2023 Recruiting

[Volfaninfl2]

Since you arrived late 2021! Let’s look at what happened before you jumped on the Kellie cannot recruit bandwagon….,

Kellie arrived in the summer of 2019 three months to recruit before November signing !
Is this the bad recruiting year you are talking about ?

2019-2020….. when a new coach is hired …. EVERYONE CAN LEAVE THE PROGRAM! But Rennia believed in Kellie and stayed ! Got better under Kellie and was drafted #9 in the WNBA!

Rae Burrell stayed and got better and was drafted #9 in the WNBA!

Convinced Jordan Horston #2 ranked player and Macdonalds AA. And TK the now leading rebounder in Tennessee history ! Both convinced to stay and play for Kellie ! They could have left ! Just Saying

2020-2021 tied for #3 in SEC and recruiting in a WORLD WIDE PANDEMIC with no in person visits ! Is this the year you are talking about ?

2021-2022…. Top fifteen recruiting class…let’s not list them ! finished top #3 SEC and #15 overall. Sweet sixteen and This ended kellie’s third year of coaching.

2022-2023 , they came up with this thing called the PORTAL ! Recruiting just became a different game ! Jillian Hollingshead committed she was #16 overall ranked and a Macdonalds AA ! She said: “I wanted to come to Tennessee but COVID prevented me visiting!” Rickea Jackson, the #3 recruit overall out of high school , a Macdonalds AA , and the leading scorer in the SEC , before entering the portal …. Now this is a player that could have gone anywhere to play but KELLIE RECRUITED HER TO UT !!!!! And don’t forget Justine Pissott #11 and Macdonalds AA . I think you get my message ?
Kellie has been coaching UT FOR 3 years and the first year of recruiting was three months and the second was COVID pandemic, while the third year was a top 15 class… What do you think about this years team ! Every year we get better …. Can’t wait to see what’s next!

P.S. I believe Kellie has three first round draft picks for next years WNBA ! She recruited all three in one way or another! And they all three COULD PLAY ANOTHER YEAR! Just Saying

Perfect! I’ve been wanting to say something like this ever since someone started the ‘this is Kellie’s 4th year and can’t understand why we haven’t gotten higher rated recruits’ blah blah blah. You said it better. People should remember that Kellie’s first 2 recruiting years were basically shot because of the timing of her beginning here, which with the ‘dead recruiting periods’ being enforced, left literally weeks before signing, and then the pandemic restrictions that came with no face to face visits, even no NCAA Tournament. These restrictions didn’t really effect Coaches who had already had years to establish relationships with the players they were recruiting.

Still, we immediately began to win more games. We won against teams we had lost to the year before Kellie came to Coach, and we got a Freshman class last year, who made us all proud. Our Freshmen of last year had to play because of injuries to 4 experienced players, and they stepped in, and did well, and the team made it to the Sweet Sixteen without Horston, Green, Marta, or a fully recovered Rae.

Then Kellie recruited what some say is the top class of players from the portal.

If anyone is doubting what Kellie will accomplish here, I guarantee you it does not include Coaches of other schools. No one will outwork Kellie!

GO LADY VOLS!!!

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Let's stop making excuses--suggestions of shady deals (even if you say you aren't suggesting it), negative recruiting, not our kind of player, blah, blah, blah. They're all excuses for the cold, hard fact that we're being out-recruited, which has been the case with high-school recruits since Harper and the new staff arrived.

Then what explains Kellie's rousing success at transfer portal recruiting?

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Not to suggest any kind of "special extras" are being requested by any recruits on our current list -- I have not heard of any of that if it has happened -- but if anyone ever does expect Kellie to be willing to arrange illegal benefits for any recruit or their family members it definitely won't happen. Just like in the past when we had parents come right out and tell our staff what some other coach was offering and then giving Tennessee the chance to arrange the same deal to sign with us, well, that kind of thing STILL ain't gonna happen at Tennessee.

And we have lost, and will in the future, recruits because our staff is not willing to make shady deals. Many other coaches are more than happy to do it, though.

