2025 Target List

[Sugaray13]

If Ament loves his GF, he will take $5 and some Kroger coupons.

You mean Food City coupons?

 

[THEONLYTENISEE]

Basillio claims we are in on 3 potential transfers that all average more than 12 points per game and they have all 3 let Barnes know they are coming. If that story is true we may not need to fret over high school recruiting

At this point I think Barnes likes the portal commits. These commits seem to want to be coached.

 

[cncchris33]

I just asked if that info would change people’s feelings…Tennessee is still in it and choosing to be in it as evidenced by him being here on his own dime this past week. Things are never black and white and as I said all it takes is a change in opinion by someone or someone with money saying they’re good to float a bill for 1 year.

Right. I'm just not sure his gf being here has any more influence than the outcome of the game he attended if the ultimate deciding factor is money. So for me, that doesn't hardly factor at all, and in reality, he seems like the least likely to come to Tennessee of the 3 guys because we aren't likely to commit the kind of money to him that he's looking for.

True, not everything is black and white, nor static, but we have to operate in the world of what we know at the time, not what we speculate could happen.

Speaking of these guys, you heard anything on Mallory and his OV? Anything on Burries?

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Right. I'm just not sure his gf being here has any more influence than the outcome of the game he attended if the ultimate deciding factor is money. So for me, that doesn't hardly factor at all, and in reality, he seems like the least likely to come to Tennessee of the 3 guys because we aren't likely to commit the kind of money to him that he's looking for.

True, not everything is black and white, nor static, but we have to operate in the world of what we know at the time, not what we speculate could happen.

Speaking of these guys, you heard anything on Mallory and his OV? Anything on Burries?

I think there’s a chance for a discount because the gf goes here, now it’s not likely to be a $500k difference, but Lanier took less money to be here also, that does happen.

Both went well as they usually do, don’t think either is in a hurry, given that’s the case I’m hesitant to go out too far because things can change 100x

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Not sure what this says…

 

[cncchris33]

Not sure what this says…

Duke and Louisville?

I don't remember seeing Notre Dame involved before. Is that new?

 

[TrippieRedd]

Were we always 2nd on the On3 RPM for Ament?


Not sure how I feel about the Ament situation tbh. We have A LOT of holes to fill next year. If the rule doesn’t get approved, we have like 7-8 spots to fill.

Even if the rule gets approved and we return some of the guys, we still have a ton of spots to fill.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Duke and Louisville?

I don't remember seeing Notre Dame involved before. Is that new?

They’ve been in his Top 11, but not heard them much.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

That pretty standard for P5, high end rosters are like $6-$7m, $5m is considered high this year…just like in football those numbers will go up next year.

Do the simply math, $25m is high end in football, 85 scholarships, that’s average of $295k/player, obviously many get more but many also get less, pull that to basketball and $295 x 13 scholarships is $3.8m

Yeah, and with just 9 that'd have 'em around $2.7m

But that's already more than half of high end rosters...which being a top 10 team would seem to demand. Even if we're just extra frugal there's no way to continue competing when we're spending under $3m.

I'm guess this 6% in ticket prices is supposed to help raise that budget.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I think there’s a chance for a discount because the gf goes here, now it’s not likely to be a $500k difference, but Lanier took less money to be here also, that does happen.

Both went well as they usually do, don’t think either is in a hurry, given that’s the case I’m hesitant to go out too far because things can change 100x

Worry for me though is if our total roster budget for this year is below what Ament alone is demanding...I don't think we've got much chance.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Give Ament’s GF 100k and tell her to tell him that if he doesn’t come to UT, she will dump him and date his mortal enemy

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Yeah next year we're gonna need to see the pocketbook get opened up...

Even if we have a "best case scenario"

You return the 4 seniors that can come back (Igor, ZZ, Mashack, Gainey), return all 4 of the guys with eligibility (Felix, Cade, JP, Bishop) and you add the HS kids signed

That puts us at 10 on scholarship with 3 spots still to fill.

