BBall Recruiting

[thunder5]

I've got a question that I know alot of people on here can answer for me. I don't follow BBall recruiting the same way I follow FBall recruiting. But one thing I've noticed is that the state of Tennessee appears to produce more than enough BBall talent year in and year out as opposed to footbal where Fulmer is required to go out of state most of the time. I'm in no way knocking this years class with Crews and instater Chism, but could you imagine if Pearl had locked down the borders and we were bringing in Wright, Young, Kemp, and Chism to possibly go along with Crews.
My question is this, do you alll think that Pearl's focus from now on will be locking down the borders and keeping the instate talent home? In BBall, you only sign about three to five players a year and the state of Tennessee seems to produce at least that many top notch, D-I players every year. I know Pearl got here late last year and probably didn't have as good of a chance with these palyers as he might have if he had more time to focus on them. What do you all think?

 

[biganbad]

I would love to get all the instate players but there is a coach in Memphis which i hate that has alot to say about that. I do see alot of these guys coming in the future though. Most players loves Coach Pearls style of play.

 

[tidwell]

Yeah, most of that talent is in the Memphis area, so it'll be hard to get some of them away from the blue Tigers.

 

[utvolpj]

Much of it depends on them actually looking for it. I remember O'Neill took a guy from Maryville in '93 who I played against and he never should have been there. Then he passed on a kid from Bearden in '94 who was all state and proceeded to set the Sewanee school scoring record. He said there wasn't any talent in Knox.

I realize that CBP is different the KO but it's the same situation. Get some kids in there with some talent and something to prove. Everyone knows Memphis is loaded but I hope he gathers up the hidden gems around TN.

Plus, I would much rather watch a local kid do well.

 

[thunder5]

Doesn't Nashville produce alot of talent also. I know Wright is from there and aren't Ron Slay and Ron Mercer both from Nashville.

 

[rockytopscott]

I would love to get all the instate players but there is a coach in Memphis which i hate that has alot to say about that. I do see alot of these guys coming in the future though. Most players loves Coach Pearls style of play.

Yeah I'm not sure what's going on with Memphis recruiting. They aren't even ranked in the top 25 as far as team recruiting rankings go on scout.com.

Tennessee currently 16th in that.

Side note, North Carolina has 4 of the top 25 players in the country.

 

[utvolpj]

Doesn't Nashville produce alot of talent also. I know Wright is from there and aren't Ron Slay and Ron Mercer both from Nashville.

If you mean Lorenzen Wright of the Grizz, he went to HS in Memphis. Mercer did go to Goodpasture in Nash and Slay came from Oak Hill via Pearl-Cohn in Nash too.

 

[thunder5]

Yeah I'm not sure what's going on with Memphis recruiting. They aren't even ranked in the top 25 as far as team recruiting rankings go on scout.com.

Tennessee currently 16th in that.

Side note, North Carolina has 4 of the top 25 players in the country.

Yeah Carolina signed six players with four being in the top 25 before the HS basketball season started. I've read that a fifth from that class, Stephenson from CA, is playing his was into the top 25 which would give them five top 25 and most likely five McD's all-americans, unbelieveable . I only know this because I've been following that class b/c alot of people are calling it one of the best ever.

 

[tnvoln77]

Shawn Marion, Trenton Hassell are both from Clarksville TN. Currently they both start for their respective teams in the NBA. Marion for the Phoenix Suns and Hassell for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Marion is also a 3 time All-Star who ranks as the most efficient player in the NBA statistically. Hassell is known as a defensive stopper, scores around 10 pts per game. I was lucky to play with both these guys in high school. I remember meeting Coach O'Neil at our practices and seeing him at some games. I also played against most of the TN roster during the O'Neil/Greene era, Harris, Hathaway, Slay, Yarborough, Wharton, Victor, etc. The talent varies from year to year, but as a whole I personally believe TN has very good high school players. Hopefully Coach Pearl can get instate talent to play at TN.

 

[orangewizard98]

The Class of 2007 is much less talented than the 2006 class was. Pearl will certainly try to bring in the top-instate talent every year if he feels they are good enough for us to compete at the highest level.

As far as the Class of 2006 goes, Pearl never had a chance with Brandon Wright or Thaddeous Young. Both are/were considered legitimate "1 year and off to the NBA" type guys and without Coach Pearl having a chance to prove something on the floor, neither of those guys were gonna take a chance on a program ike ours and a coach that had yet to prove anything at the highest level. Just wasn't gonna happen. Now, if those two were in the 2007 class, they might very well give us a very serious look after the type of year Coach Pearl has had.

The in-state Class of 2008 looks like it will have some very good prospects in it.

 

[thunder5]

If you mean Lorenzen Wright of the Grizz, he went to HS in Memphis. Mercer did go to Goodpasture in Nash and Slay came from Oak Hill via Pearl-Cohn in Nash too.