There are plenty of Tennessee fans who wish the Lady Vols would drop the standards and just do whatEVER it takes to get those top recruits. A few of those people may even post on this board, I don't know. I do know I'm proud of the way Tennessee staffers conduct themselves on the recruiting trail, even if being above board may occasionally make them lose out to less scrupulous rivals. Again, I am NOT saying any illegal dealings are happening with our targeted recruits. But overly negative recruiting? Pretty safe to say THAT is happening.

We'll get who we get the right way.

Just for the record, my post that some are reacting to was not to suggest anything illegal or unethical was requested by this or any other player. I don't think it's fair to suggest something like that without hard evidence of it. I was thinkg of something more along the lines of a player (not necessarily this one) saying to Kellie "I want a guarantee that I'll start my freshman year,,,,,,", or something like that, and Kellie has to say no guarantees. Could be she is simply not willing to make promises to recruits that she might not be able to keep. If that's the case, I applaud her. Another possible problem is NIL, perhaps we aren't keeping up with the Jones's.

 

[lvocd]

Just for the record, my post that some are reacting to was not to suggest anything illegal or unethical was requested by this or any other player. I don't think it's fair to suggest something like that without hard evidence of it. I was thinkg of something more along the lines of a player (not necessarily this one) saying to Kellie "I want a guarantee that I'll start my freshman year,,,,,,", or something like that, and Kellie has to say no guarantees. Could be she is simply not willing to make promises to recruits that she might not be able to keep. If that's the case, I applaud her. Another possible problem is NIL, perhaps we aren't keeping up with the Jones's.

I purposefully, literally said "NOT to suggest any kind of special extras" (illegal) requests had been made by the recruits because I have not heard that ANY of these current recruits are doing that. I just wanted to mention that definitely has happened in the past and if anyone ever WERE to try that with Kellie she'd have to disappoint them because she's going to follow the rules.

Noone should be thinking that me saying what I said is in any way suggesting any of these kids or their families are being shady. That is not what I said at all.

Ia few rival coaches who are shady.

 

[Volfan2012]

If Booker rejects Tennessee it would be truly disappointing -- shocking, even -- to me. Of course we all want the kids to be happy wherever they decide to go, but I thought for sure all those unofficial visits she made to Knoxville meant she was possibly so attracted to the Lady Vol atmosphere she couldn't get enough of being around it, so kept coming back.

Maybe that's still not out of the question, regardless of today's scuttlebutt. I sure would love to find out soon that she ultimately chose Tennessee! Goodness. Gotta hope that.

I never had a good feeling about her seems like she was always looking for somewhere else to go. Who visits 5 times and doesn't commit. I would like to ask her why she visited 5 times? Good luck to her if it is Texas except when she plays Tennessee.

 

[Volfan2012]

I still have a good feeling about Nichols. Del Rosario keep wondering how she feels about SC if she is not going where Velez goes. Velez probably Tennessee or Syracuse if she wants to stay home.

 

[Lucy]

I hope Kellie et al are wearing out Booker’s cell phone if it is true she is leaning Texas. Why would she want to go play for that old greaser when she can play for a youthful, dynamic coaching staff?

 

[VA_VOLFAN]

I see 3 top 100 in 2021, per HoopGurlz--no.'s 43, 45 and 62. I'll leave the evaluations of that class to others but you don't need Sherlock Holmes to draw some obvious conclusions. I want Harper to succeed (even if the Fulmer search was a lazy, parochial effort)--but at some point you have to show success. This is year four--and it's a big one.

In year two she got the LVs back in a position to host the first two rounds instead of being on the bubble. Year three she got them back to the sweet 16 (a place they hadn't been in 6 years i believe). She got the LVs ranked as high as number 4 this past year. There is success but she does need more. I don't have to downplay what she has done to make it seem like i don't want more (much more). We are headed in the right direction and I am thinking Kellie can keep us going that direction.

 

[Coach Jumper]

I am 100% behind Coach K
I am also not going to go soft on coaching
and that means recruiting too
There are two main players out there that I want
Time to go and get them

 

[lvocd]

I hope Kellie et al are wearing out Booker’s cell phone if it is true she is leaning Texas. Why would she want to go play for that old greaser when she can play for a youthful, dynamic coaching staff?