295k per spot would put us right at $3m... and that's a pipe dream assuming our per spot isn't going to climb to keep folks here.


And it's probably safe to speculate Ament is gonna be a $2.5m or more guy by himself...

 

[TrippieRedd]

Yeah next year we're gonna need to see the pocketbook get opened up...

Even if we have a "best case scenario"

You return the 4 seniors that can come back (Igor, ZZ, Mashack, Gainey), return all 4 of the guys with eligibility (Felix, Cade, JP, Bishop) and you add the HS kids signed

That puts us at 10 on scholarship with 3 spots still to fill.

295k per spot would put us right at $3m... and that's a pipe dream assuming our per spot isn't going to climb to keep folks here.


And it's probably safe to speculate Ament is gonna be a $2.5m or more guy by himself...

IF we can return all of those guys and the HS schools kids committed so far then I’m fine with just grabbing Ament and rolling into next season with that roster, but that’s IF we can return all 4 of those dudes.


If the rule doesn’t get approved or whatever, then I’m 10000% passing on Ament and going for Mallory, portal, etc.

 

[Nighthawkvol10]

Duke and Louisville?

I don't remember seeing Notre Dame involved before. Is that new?

Trilly has said he's always heard the most about Duke/TN/ND as the main schools tied to Ament. That was until Louisville jumped in recently with a lot of money and UK started swinging after missing out on Caleb Wilson. Those last two are probably going to price us out of this and he might be using them to raise Duke's offer

 

[McGeesPub]

Duke and Louisville?

I don't remember seeing Notre Dame involved before. Is that new?

Yes it’s Duke and Louisville.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

IF we can return all of those guys and the HS schools kids committed so far then I’m fine with just grabbing Ament and rolling into next season with that roster, but that’s IF we can return all 4 of those dudes.


If the rule doesn’t get approved or whatever, then I’m 10000% passing on Ament and going for Mallory, portal, etc.

Yeah fair, treat Ament as if you're adding a single portal player to help "win it all"

I just think it's a bit easier to know what you're getting from a portal addition with a year or more playing at college level compared to these HS kids that sometimes feast because of their location and who they face or being really good athletes or having great size.

BVS maybe but we've not hit on a HS kid really since Tobias and even then that team went 19-15 and lost in the first round.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Yeah fair, treat Ament as if you're adding a single portal player to help "win it all"

I just think it's a bit easier to know what you're getting from a portal addition with a year or more playing at college level compared to these HS kids that sometimes feast because of their location and who they face or being really good athletes or having great size.

BVS maybe but we've not hit on a HS kid really since Tobias and even then that team went 19-15 and lost in the first round.

I think even if Ament doesn’t end up panning out, this team is much better than that Tobias team.

ZZ, Gainey, Shack, Igor, Okpara, Ament, Cade, Healthy JP, Boswell, Evans, Brown


But I definitely understand the worry. It doesn’t matter if this team is better than that Tobias team, what matters is being better than the other teams now, which those other teams would return their seniors, in which case Ament would need to actually pan out.

 

[cncchris33]

Yeah fair, treat Ament as if you're adding a single portal player to help "win it all"

I just think it's a bit easier to know what you're getting from a portal addition with a year or more playing at college level compared to these HS kids that sometimes feast because of their location and who they face or being really good athletes or having great size.

BVS maybe but we've not hit on a HS kid really since Tobias and even then that team went 19-15 and lost in the first round.

Kennedy Chandler
Jaden Springer
Jarnell Stokes
Jordan McRae

Not sure what the parameters are for hitting on a HS kid, but I'd argue all those guys were hits and highly recruited kids.

 

[Stoked]

Yeah fair, treat Ament as if you're adding a single portal player to help "win it all"

I just think it's a bit easier to know what you're getting from a portal addition with a year or more playing at college level compared to these HS kids that sometimes feast because of their location and who they face or being really good athletes or having great size.

