2026 recruiting

#226
#226
TennaciousD957 said:
Its starting to get a little bit silly that Natalya Hodge from Bearden doesn't have an offer from UT. I get why maybe the previous staff wasn't interested based on style, but with the new staff, Natalya, with her speed, court vision, and 3 point shooting is a perfect fit. She already holds multiple power 5 offers. Weird IMO.
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Yep....perplexing
 
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#232
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#236
#236
I know less than nothing about any of the high school players either with or without offers from Tennessee. But I do know that sometimes kids aren't offered because of questions about factors outside of basketball skills. Maybe a young person isn't showing any desire to perform well in the classroom. Or maybe a young person has shown signs of being uncoachable or having a temper or is selfish, etc. Maybe a young person's family is known to cause massive problems or is expecting special favors and the staff decides it's best to avoid that situation.

I'm NOT SAYING any of this applies to ANY PLAYER who hasn't received an offer despite so many people thinking she clearly deserves one. I'm just saying that there's always the possibility with any player that other factors besides playing ability could be the issue.
 
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#239
#239
Or maybe she's a 5'7" pg currently in the 30-40 range and you're a team which is almost comically loaded with such players, many a little taller and little more highly ranked.

I do love a good hometown player but don't love creating a spot where a need doesn't exist. As I said the other day, no more guards this year or next unless it's a 5* top 10 like Chavez. There's just no point.
 
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#242
#242
I know nothing is perfect. If there is checklist to evaluate the new Lady Vols coaching staff right now prior to the start of the season the recruiting box is checked off. As for the roster, the portal fixed every immediate need and developed a foundation for 2025 and 2026. The latest picture from Coach Caldwell dispels one common rumor. That is the roster is filled with undersized guards. In fact, it is the contrary. Tess Darby is one of the tallest guards in the SEC at 6’1. Talaysia Cooper next to Kaiya Wynn who is listed at 6’0 feet and Ruby Whitehorn who is listed at 5’11 looks to be atleast an inch or two taller than both. Some players were standing without shoes including Cooper. Some are raising up on the front of their feet. Either way, Cooper a combo guard is a full 6’0 or even 6’1+. Next, Kaniya Boyd is a long 5’9 and will eventually add size to her frame. I see only two guards around 5’7 and neither of them will have any issues competing with their stature. If anything, the guards with Whitehorn, Cooper, Darby, and Wynn are bigger guards than usual. Spear and Spencer are average size guards with diverse skill sets. Nothing comical or small about that talent pool. I agree the guard positions are loaded and it should make for tough competition and position battles.
 
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#243
#243
Hooper22 said:
There’s much higher players on the board for this staff and it appears they know what they are doing when identifying the talent they want and I’ll leave it at that.
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Are you nicely saying they don’t need help from this forum? Asking for a friend on here?
 
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#244
#244
KnoxLikeUs said:
I know nothing is perfect. If there is checklist to evaluate the new Lady Vols coaching staff right now prior to the start of the season the recruiting box is checked off. As for the roster, the portal fixed every immediate need and developed a foundation for 2025 and 2026. The latest picture from Coach Caldwell dispels one common rumor. That is the roster is filled with undersized guards. In fact, it is the contrary. Tess Darby is one of the tallest guards in the SEC at 6’1. Talaysia Cooper next to Kaiya Wynn who is listed at 6’0 feet and Ruby Whitehorn who is listed at 5’11 looks to be atleast an inch or two taller than both. Some players were standing without shoes including Cooper. Some are raising up on the front of their feet. Either way, Cooper a combo guard is a full 6’0 or even 6’1+. Next, Kaniya Boyd is a long 5’9 and will eventually add size to her frame. I see only two guards around 5’7 and neither of them will have any issues competing with their stature. If anything, the guards with Whitehorn, Cooper, Darby, and Wynn are bigger guards than usual. Spear and Spencer are average size guards with diverse skill sets. Nothing comical or small about that talent pool. I agree the guard positions are loaded and it should make for tough competition and position battles.
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I do think they've done a good job and done what they had to do in recruiting so far. But they were left a giant roster mess and there are still big concerns, esp with position balance and size.

After this season, the roster will be one 6'4" forward/post (Spearman), one 6'2" wing (Latham) and eight guards (tho I can see Ruby, who's listed as a guard, playing wing). Of those eight guards (which includes the twins) only one, Cooper, is 6"0" and half of the eight are 5'7" or less. That's a very, very small team and one heavily overloaded at one position, fully 80% guards.

I don't think this is intentional and I'm sure they're looking hard for wings and posts. The twins' Dad immediately posted a plea for taller players as soon as they signed. Taller skilled players are alot harder to find and seem esp scarce this year. I also get the portal can be a savior for unbalanced teams, but if tall players are as scarce next spring as they were this year, we're in trouble.

I also understand they're willing to sacrifice some length for speed and agility to fit the new concept. But not this much. Not in the ultra big, ultra physical, ultra skilled SEC. Have to be a bit more versatile, going to have to rebound and defend in the half court sometimes. That's why I facepalm (and take a drink) everytime the prospect of a below top 25 rated, undersized guard as a recruit comes up, which is how this conversation started.
 
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#245
#245
RockyTopppppppp said:
Hodge is nowhere near the player Dangerfield was.
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Hodge is every bit the player Crystal was at this stage of her HS career..,,,and she still has two years to grow

better in fact

Soph season:
Dangerfield 14.3 pts...2.9 stl...2.7 reb...3.6 asst
Hodge 22.8 pts...4.9 stl...4.8 reb...3.4 asst

Look it up
 
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#246
#246
Coach Jumper said:
Hodge is every bit the player Crystal was at this stage of her HS career..,,,and she still has two years to grow

better in fact

Soph season:
Dangerfield 14.3 pts...2.9 stl...2.7 reb...3.6 asst
Hodge 22.8 pts...4.9 stl...4.8 reb...3.4 asst

Look it up
Click to expand...
Bringin’ fahr… 🔥
 
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#250
#250
For fun, I would like to chime in again on this debate as someone who has watched both in person multiple times:

As a sophomore , Dangerfield played for the U.S. Under-16 national team, led her high school squad to a Class AAA championship and a No. 1 spot in a pair of national rankings and earned recognition as the state’s player of the year.

I’ll take sophomore CD any day over Hodge.
 
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