Tennessee Vols Basketball Recruiting

#11,178
#11,178
TheMookieMonster said:
So, do you still feel like there is a realistic shot Hunter lands here? Or is this ultimately trending away from us? It certainly feels like he is destined to stay in the Big 12 one way or the other, but obviously I have no sources it’s just a gut reaction.
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No, I’ve said for weeks that the coaches haven’t ever felt like they were legitimately in it. Now maybe if Kansas and Texas eliminate themselves etc. he reaches back out and things get serious, but that’s yet to be the case.
 
#11,184
#11,184
bleedingTNorange said:
Phillips, Awaka, Jefferson, Phillips and Edwards in a 3 month span might quiet some of the questioning about Clark & Gainey.
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And it should, but the way you frame that question makes it sound like casting any element of doubt toward their ability as recruiters was unreasonable. I don’t think that is fair or accurate. A month ago, those guys deserved a measure of criticism for their actual results.
 
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#11,186
#11,186
bleedingTNorange said:
Or just some patience.
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I think most normal people have been plenty patient. I am glad that Gainey and Clark have had recent success, but I also don't believe it was unreasonable to have a modicum of concern after observing a Fall where we missed on every priority target outside of B.J. Edwards, a kid in our literal backyard. It's easy to cast stones at people in May 2022, but up till that point it was not ludicrous or nega-Vol to have some doubts about their recruiting ability. Again, that picture has since become more clear, and we've had a good last month, but acting like people were impatient with the 2022 class when the 2022 class struggled for the majority of the normal recruiting cycle is unfair.
 
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#11,187
#11,187
bleedingTNorange said:
Or just some patience.
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They were brought in for their connections and relationships in recruiting. Don't spin this. It's okay to admit that they weren't exactly setting the world on fire out of the gate. Just the same as I'm willing to admit that they may be close to changing my mind by pulling their weight in that very department.

Patience is a stable virtue when it's not assigned an expiration date.
 
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#11,188
#11,188
cncchris33 said:
And it should, but the way you frame that question makes it sound like casting any element of doubt toward their ability as recruiters was unreasonable. I don’t think that is fair or accurate. A month ago, those guys deserved a measure of criticism for their actual results.
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Not unless the deadline to register players for next season was a month ago, in my humble opinion.
 
#11,189
#11,189
TheMookieMonster said:
I think most normal people have been plenty patient. I am glad that Gainey and Clark have had recent success, but I also don't believe it was unreasonable to have a modicum of concern after observing a Fall where we missed on every priority target outside of B.J. Edwards, a kid in our literal backyard. It's easy to cast stones at people in May 2022, but up till that point it was not ludicrous or nega-Vol to have some doubts about their recruiting ability. Again, that picture has since become more clear, and we've had a good last month, but acting like people were impatient with the 2022 class when the 2022 class struggled for the majority of the normal recruiting cycle is unfair.
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#11,190
#11,190
I think this also is just a solid lesson for us all that with the transfer portal and high school products deciding later than ever now, we will need to be more patient moving forward. But, again, I still don't think it was wrong for people to be a little concerned until they had some actual results to point to.
 
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#11,193
#11,193
VolOnthePlains said:
Not unless the deadline to register players for next season was a month ago, in my humble opinion.
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Sure, if I had expressly stated that I had abandoned all hope and that those guys should be fired on the spot. But that isn't what I said. What I did insinuate was that it was at least fair to be concerned with their chops as recruiters relative to their reputations, referring to the fact that we missed on our first 10-ish primary targets. I stand by that statement and openly admit they are doing enough, now, to change my mind, especially if we land Justin Edwards and Cole Phillips. That would be a great start to 2023 while having put a nice recovery bow on the end of 2022.
 
