hopefully she has gotten better this coming season. I don't know whether to credit Harper or Burrell working on her own for her development as a player. How players like Key and Horston and others play this season will answer that question. My hope is that we have a player development program that will see players vastly improve every season still need more information to see if that is happening.

 

[volnationnj]

Thar's still some black gold...Texas tea...bubbling up around the program.

And the first thing you know, Ol' Kell's a millionaire.

Swimming pools, movie stars.

 

[LadyOrange]

It’s disturbing to me how black and white some people are when evaluating coaches and players. They all have strengths and weaknesses. Holly is a great recruiter and was an excellent assistant coach. She was thrown into an emotionally complicated situation when Pat had to step down as head coach. The learning curve was tremendous, and she didn’t have a chance to grieve losing Pat. She did the best she could given the circumstances. Under different circumstances, she may have proved to be a good head coach. Should she have been replaced as head coach? Yes. Is the bulk of the ongoing criticism of her warranted? No.

I also think it’s interesting that even though the teams hasn’t played one game this season, some people are fixated on future recruiting classes. It might be better to focus on the riches we have, which are enormous. Kellie is a teacher like Pat was, and she has the experience and intelligence to improve all players. If Kellie sees potential in a player regardless of her rating, she will bring that player in and develop that potential. I’m very pleased with the progress in the program.

 

[Coach Jumper]

Here is the problem we had with Reaves recruiting. Highly rated recruits but many had issues that were not great for team basketball. We lost about half or more of them for failure to obey team rules. I'm not saying any of them were bad kids just saying they were willing to take advantage of the people that were coaching them in more ways than one. Not one but a variety of team rules were being broken without punishment. That is something you want see anymore. Team had to built from the bottom up and think were headed in the right direction will have more information on that with this seasons results. I'm not giving coach Harper a pass just giving her a chance and that means four seasons to get things corrected. Thus far I like what I see might not in a couple more years, but I believe I will because I think we've corrected a lot of problems with the program and are headed in the right direction.

I saw Striplin play against taller, more athletic and higher ranked players in two different exposure-tournaments...That is why I am so high on her. I have seen what she can do against them...She toasted their bread!

Holly did close the deal on those recruits. The coaches talk up the recruits but, ultimately, it's the head coach who offers the scholarships and closes the deal.
On edit
There are some players that are so enamored with the LV program that there's not a lot of recruiting necessary to have them go to UT. Unfortunately, their numbers are not as great as they were in the past.

Playing at TN closed the deal...A deal several of them, as you say, renegotiated

 

[Coach Jumper]

It’s disturbing to me how black and white some people are when evaluating coaches and players. They all have strengths and weaknesses. Holly is a great recruiter and was an excellent assistant coach. She was thrown into an emotionally complicated situation when Pat had to step down as head coach. The learning curve was tremendous, and she didn’t have a chance to grieve losing Pat. She did the best she could given the circumstances. Under different circumstances, she may have proved to be a good head coach. Should she have been replaced as head coach? Yes. Is the bulk of the ongoing criticism of her warranted? No.

I also think it’s interesting that even though the teams hasn’t played one game this season, some people are fixated on future recruiting classes. It might be better to focus on the riches we have, which are enormous. Kellie is a teacher like Pat was, and she has the experience and intelligence to improve all players. If Kellie sees potential in a player regardless of her rating, she will bring that player in and develop that potential. I’m very pleased with the progress in the program.

She was thrown into something ANY coach would give their proverbial left nut/boob for!
Yours truly included
And most of US would have fared better

 

[Rickster]

We have some posters falling apart over recruiting. Patience and stop listening to the Negas. All they want is to spread discontent and trigger people into an emotional response to some stupid over the top post they wrote just to solicit that retaliation. Ignore!

 

[youcancallmeAl]

That's the spirit.

Thanks.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Still lots of fringe sixth, seventh place options on the board at this point with the big fish gone and I imagine at least one of them will say yes. Eventually...

That's not the spirit.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

We have some posters falling apart over recruiting. Patience and stop listening to the Negas. All they want is to spread discontent and trigger people into an emotional response to some stupid over the top post they wrote just to solicit that retaliation. Ignore!

I think it's the ones pretending to be fans that do it for me ...

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

My expectations for Key are so high this season doubt she will be able to meet them. She has the ultimate basketball body lot of length and size to be unstoppable still waiting for her to take charge. Horston is held back by poor shooting has it all other than she doesn't make enough of the shots she takes hopefully she has gotten better this coming season. I don't know whether to credit Harper or Burrell working on her own for her development as a player. How players like Key and Horston and others play this season will answer that question. My hope is that we have a player development program that will see players vastly improve every season still need more information to see if that is happening.

I think credit goes to Rae AND kellie. Rae had to put in the time to develop her game. But Kellie was the one talking Rae through calming down and playing within herself. We saw a leap in Kellie's 1st and 2nd year with Rae. Rae has worked to gain the skills needed to be successful and Kellie has put Rae in position to use and succeed with those skills.

 

[Rickster]

I think it's the ones pretending to be fans that do it for me ...

Pretenders are fairly easy to spot. They are the ones putting the mouth on the players, coaches, and institution while at the same time continually reminding everyone they are fans.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

Pretenders are fairly easy to spot. They are the ones putting the mouth on the players, coaches, and institution while at the same time continually reminding everyone they are fans.

This is very true and we have a couple of those on here

Funny thing is also no one can define what an elite recruit exactly is... if it's just top 10 ranking then there are only 10 schools a year who get elite recruits that make a difference on their team.

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

I agree to a point We are getting top kids to visit but not commit! Like I have been saying,what are the recruits seeing once they get here?? What ever it is needs to be addressed. The coaches have built the relationships up and they visit then commit elsewhere!!

That's an interesting take for sure. I like you hope it gets figured out soon. With time (because these new assistants are still actually new to TN) i believe they will figure it out. The good thing we have kids no one on here new about that are interested in TN (and these kids aren't chopped liver despite what others post).

I can say that some of the kids that "dropped TN" actually were the ones dropped by TN. This coaching staff has a set of criteria and they aren't bending on this good athlete or not.

 

[GameTime]

Take a breath and relax......

 

[Rickster]

.......I can say that some of the kids that "dropped TN" actually were the ones dropped by TN. This coaching staff has a set of criteria and they aren't bending on this good athlete or not.

I like that our coaches are not willing to compromise on their beliefs. If the player is not a fit in the system, move on. We've seen how destructive bad/selfish attitudes are on a team. Those type issues aren't resolved overnight.

 

[NeedOrange]

This is very true and we have a couple of those on here

Funny thing is also no one can define what an elite recruit exactly is... if it's just top 10 ranking then there are only 10 schools a year who get elite recruits that make a difference on their team.

Also too many 'fans' are too lazy (intentional slam) to review other information and live and die with hoop gurlz. If hoop gurlz is your only source of information then you are in no position to criticize who ever KJH and crew recruit. If you want to help KJH then take the time and spend some money to go to a showcase. Deck yourself in orange and cheer like mad for the players you want to come. Players want to play for people who cheer for them and they know who is at their games.

 

[LadyOrange]

She was thrown into something ANY coach would give their proverbial left nut/boob for!
Yours truly included
And most of US would have fared better

Uh, your response lacks wisdom.