I've decided I'm not giving up until she makes an announcement herself. She could be changing her mind several times a day for all we know. I mean, she obviously likes Tennessee very, very much, so she's likely having a real struggle coming to a final decision. There's still a chance, right?

 

[LadyVol1908]

So was anyone able to actually see what Ballout said about Booker?

 

[xtpsrh08123]

So was anyone able to actually see what Ballout said about Booker?

Right what did they actually say bc that link says nothing and everyone as went in an uproar.

 

[CoryDallasLV]

Unfortunately it’s for paying insiders on their site so can’t post it here. I did on accident yesterday and had to take it down.

 

[xtpsrh08123]

Unfortunately it’s for paying insiders on their site so can’t post it here. I did on accident yesterday and had to take it down.

Can you provide a summarization ?

 

[Coach Jumper]

Can you provide a summarization ?

 

[Coach Jumper]

had to

 

[Ladyvolfan45]

Still a really good chance we land Velez and Rosario, and even Nichols.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

I purposefully, literally said "NOT to suggest any kind of special extras" (illegal) requests had been made by the recruits because I have not heard that ANY of these current recruits are doing that. I just wanted to mention that definitely has happened in the past and if anyone ever WERE to try that with Kellie she'd have to disappoint them because she's going to follow the rules.

Noone should be thinking that me saying what I said is in any way suggesting any of these kids or their families are being shady. That is not what I said at all.

Ia few rival coaches who are shady.

I hope you didn't take offense at my post. It was not directed at you, or anyone else in particular, just the crowd in general. I was just trying to clarify what I said earlier, and it was just convenient to hit the reply button on yours. I should have just replied to my own post. I did not think you said anything untoward or out of line. My apologies.

 

[lvocd]

I hope you didn't take offense at my post. It was not directed at you, or anyone else in particular, just the crowd in general. I was just trying to clarify what I said earlier, and it was just convenient to hit the reply button on yours. I should have just replied to my own post. I did not think you said anything untoward or out of line. My apologies.

If I had just thought about it for a sec I would have realized that, given your thoughtful posting history, you weren't directing your post toward me. Sorry about that.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

I purposefully, literally said "NOT to suggest any kind of special extras" (illegal) requests had been made by the recruits because I have not heard that ANY of these current recruits are doing that. I just wanted to mention that definitely has happened in the past and if anyone ever WERE to try that with Kellie she'd have to disappoint them because she's going to follow the rules.

Noone should be thinking that me saying what I said is in any way suggesting any of these kids or their families are being shady. That is not what I said at all.

Ia few rival coaches who are shady.

I think all of us understand the intent of your posts. They are not intended to be positive for Kellie.

 

[GameTime]

I'm not good at being noble, but the problems of one message board don't add up to a hill of a beans in this crazy world of recruiting....Some season you'll understand that.

We'll always have Pat...Here's looking at you Lady Vol Nation!

 

[lvocd]

I think all of us understand the intent of your posts. They are not intended to be positive for Kellie.

I think all of us understand the intent of your posts. They are not intended to be positive for Kellie.

Wait. What? All of my posts are intended to be positive for Kellie. I have been nothing but thrilled with the job she has done at Tennessee. I cannot imagine how anyone could think I have been negative about Kellie. Good grief.

 

[Voluble2]

Wait. What? All of my posts are intended to be positive for Kellie. I have been nothing but thrilled with the job she has done at Tennessee. I cannot imagine how anyone could think I have been negative about Kellie. Good grief.

Ignore them and talk basketball. Some of it will be good for Kellie and some will not. There are just a lot of Barney Fife's who want to run around policing what other's have to say rather than talking about the specific points that are being made.

As far as recruiting goes, we really need Spyre to throw some money at the Lady Vols program. There are also lots of rich alums who are women who could start a collective just for the Lady Vols. We have enough support and resources that we should be able to dominate in recruiting on that basis alone. I am sure our competitors are giddy that we haven't exploited those potential advantages already.

 

[Ladyvolfan45]

Velez announcing her commitment soon!

 

[sisaq]

Velez announcing her commitment soon!

Lawd pls I'm nervous ..like today?