Portal Activity (News and Rumors)

[GrayWaterCanine]

All indications are that a decision is getting closer to being announced.

 

[WGWTFA98]

Nothing has changed on what I heard. Vols still think they’ll land him. They thought they’d probably hear by today, but we will see if he ends up taking a few more days. Obviously LSU has a nice pitch as well, but again TN hopped on this dude immediately and have put the full court press - they do not often lose when that happens.

*what follows is all personal speculation* I think he is torn between going and playing with his best friend and going where he knows deep down he will get the best development. These are currently the two best programs in baseball so it’s going to be a tough choice, but I really think a selfless leader like Beam going out there and welcoming him in is going to be the difference here.

p.s. on Ahuna - do not get your hopes up

 

[WGWTFA98]

Also to the super negative guy bringing up Skenes - he would’ve been a vol if TN wasn’t returning 3 all Americans in the rotation, so cut that out.

Sure lsu won out on White, but you aren’t going to win them all. TN has won more than their fair share of hotly contested recruiting battles

 

[Vol_sanity]

I think the fact that he didnt commit this weekend bodes well for us. His best friend has been there, the bag has been there and the Natty has been there(known factors in LSU favor). I feel like the pull is to us. Lets monitor

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Ben McKee apparently said “some” in his camp prefer Tennessee but the allure of LSU is hard to say no to. I hope that is not Ben trying to let us down gently.

 

[BS06716]

Nothing has changed on what I heard. Vols still think they’ll land him. They thought they’d probably hear by today, but we will see if he ends up taking a few more days. Obviously LSU has a nice pitch as well, but again TN hopped on this dude immediately and have put the full court press - they do not often lose when that happens.

*what follows is all personal speculation* I think he is torn between going and playing with his best friend and going where he knows deep down he will get the best development. These are currently the two best programs in baseball so it’s going to be a tough choice, but I really think a selfless leader like Beam going out there and welcoming him in is going to be the difference here.

p.s. on Ahuna - do not get your hopes up

I question how Holman and Woods are best friends. A guy from PA and a guy from LA play 9 months together in AL and are inseparable?
ETA: Just saw Woods was a RS FR. Maybe they are inseparable.

 

[Jimmy Football]

Ben McKee apparently said “some” in his camp prefer Tennessee but the allure of LSU is hard to say no to. I hope that is not Ben trying to let us down gently.

I would guess a lot of us would have to at least consider the allure. Probably pretty significant allure.

 

[WGWTFA98]

Ben McKee apparently said “some” in his camp prefer Tennessee but the allure of LSU is hard to say no to. I hope that is not Ben trying to let us down gently.

That’s just him hedging his bets. Nobody knows where he’s going except for maybe the Holman’s. And I’m not even sure they fully know right now, but I think they do have an idea

 

[VolGee4]

I question how Holman and Woods are best friends. A guy from PA and a guy from LA play 9 months together in AL and are inseparable?
ETA: Just saw Woods was a RS FR. Maybe they are inseparable.

The quote I saw was that Woods was his best friend "from their team." To me, that can help LSU, but it doesn't really man that they are inseparable. Each probably have closer friends outside of baseball.

 

[Christian Lowe]

Ben McKee apparently said “some” in his camp prefer Tennessee but the allure of LSU is hard to say no to. I hope that is not Ben trying to let us down gently.

Usually when Ben does that, he gone lol

 

[Bigun]

Also to the super negative guy bringing up Skenes - he would’ve been a vol if TN wasn’t returning 3 all Americans in the rotation, so cut that out.

Sure lsu won out on White, but you aren’t going to win them all. TN has won more than their fair share of hotly contested recruiting battles

Really I wouldn’t count White as a loss because he never made it to campus for a visit if so recall.

100% correct on Skenes. Also Skenes wasn’t the pitcher he became when he visited here or else he likely would have been promised a spot. Jmo

 

[Bigun]

I question how Holman and Woods are best friends. A guy from PA and a guy from LA play 9 months together in AL and are inseparable?
ETA: Just saw Woods was a RS FR. Maybe they are inseparable.

I made lifelong friends my first year of college. It can happen if they have something to bond over.

 

[BruinVol]

Ben McKee apparently said “some” in his camp prefer Tennessee but the allure of LSU is hard to say no to. I hope that is not Ben trying to let us down gently.

let’s push the smoothies are packed with some serious juice in Baton Rouge narrative to break this tie in our direction

 

[TN_gal]

According to D1 Baseball's Transfer Tracker, Ryan Miller is headed to Ohio State.

 

[WGWTFA98]

Really I wouldn’t count White as a loss because he never made it to campus for a visit if so recall.

100% correct on Skenes. Also Skenes wasn’t the pitcher he became when he visited here or else he likely would have been promised a spot. Jmo

Well they wanted White badly, so that’s a loss. Skenes is the one that isn’t a loss because they simply didn’t have the spot open that he wanted to play. Otherwise he would’ve been a vol

 

[BS06716]

Well they wanted White badly, so that’s a loss. Skenes is the one that isn’t a loss because they simply didn’t have the spot open that he wanted to play. Otherwise he would’ve been a vol

So that I understand the sequence of events that you are suggesting:

1. TV invited Skenes to Knoxville
2. He wined and dined Skenes for a day with one of the epic TV visits
3. TV convinces Skenes to want to join UT over the best programs in college baseball
4. TV tells Skenes he didn’t have a spot for him in the rotation.

