Is this true? Justine transferring

[Lurker]

If Aicha Coulibaly becomes a Lady Vol all will be forgotten she has two years to play and she makes us a lot better than we were yesterday,

I get your point; however, in my view, Coulibaly + Pissott is greater than Coulibaly. And Coulibaly isn't in Knoxville. Pissott was.

 

[madtownvol]

It is disappointing. I was hoping that she would make a big leap for the LVs.

As it stands, she is behind Tess on the sharp shooter depth chart (and Tess has 2 years) and if there is a transfer coming that would push her back further. well, it is all understandable from her stand point.

 

[Volfan2012]

I get your point; however, in my view, Coulibaly + Pissott is greater than Coulibaly. And Coulibaly isn't in Knoxville. Pissott was.

I don't think anyone is asking her to leave that is a decision she is making on her own. We have to keep bringing players in that we know can help us. Players that can't accept that is why we have the portal.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Even when she played, I didn’t see any set plays to get her open. She just went to the corner and stood… like our other shooters, tbh.

Players like Justine go to schools like ND, UConn, Iowa, Iowa St, etc, and don’t seem to have a problem doing what they’re best at.

Well we will see what she does when she transfers.

 

[sisaq]

This is a different style of NCAA nowadays. Stanford #1 recruit transfered after one season. U never can predict college basketball. I wish her the best.

 

[youcancallmeAl]

Where do you get 2 years? She is a Freshman. Kellie screwed the pooch with this one. You don't bring in a talent like this and park them on the bench except for maybe 2 minutes in a blow out. Something is not right with this program. The future is looking pretty grim unless they pull some miracles out of the portal.

This year and next. She WAS a freshman, she's a rising sophomore now. I was projecting her most likely participation next year, where she would be behind other players unless she could see herself playing the four, and could gain the strength and skills to do that. She is obviously not going to start at the three ahead of Rickea.

As far as what Kellie did here, there was a lot of time between when Justine committed and when she came to school here. In the meantime, what was Kellie supposed to do? Turn down Rickea? Turn down Jillian? Not develop others to play the 3 and the 4?

 

[alexvol]

It takes discipline. If that discourages u I hate to say it but u probably aren’t gonna make it far

That what makes the world go round and round, differences of opinion....otherwise it would be a world standing still with no rotation.

 

[Volfan2012]

At least were really thinning out those 3-4 position players. Puckett, Striplin, Jackson, and Darby are the ones playing those positions most.

 

[RAVOL]

Hope she finds happiness somewhere else but for those who thought she deserved more PT based on what I saw ok then. Patience is not apart of men's or women's ball. Unless you were Elite you waited 2 years for your turn. In CHRIST Alone

 

[Amb3096]

At least were really thinning out those 3-4 position players. Puckett, Striplin, Jackson, and Darby are the ones playing those positions most.

Between her and Puckett, Striplin and Darby...she's probably not the one I'd want to see go. She has more upside than the others, and those 3 aren't exactl lighting it up.

 

[Volfan2012]

Between her and Puckett, Striplin and Darby...she's probably not the one I'd want to see go. She has more upside than the others, and those 3 aren't exactl lighting it up.

True but she is the one choosing to go so that is who we have left.

 

[Jdw2920]

Not sure how well elite players are liking it when they come here on recruiting trips. The way usc has been dominating and now lsu winning it all they will have to really pull out the stops to get the talent

 

[Voluble2]

This is a different style of NCAA nowadays. Stanford #1 recruit transfered after one season. U never can predict college basketball. I wish her the best.

This is true. But then again, they recruited more than one highly ranked player.

 

[Majors]

She was a total disappointment imo, hard to judge so early but frankly I would rather cut our losses and look for a proven portal splash

The disappointment for me is the evaluation process by the staff fro high school players. Times have changed with NIL and portal but their inability to connect with Top Tier kids is more concerning than JP leaving.

 

[Majors]

Between her and Puckett, Striplin and Darby...she's probably not the one I'd want to see go. She has more upside than the others, and those 3 aren't exactl lighting it up.

Always go with youth

 

[Voluble2]

Between her and Puckett, Striplin and Darby...she's probably not the one I'd want to see go. She has more upside than the others, and those 3 aren't exactl lighting it up.

That is the key here. Puckett was unproductive for the entire year as everyone waited for her to exit her slump. And Darby disappeared against the better teams. There were lots and lots of wholly unproductive minutes to parcel out there. Those players are pretty much finished products, but Justine could have really benefitted from more minutes to adjust to the college game. And she is certainly not any slower than the rest of them.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

That is the key here. Puckett was unproductive for the entire year as everyone waited for her to exit her slump. And Darby disappeared against the better teams. There were lots and lots of wholly unproductive minutes to parcel out there. Those players are pretty much finished products, but Justine could have really benefitted from more minutes to adjust to the college game. And she is certainly not any slower than the rest of them.

