BasketVols Lookin’ Good in Practice...

#76
#76
cardvolfan said:
As a reference point, the last year King and Grunfeld played together, Tennessee and opponent averaged 137 FGA per game and last years team with opponent averaged 108 FGA per game. The offensive efficiency stat was the reason Tenneessee's scoring defense was considered one of the best in the nation. The Vols flat out got after it.
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Mike Jackson was the glue which held that team together. He was a great player in his own right and took a lot of pressure off the two stars. Their PG wa pretty good also.
 
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#78
#78
cardvolfan said:
As a reference point, the last year King and Grunfeld played together, Tennessee and opponent averaged 137 FGA per game and last years team with opponent averaged 108 FGA per game. The offensive efficiency stat was the reason Tenneessee's scoring defense was considered one of the best in the nation. The Vols flat out got after it.
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Yes. The tempo went way up starting with the Ernie/Bernie years. It was very slow paced before Mears put in his Star System.
 
#79
#79
VOLINVONORE said:
Mike Jackson was the glue which held that team together. He was a great player in his own right and took a lot of pressure off the two stars. Their PG wa pretty good also.
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Jackson and David Moss came in together. Moss would have had a great career at UT. Gruntled was in that class as well. I don’t exactly recall, but I think that Jackson/Moss were paired up as freshmen on the JV team while Grunfeld went straight to the varsity in the first year (1973-74) that freshmen were eligible to play varsity. I wish that Kosmalski had had another couple of years of eligibility. IIRC, his senior year was Grunfeld’s freshman year. Kos and King would have been a force in the paint.
 
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#80
#80
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Jackson and David Moss came in together. Moss would have had a great career at UT. Gruntled was in that class as well. I don’t exactly recall, but I think that Jackson/Moss were paired up as freshmen on the JV team while Grunfeld went straight to the varsity in the first year (1973-74) that freshmen were eligible to play varsity. I wish that Kosmalski had had another couple of years of eligibility. IIRC, his senior year was Grunfeld’s freshman year. Kos and King would have been a force in the paint.
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Talking about what could have been. The year before Tennessee signed Grunfeld, they signed a player from The Netherlands named Kees Akerboom who I recall was listed as around 7' when they signed him. He decided at the last minute to stay in Europe instead of coming to the US. He went on to become a legend in Dutch basketball.

The same year Tennessee signed King they signed Decarsta Webster, a 6'11" center from Philadelphia. He wasn't eligible so never came to Knoxville. He went on to lead the NCAA in rebounds a few years later at Indiana State.

I don't even want to think about Spencer Haywood back in the 60's.

Oh what might have been.
 
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#81
#81
MidTennVol said:
Talking about what could have been. The year before Tennessee signed Grunfeld, they signed a player from The Netherlands named Kees Akerboom who I recall was listed as around 7' when they signed him. He decided at the last minute to stay in Europe instead of coming to the US. He went on to become a legend in Dutch basketball.

The same year Tennessee signed King they signed Decarsta Webster, a 6'11" center from Philadelphia. He wasn't eligible so never came to Knoxville. He went on to lead the NCAA in rebounds a few years later at Indiana State.

I don't even want to think about Spencer Haywood back in the 60's.

Oh what might have been.
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I’d never heard of Akerboom or Webster. That was the missing piece while King was here. Not a dig at Doug Ashworth, he just didn’t have low post/center height. And the one year with Reggie, he was very young and very skinny.
 
#82
#82
Thunder Good-Oil said:
I’d never heard of Akerboom or Webster. That was the missing piece while King was here. Not a dig at Doug Ashworth, he just didn’t have low post/center height. And the one year with Reggie, he was very young and very skinny.
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I believe that Ashworth was listed at 6'6 when he was here but not sure he looked that tall. Like you said, not a shot at him, but he was just not able to compete with the likes of Roby & Phillips at Kentucky and other SEC centers. Johnson became a great player but was so young and thin his one year with King and Grunfeld. I believe if Webster was eligible and came in with King that there is a good chance that Tennessee would have won a national championship. I know, bold statement but, like you said, missing piece to a lot of talent.
 
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#83
#83
MidTennVol said:
Talking about what could have been. The year before Tennessee signed Grunfeld, they signed a player from The Netherlands named Kees Akerboom who I recall was listed as around 7' when they signed him. He decided at the last minute to stay in Europe instead of coming to the US. He went on to become a legend in Dutch basketball.

The same year Tennessee signed King they signed Decarsta Webster, a 6'11" center from Philadelphia. He wasn't eligible so never came to Knoxville. He went on to lead the NCAA in rebounds a few years later at Indiana State.

I don't even want to think about Spencer Haywood back in the 60's.

