Barnes has made us relevant and consistently ranked. Deserves a lot of credit for that. We do need better players however and our recent “one and dones“ haven’t benefited us beyond some exciting moments, albeit Chandler did help bring us a SEC tourney tile. If you look at current senior class:
Vescovi came out of the blue and is a very solid college player and developed a lot over 4 years but his upside was always limited.
James as a 5 star has been a great teammate and leader, and does alot reasonably well, but given his high school rankings, has been overrated from a talent standpoint. Injuries didn’t help him but he peaked.
Nkamhoua was another project and improved for sure but disappeared often. Of all the seniors, I think he has more in him, but Barnes couldn’t get it out of him.
Plavsic was a better cheerleader than player. Had a few moments but talent wise was very limited.
Key as a transfer fit a need but there was a reason he was a mid-major recruit.
Overall, we just need better players. Desperately need a PG in transfer portal or we may struggle next year. Could use a post too. Looking forward to seeing the newbies.