The thing is u usually earn playing time in practice, so I’m assuming she never showed any improvement from practicing the entire year, some players have the talent and some don’t. But we will see what she does at another school.

 

[Majors]

That is the key here. Puckett was unproductive for the entire year as everyone waited for her to exit her slump. And Darby disappeared against the better teams. There were lots and lots of wholly unproductive minutes to parcel out there. Those players are pretty much finished products, but Justine could have really benefitted from more minutes to adjust to the college game. And she is certainly not any slower than the rest of them.

Unfortunate truth about being maxed out on potential with those mentioned.

 

[BruisedOrange]

IN THEIR SWEET SIXTEEN GAMES HERES HOW FRESHMAN WERE USED:
Tennessee no freshman Mins
Miami Oldacre 5 min/g
UConn Patterson 1 min
Va Tech no freshman
USC “Raven Johnson” redshirt freshman backup pg
LSU Flajuae started
Ole Miss Thompson 10 min/g role play
Louisville Nyla Harris started
Iowa Hannah Hildalgo backup min for Cinano
UCLA most freshman of any team 6 played
Maryland 2 freshman with <10 min/g
Notre Dame KK Bransford started
Colorado no significant freshman mins <3
Villanova no freshman
Utah no significant freshman Mins <3
Ohio state Cotie McMahon started

Thanks for taking the time to make this list.

On the broader question of how the transfer portal effects roster continuity across the board, this would be a great list to "bookmark" and come back to next fall, to see how many of these freshmen chose to transfer out of their original team.

I'm sure "Keeping Your Freshmen" will be a very popular breakout session at the next coaches meeting. I wouldn't be surprised if there develops out of this a new assistant coach specialty: coaches who work specifically with freshmen, to develop them faster so they can earn more real minutes in games.

The days of "I've got 4 years to develop her/his game" are over, and it may lead to coaches developing less complicated/easier to learn offensive and defensive concepts, just to shorten the developmental time.

Lots of moving parts in and around the game today.

 

[creekdipper]

Hope she goes to Iowa.

Why?

 

[Deebowbear]

Better not be true

Damn it

 

[Fatoldman]

Has potential but very overhyped. Unable to EARN playing time this year. Hate to lose her but really not that big a deal. The best players EARN time as a freshmen but Justinne was unable to do so

 

[Fatoldman]

To me this is disappointing, but not unexpected, news given how she was handled at UT. I tend to think she was (or she could have been) the real deal. The US national team staff certainly saw something in her. I don't think she was misevaluated. She was one of the most decorated high school basketball recruits in the country last year. She was both a McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American and she won a gold medal with the 2022 USA U18 National Team at the FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship. There is absolutely no evidence that she was "recruited over." In fact, the Lady Vols have no new recruits, particularly not ones with "All American" on their resumes. I doubt this is fatal to the Lady's program, but it sure doesn't help.

Again just goes to show high school accolades are in the past. She was Not entitled to playing time. She failed to earn playing time. Our coaches played the best players. Justinne was not in the top 10. High school no longer matters. The coaches play the players who earn time. College basketball is not entitlement based

 

[madtownvol]

The thing is u usually earn playing time in practice, so I’m assuming she never showed any improvement from practicing the entire year, some players have the talent and some don’t. But we will see what she does at another school.

I pointed one key flaw in Justine's game during the pre-season (and got flamed for it) but I think it is relevant to understanding some of her travails. First off, defense seemed to be the big liability that kept her off the floor particularly early in the season but, on the offensive side, Justine shot a "push shot" with a shoulder level release. That release transforms a 6-4 player into a 5-8 player. If Justine had a more classic high release, like Tess or Rickea or Caitlin Clark, at her height she could have shot over anyone even if being guarded tight (like Caitlin Clark). It also makes a much quicker release.

Then, JP would not have been easy to close down or have to run a mile to find open space to get her shot off. It is hard to re-engineer a shot but the push shot is a anachronism in today's women's game.

 

[glv98]

Sam's bursting to tell us about a win. Something's definitely up.

Hate that it turns out this way. The dark side of the portal. But if we want a talent upgrade, this is going to happen. Maybe both Justine and the staff realized this is not the best situation for her. I thought Justine could have made a significant upgrade with some hard work this offseason, sorry to see her go.

This trade off (and there better be one, no other reason for JP to go now) is a really delicate culture balance for the coaches. Good thing they have a good foundation.

Also, we weren't wrong during the season saying that Justine seemed happy. She did, and so did BK. They both seemed like really good teammates. I believe both of these were friendly divorces.