Oh what might have been.
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Hey, this is interesting stuff and I've never heard of these guys who could have been Vols. I thought I remembered or knew all things Vol, but you taught me something. Thanks for posting.
 
#85
#85
Smooth as silk, humble, and the ultimate team player. Speaking of team players, looking at box scores and found a game against Kentucky where King had 8 assists.
 
#87
#87
cardvolfan said:
Hey, this is interesting stuff and I've never heard of these guys who could have been Vols. I thought I remembered or knew all things Vol, but you taught me something. Thanks for posting.
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I have always thought that Tennessee was on the verge of really becoming a national power in basketball several times through the years. In addition to the Grunfeld/King/Jackson years discussed above, there was the late 1960's.

Going into the 1967-68 season, Tennessee was coming off of a SEC championship year in 1966-67 and had most of their best players returning including Tom Boerwinkle, Bill Justus, Tom Hendrix & Bill Hann. Bobby Croft at 6-10 was a sophomore on that team. Tennessee had signed a player out of Detroit named Spencer Haywood that would have been a freshman on the 67-68 team. He would have been the first black basketball player at Tennessee and one of the first in the SEC but did not meet eligibility requirements. He went to Trinidad State JC for 1 year where he averaged 28.2 points and 22.1 rebounds. He made the USA Olympic team in 68 and was the leading scorer on a gold metal team. He then signed with the University of Detroit Mercy where he averaged 32.1 points and 21.5 rebounds. He then went pro and is now in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Again, what might have been.
 
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#88
#88
MidTennVol said:
Talking about what could have been. The year before Tennessee signed Grunfeld, they signed a player from The Netherlands named Kees Akerboom who I recall was listed as around 7' when they signed him. He decided at the last minute to stay in Europe instead of coming to the US. He went on to become a legend in Dutch basketball.

The same year Tennessee signed King they signed Decarsta Webster, a 6'11" center from Philadelphia. He wasn't eligible so never came to Knoxville. He went on to lead the NCAA in rebounds a few years later at Indiana State.

I don't even want to think about Spencer Haywood back in the 60's.

Oh what might have been.
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What year did Rupert Breedlove sign?
 
#89
#89
MidTennVol said:
Talking about what could have been. The year before Tennessee signed Grunfeld, they signed a player from The Netherlands named Kees Akerboom who I recall was listed as around 7' when they signed him. He decided at the last minute to stay in Europe instead of coming to the US. He went on to become a legend in Dutch basketball.

The same year Tennessee signed King they signed Decarsta Webster, a 6'11" center from Philadelphia. He wasn't eligible so never came to Knoxville. He went on to lead the NCAA in rebounds a few years later at Indiana State.

I don't even want to think about Spencer Haywood back in the 60's.

Oh what might have been.
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I was thinking Webster was the one that got booted right after school started for stealing a transistor radio, but then I remembered that the person I was thinking about was Rupert Breedlove - he was earlier and would have been playing with Jimmy England, I think?

I wish Irv Chatman would have stuck it out as well, he did not get to play much his freshman year, but in a year or so he was pretty good at Rhode Island from what I recall. Good rebounder.
 
#93
#93
LoudOrange said:
What year did Rupert Breedlove sign?
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Ruppert Breedlove, 6-11, graduated from Austin East high school in Knoxville in1968 and signed to play basketball at the University of Cincinnati where he averaged 14.2 points and 13.3 rebounds on the freshman team during the 1968-69 season. In 1969 he transferred to Tennessee and sat out the 1969-70 season as a transfer. He was on the team for part of the 1970-71 season but did not play and was eventually suspended. He transferred to Mercer during the 70-71 season but never played there either. In 1971-72 he played at Oglethorpe where he averaged 18.2 points & 13.8 rebounds. He was drafted in the 9th round of the 1972 draft by the Baltimore Bullets.

Could almost be considered another what might have been story.
 
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#95
#95
MidTennVol said:
Ruppert Breedlove, 6-11, graduated from Austin East high school in Knoxville in1968 and signed to play basketball at the University of Cincinnati where he averaged 14.2 points and 13.3 rebounds on the freshman team during the 1968-69 season. In 1969 he transferred to Tennessee and sat out the 1969-70 season as a transfer. He was on the team for part of the 1970-71 season but did not play and was eventually suspended. He transferred to Mercer during the 70-71 season but never played there either. In 1971-72 he played at Oglethorpe where he averaged 18.2 points & 13.8 rebounds. He was drafted in the 9th round of the 1972 draft by the Baltimore Bullets.

Could almost be considered another what might have been story.
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34 years ago Rupert passed away at age 36. He was one of the Roadrunners’ greatest players ever. Maybe the greatest other than Elston.
 
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