That is very hard for me to believe. If true, I really question TV and Frank’s judge of pitching prospects.

 

[malkmusvol]

So that I understand the sequence of events that you are suggesting:

1. TV invited Skenes to Knoxville
2. He wined and dined Skenes for a day with one of the epic TV visits
3. TV convinces Skenes to want to join UT over the best programs in college baseball
4. TV tells Skenes he didn’t have a spot for him in the rotation.

That is very hard for me to believe. If true, I really question TV and Frank’s judge of pitching prospects.

No need to let the actual outcome of the recruitment impact one's opinion on the matter. The visit was so good that Skenes will probably be wearing a UT hat on his Coopertown plaque.

 

[Halph66]

So that I understand the sequence of events that you are suggesting:

1. TV invited Skenes to Knoxville
2. He wined and dined Skenes for a day with one of the epic TV visits
3. TV convinces Skenes to want to join UT over the best programs in college baseball
4. TV tells Skenes he didn’t have a spot for him in the rotation.

That is very hard for me to believe. If true, I really question TV and Frank’s judge of pitching prospects.

They wanted him as a catcher if memory serves me. He played both but saw pitching as his way to the MLB.

 

[chuckiepoo]

They want him as a catcher if memory serves me. He played both but saw pitching as his way to the MLB.

…details, details…

 

[BS06716]

They want him as a catcher if memory serves me. He played both but saw pitching as his way to the MLB.

How do we know UT was Skenes’ top choice? He was only going to consider options that allowed him to continue to develop as a starting pitcher. TV flew him to Knoxville, offered him a rotation spot, Skenes said great I’m in, then TV said just kidding?

It’s a theory that makes no sense.

 

[Volmeister]

How do we know UT was Skenes’ top choice? He was only going to consider options that allowed him to continue to develop as a starting pitcher. TV flew him to Knoxville, offered him a rotation spot, Skenes said great I’m in, then TV said just kidding?

It’s a theory that makes no sense.

BruinVol is that you?

 

[TheMookieMonster]

So that I understand the sequence of events that you are suggesting:

1. TV invited Skenes to Knoxville
2. He wined and dined Skenes for a day with one of the epic TV visits
3. TV convinces Skenes to want to join UT over the best programs in college baseball
4. TV tells Skenes he didn’t have a spot for him in the rotation.

That is very hard for me to believe. If true, I really question TV and Frank’s judge of pitching prospects.

You are using 2023 information to skew what actually happened in Summer 2022. Paul Skenes was a great player, but he was not the type of prospect he ended up becoming. We had 3 All-American starters returning, we weren’t going to tell one of them no for a guy who averages 93 on his fastball at that time. It wasn’t until he got to LSU that he become a historic prospect that sat 99-102 for most of the game as a lights out starter. We probably told him he could pitch but it would be in the bullpen or he’d have to compete and win the starting job. We weren’t going to guarantee him anything at that time, which is understandable.

 

[Zues1]

Why you bros still talking about Skenes?

 

[BS06716]

You are using 2023 information to skew what actually happened in Summer 2022. Paul Skenes was a great player, but he was not the type of prospect he ended up becoming. We had 3 All-American starters returning, we weren’t going to tell one of them no for a guy who averages 93 on his fastball at that time. It wasn’t until he got to LSU that he become a historic prospect that sat 99-102 for most of the game as a lights out starter. We probably told him he could pitch but it would be in the bullpen or he’d have to compete and win the starting job. We weren’t going to guarantee him anything at that time, which is understandable.

Why did Skenes even visit UT? His list was the top programs in college baseball. LSU, Oregon State, Arkansas, A&M, Miss State needed him in their rotation. He wouldn’t have wasted his time visiting UT if the opportunity wasn’t in the rotation.

My theory is Vitello married himself to the idea of Burns in the bullpen when he was recruiting Skenes. That makes a lot more sense.

 

[cardvolfan]

You are using 2023 information to skew what actually happened in Summer 2022. Paul Skenes was a great player, but he was not the type of prospect he ended up becoming. We had 3 All-American starters returning, we weren’t going to tell one of them no for a guy who averages 93 on his fastball at that time. It wasn’t until he got to LSU that he become a historic prospect that sat 99-102 for most of the game as a lights out starter. We probably told him he could pitch but it would be in the bullpen or he’d have to compete and win the starting job. We weren’t going to guarantee him anything at that time, which is understandable.

This is the likely scenario that happened about a year ago. I’m not sure why BS or others have this “fly in the ointment” response. It seems pretty clear to those of us that follow pretty regularly that TV doesn’t make promises he can’t keep, nor was Tony clairvoyant in respect to the fact that Skenes was going to have the kind of year he had.