Pearl inherited Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and the only competent point guard he's had in his entire tenure, C.J. Watson. Assuming Hopson and Harris go, who's coming back next year that can compare to that?
You're going with JaJuan Smith? Really?
OK...JaJuan was a walkon. The year before Pearl arrived he averaged less than 7 minutes a game, shot 35% from 2, 29% from 3, and 44% from the FT line.
In Buzz's last year, Watson had 96 turnovers. Guess how many current vols have 96 turnovers this year? (Hint: it's zero) Watson shot 44% from 2-point range that year, and a rather average 37.5% from 3.
Lofton, of course, hasn't been replaced in ANY year since he left, and won't be next year either.
And then there was Wingate, and Patterson, and Asumnu, and Bradshaw. And that's it--nothing else at all. We basically played 7 guys, none of which was any kind of offensive post threat at all, and only one of which could guard a post.
Next year we will continue to not have Lofton or Watson (just like we didn't this year or last), but otherwise the lineup, top to bottom, will be better than Pearl's first squad.
Any prospective coach with even half a testicle will look at our roster and believe he can win with it.