Actually I was talking about Brendan Wright the #1 power forward in the nation from Brentwood Academy who signed with UNC.

 

[utvolpj]

Actually I was talking about Brendan Wright the #1 power forward in the nation from Brentwood Academy who signed with UNC.

My bad :blush2: I was reading into their age w/ the other two. I haven't seen much about TN HS bball in the past couple of years.

 

[Low Country Vol]

Recruiting is somewhat easier on coaches these days since there are no contengencies on adding players in case their commitments decide to go pro.

 

[LifeLongVol90]

I know it's really early to look at high school freshmen, but at Memphis private schools, there are some MEGA freshman. 1 at Harding Academy, 1 at MUS, and 2 at Briarcrest Christian School. I've seen all of them play many times and let me tell you this.. they are for real. An assistant coach for Briarcrest just graduated from Tennessee just last year and I heard he got one of the Vols' assistant coaches to come take a look at them 2 and at 1 of the sophmores. All are big and can take it to the hole with some authority. All of amazingly athletic for freshman and it will be nice to see these kids in about 3 years. The guy from MUS is about 6'6" and skyed over Greg Hardy (Ole Miss football signee, 6'6" 250), the Harding player is a great post player and super strong and the 2 from Briarcrest are unbelievable team players. One is a PG and can take it to the hole and takes a beautiful 3-foot jump shot. The other is a skinny 6'5" kid playing the SF, PF, and C. I know you can't get commitments from freshman but it will be interesting to see where these kids go in 4 years.

Anyone here live and Memphis and any of these kids play?

 

[rockytopinalabam]

[font c=blue s=4]Remember Tyler Smith wasn't from Memphis. With Pearl's personality and obvious coaching ability he will get his share of Memphis players just like the chubby guy does.[/font]

 

[allvol@15]

it doesnt get any better than the dynamic duo of barry stewart and dequan twilley of Shelbyville Central. both in top 5 in 3pt'ers in the state. they beat brentwood acadamy earlier this yr. i think they are getting overlooked big time!

 

[vols kick balls]

does anyone know if willie kemp is rethinking his commitment to memphis?

 

[hvwarrior58]

that i know of, we are only lookin at one player from tennessee next year(maurice miller, pg from memphis). the rest are mainly from georgia, one from arkansas.

 

[Vol67]

Partial List:

20 James Hickson PF ***** 6-8/230 Marietta (GA) Wheeler
36 Alex Tyus SF/PF **** 6-8/210 Cincinnati (OH) Harmony Community School
42 Michael Holmes PF **** 6-7/200 Bishopville (SC) Lee
46 Jamar Moore SG/SF **** 6-5/180 Thomasville (GA) Thomasville
47 Chris Barnes PF **** 6-8/210 College Park (GA) Riverdale
53 Orane Chin SF **** 6-7/205 Miami (FL) Dr Krop
61 JaJuan Johnson C/PF **** 6-10/195 Indianapolis (IN) Franklin Central
63 Zach Graham SG **** 6-5/200 Lawrenceville (GA) Peachtree Ridge
65 Michael Sanchez SF **** 6-8/220 Springdale (AR) Harber High
69 Tony Neysmith PG/SG **** 6-5/190 Norcross (GA) Norcross
71 E'twaun Moore SG/PG **** 6-3/170 East Chicago (IN) East Chicago Central
72 Patrick Patterson PF **** 6-8/225 Huntington (WV) Huntington
82 Maurice Miller PG **** 6-1/183 Memphis (TN) Raleigh-Egypt
90 Brockeith Payne PG **** 6-2/190 Dallas (TX) Carter
99 Randy Culpepper PG **** 5-10/150 Memphis (TN) Sheffield
NR Lance Storrs SF/SG *** 6-5/210 Decatur (GA) Columbia
NR Trey Lang PF *** 6-7/205 Marietta (GA) Wheeler
NR Tearon Hill C/PF *** 6-9/230 Carrolton (TX) Harmony Community School
NR Marcus Simmons SG 6-4/175 Alexandria (LA) Peabody
NR James Haarsma SF 6-6/ Racine (WI) St. Catherine’s
NR Lawrence Gilbert SF 6-7/175 Houston (TX) Wheatley
NR Terrence Oglesby SG 6-3/187 Cleveland (TN) Bradley Central
NR James Anderson SG 6-5/ Junction City (AR) Junction City
NR DeAndre Bynum SG 6-4/180 Memphis (TN) White Station
NR Rodney Davis PG 5-9/170 Cadiz (KY) Trigg County

 

[WA_Vol]

Wouldnt be surprised if Pearl doesnt land one of the top classes next year.

 

[Vol67]

UT has 3 ships to give

 

[hvwarrior58]

yeah, i was about to say. we wont land a top class because we only have 3 to give. we could end up with a 5 star and 2 4 stars, or 3 4 stars. i think we really want mo miller/tony neysmith at pg, michael sanchez at 3, and chris barnes/jj hickson at 4.