BVS maybe but we've not hit on a HS kid really since Tobias and even then that team went 19-15 and lost in the first round.

I guess you forgot about Springer, Keon, and Chandler.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Kennedy Chandler
Jaden Springer
Jarnell Stokes
Jordan McRae

Not sure what the parameters are for hitting on a HS kid, but I'd argue all those guys were hits and highly recruited kids.

Top 20 drafted player, we've only had 10...Harris was the only 1 & done HS kid to be drafted top 20.

Keon was close

 

[Stoked]

Top 20 drafted player, we've only had 10...Harris was the only 1 & done HS kid to be drafted top 20.

Keon was close

Well Ament would be our highest rated recruit ever and he's projected to go in the top 5 in nearly every mock I have saw.

I am curious... So Chandler, Springer, and Keon weren't considered "hits" to you since they weren't drafted in the top 20?

 

[D3Athlete]

Yeah next year we're gonna need to see the pocketbook get opened up...

Even if we have a "best case scenario"

You return the 4 seniors that can come back (Igor, ZZ, Mashack, Gainey), return all 4 of the guys with eligibility (Felix, Cade, JP, Bishop) and you add the HS kids signed

That puts us at 10 on scholarship with 3 spots still to fill.

295k per spot would put us right at $3m... and that's a pipe dream assuming our per spot isn't going to climb to keep folks here.


And it's probably safe to speculate Ament is gonna be a $2.5m or more guy by himself...

I wouldn’t even put the 4 seniors because of the 5th year an option rn. After the report that the proposal hasn’t been talked about nor on the table to discuss. I don’t really see it as an option for a pipe dream

 

[MoCo_Vol]

JUST talking about top 25 kids that came for a single year, like everyone assumes Ament will do.

Tobias was #5 in RSCI Top 100 - 15.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.9 bpg and drafted 19th overall = "hit"
#6 in RSCI Top 100 - Kennedy Chandler probably counts as a hit, but mostly because he helped us win the SECT championship. 13.9 ppg, 4.7 apg, 3.2 rpg, 2.2 spg but he was drafted 38th overall
#13 in RSCI Top 100 - Jaden Springer: 12.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.9 apg ended up being drafted 28th overall
#23 in RSCI Top 100 - Keon Johnson: 11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg ended up being drafted 21st overall
#14 in RSCI Top 100 - Julian Phillips: 8.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.4 apg ended up being drafted 35th overall


But "hits" for me in that 2020 HS class Springer/Keon were in would have been

Cade Cunningham: 20.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.5 apg and is the 1st overall pick in 2021
Evan Mobley: 16.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.9 bpg and is the 3rd overall pick in 2021
Jalen Suggs: 14.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg and is the 5th overall pick in 2021


Just me personally if you're basically doubling your roster budget for 1 HS player I would want around 15 ppg and 5+ in some other stat and to get drafted top 20 to be a "hit"

 

[Yeiser10]

I wouldn’t even put the 4 seniors because of the 5th year an option rn. After the report that the proposal hasn’t been talked about nor on the table to discuss. I don’t really see it as an option for a pipe dream

I feel like this is a good question for everyone. Do you guys think this will pass or not?

Also someone stated that a couple of transfers had reached out and wanted to come for sure. How true do we think that is? BTO any update on that?

 

[MoCo_Vol]

The reason why I say that...

Chaz Lanier = 1 year sub seven figures and he's leading the team in scoring at 17.9 ppg shooting 42.2% from deep (5th highest % in a season in school history)
Dalton Knecht = 1 year sub seven figures, SEC POY, All-American, All-Sec, 17th overall pick put himself top 10 for a season in Field Goals, 3PT Field Goals, 3PT % and 2nd all time in points for a season only the 2nd Vol to surpass 750 ever

Not saying you shouldn't go get top HS talent, just that for what it cost in today's game I'd want to see them earn their keep...when we've had such good recent success with 1 year portal additions for far less $$$