I have read the previous threads and I wanted to give my own perspective. I love TN basketball. I have personally attended games during the Wade Houston, O'Neill, Green, Peterson and Pearl eras. I also love learning history and so I think I have a realistic vision of what TN basketball is and should be.
TN has basketball history. The complete idiots posting on here that Bruce Pearl saved TN basketball that has always sucked need to shut their mouths until they have looked at cumulative basketball records and learned about Coach Devoe.
TN has top 20 in the nation facilities. Thompson Boling used to have the problem of being too big, which tons of schools would love to have, now it is one of the truly special venues in college basketball and aside from being top notch it is in an area where when the product is exciting, the mens program can make the school alot of money.
TN mens program has nothing to fear from the womens program. A mediocre mens team has always outsold the very best women's teams in the history of college basketball and it will always be so. That could be because lots of us are aware that we can hang with some of the UT womens players 1 on 1, and that we would be humiliated by Skyler McBee. Put another way, Pearl's son would be the best player in the WNBA.
Pearls product is exciting. Was I ecstatic when TN beat UK in Rupp under O'Neill? Yes! But was it painful to watch that game that I think ended up 44-42? Sure was. Jerry Green had fast players who scored alot of points and sometimes quit playing defense. Pearls teams do more to put pressure on inbounders and to press when they have the personnel than Green ever did. It is an exciting style of play.
Pearl's recruiting has been less than stellar.
In another thread people talked about who Pearl brought in, I will discuss these players.
5* Scotty Hopson his highest rated recruit. Pearl homers claimed that he was going to be one and done. He was not ready to play in the SEC as a freshman. He may end up being a great player, it remains to be seen. I think he has the most raw potential for NBA play since V Yarborough, and I hope it is coached better.
5* JP Prince - He WAS NOT a 5 star recruit for TN. You either know about basketball and you purposely left out the truth or you are ignorant. JP was a 5 star recruit for Arizona who showed up and was not good enough to play in the PAC 10. Rumors from prolonged mono to Lyme's disease surrounded his lethargy and struggles as he lost weight on an already skinny frame. He came back to his home state with high expectations for those who remembered his high school hype. Since he has been at UT he has been a disaster as a PG, and struggled as an SG and is too small to be a F. Maybe this year he has a great year (I actually think he will) and maybe he even gets in late and hangs on at an NBA team (I think that is likely also) but he is not a 5 star TN recruit.
5* Ramar Smith - Kid with tons of skills and tons of attitude problems right off the bat. This kids is the opposite of a Stephon Curry, but reminds me of other players like T White who never made the NBA because they let other parts of life drag them down.
5* Duke Crews - He was recruited in part to be nasty. He was and is nasty...Thug life did not work out for UT.
4* Tyler Smith - Remarkable young man, fell into our lap because of his Father's cancer. Not a TN recruit, rather and Iowa tranfer.
4* Emmanuel Negedu He brought Marisa Miller to a TN game which gives us a star to outshine Ashley Judd. I am hopeful he will develop more, but for now he is a Stanley Asumnu guy who has great hops and nice dunks but who never fills up a stat sheet the way that a less talented Dane Bradshaw does.
4* Renaldo Woolridge - Did not seem ready. Could end up being good. Sad so far.
4* Kenny Hall He seemed like he did well in the Rocky Top League so I am hopeful he will beef up some and be great.
4* Jordan McRae a JP Prince replacement? What will his role be?
4* Phillip Jurrick - This is the worst knock on Pearl. If he doesnt take a hometownish guy (Chatt) who wants to come and is a 4 star, people rip him, but like with Kiffin and Tahj Boyd, PJ never fit Pearls system at all.
3* Bobby Maze - JUCO All-American. We needed him because we had no good PGs. He has been okay but not good enough to pressure the ball and keep people from collapsing on the inside.
3* Brian Williams Best coaching job by Pearl so far by far. This guy gets better every year and was a PROJECT and a half. Credit to big Brian for doing the work and to Pearl for knowing he could/would.
What does it mean that Bruce Pearl takes off to go to coach the Maccabiah games and while watching Grunfeld and his son (who is finally starring) rip up teams by 70 points our best recruit in his tenure here decommits? It means something.
No one is publicly discussing much the turmoil in Bruce's private life and the toll that may be taking, people just prayed that the big house and the new girl would get him all the way back on track.
Where do we go from here? Does TN have to have a Nike contract to be successful in basketball? No. Given that unlike Kansas we are not one of the top 5 basketball programs of all time, would it help if we had a different shoe contract? Yes.
Bruce Pearl took over a program with some real talent left by Buzz Peterson. He is a better coach than Buzz. He had unbelievable facilities that are now even better than they were. Practice, locker rooms etc we should not miss a recruit because of facilities. We are also not devoid of tradition but if a kid grows up thinking of top programs he will want to head to Duke, Carolina, Kansas etc. If a stud kid wants to go to the NBA, he will think about the guy he models his game after and look to his school. Big men can go to Georgetown, pgs to Texas etc.
Bruce Pearl needs to have point guards who are fast as anything and who can shoot the three. He also needs point guards who want to press and steal and have thunder dunks. His system should be easy to sell to top recruits. We need hard workers, not lazy prima donnas who hate defense, we need model citizens, not illiterate pot smoking thugs etc. I think Bruce knows all of this. I think my worry is that sometimes he seems to recruit the wrong players, and we are to the place now where he has his best team talentwise and a VERY small window to do something with it.
All of that said, TN gets to the Elite 8 this year. It is the best finish in my lifetime and should bring in some of the studs who are thinking about TN. We will settle into the groove of 2nd best team in SEC East and a constant threat in the NCAA tournament. That will keep Bruce here and will be a ton of fun. It is also incredible when you think about how he eased past Billy D and Florida. Thanks Dane Bradshaw amongst others.
I am a little sad at this point but I know Bruce is a better coach than anyone else we would get to come to TN at this point, and I know he will really make something special happen with this team. Talent wise, Prince, Hopson, Smith and Chism will give us 4 starters who all could play in the NBA potentially. That has never been the case in my life. A problem is that we still have too many tall guys who are not fast enough to press, but I am hoping that when we beat Memphis this year and they have a bad year post Cal, some of the Worldwide Wes express will be derailed and we will start getting more Memphis area ballers. Willie Kemp would have done much better under Pearl than he will do in his career at Tiger High.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to continuing the conversation.