#11,194
#11,194
TheMookieMonster said:
I think most normal people have been plenty patient. I am glad that Gainey and Clark have had recent success, but I also don't believe it was unreasonable to have a modicum of concern after observing a Fall where we missed on every priority target outside of B.J. Edwards, a kid in our literal backyard. It's easy to cast stones at people in May 2022, but up till that point it was not ludicrous or nega-Vol to have some doubts about their recruiting ability. Again, that picture has since become more clear, and we've had a good last month, but acting like people were impatient with the 2022 class when the 2022 class struggled for the majority of the normal recruiting cycle is unfair.
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There’s a difference in saying the Fall 2022 class struggled in general and those that were saying Clark & Gainey were busts, or should be fired, or “I thought these guys were recruiters” etc etc…basketball lots of time, especially Tennessee, is recruited years out, those guys coming in here were gonna be behind the 8 ball. There was hope Wallace would work out with Clark connection and in fact that’s the only reason we were in it, but didn’t go our way. Point simply being, rather than maybe take a little bit of a wait and see approach folks wanted to make definitive statements about those 2 coaches abilities to recruit.
 
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#11,195
#11,195
cncchris33 said:
They were brought in for their connections and relationships in recruiting. Don't spin this. It's okay to admit that they weren't exactly setting the world on fire out of the gate. Just the same as I'm willing to admit that they may be close to changing my mind by pulling their weight in that very department.

Patience is a stable virtue when it's not assigned an expiration date.
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They weren’t brought in to use connections to secure a Top 10 class in the fall, it was overall connections and relationships and we are seeing that this spring and heading into 2023.

Acting like giving them just the fall of a single recruiting class to have some patience is something ridiculous seems a bit crazy, but to each to their own.
 
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#11,196
#11,196
bleedingTNorange said:
They weren’t brought in to use connections to secure a Top 10 class in the fall, it was overall connections and relationships and we are seeing that this spring and heading into 2023.

Acting like giving them just the fall of a single recruiting class to have some patience is something ridiculous seems a bit crazy, but to each to their own.
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Getting Phillips and Edwards will shut some others up.

I won't lie, I was one of the ones complaining about the two, but I can't complain too much right now.
 
#11,197
#11,197
bleedingTNorange said:
They weren’t brought in to use connections to secure a Top 10 class in the fall, it was overall connections and relationships and we are seeing that this spring and heading into 2023.

Acting like giving them just the fall of a single recruiting class to have some patience is something ridiculous seems a bit crazy, but to each to their own.
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Again, they were 0 for everybody (BJ Edwards, notwithstanding) as of a month ago. That was no one's expectation. At that point, it was absolutely fair to question their results nearly a year on the job. Doing so wasn't akin to abandoning all hope and demanding we cut the cord.

As with most issues you take exception with, though, especially any that aren't effusive with an overabundance of praise for Barnes and his staff, you are only willing to deal in absolute outcomes.
 
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#11,198
#11,198
The staff did a nice job salvaging this class and I’ll say that much. However, there was reason for concern. If you asked me a year ago how I thought this class would turn out, I thought it would be better. Landing Phillips made this class acceptable. I’m just disappointed with how little traction Tennessee has had with difference makers in the portal. My thought after the season was that Tennessee would benefit greatly from it. I think at this point Gainey and Clark have done a good enough job.
 
#11,199
#11,199
cncchris33 said:
Sure, if I had expressly stated that I had abandoned all hope and that those guys should be fired on the spot. But that isn't what I said. What I did insinuate was that it was at least fair to be concerned with their chops as recruiters relative to their reputations, referring to the fact that we missed on our first 10-ish primary targets. I stand by that statement and openly admit they are doing enough, now, to change my mind, especially if we land Justin Edwards and Cole Phillips. That would be a great start to 2023 while having put a nice recovery bow on the end of 2022.
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All I’m saying is if my boss asks me to finish a project by June and comes to me in May saying he has doubts about my abilities because it’s not finished yet, I’d feel hard done by. Let them wrap the class up and then evaluate how they are as recruiters.
 
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#11,200
#11,200
VolOnthePlains said:
All I’m saying is if my boss asks me to finish a project by June and comes to me in May saying he has doubts about my abilities because it’s not finished yet, I’d feel hard done by. Let them wrap the class up and then evaluate how they are as recruiters.
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I mean, to be fair, you can craft a work-based analogy that fits any narrative. You could just as easily say that these guys were asked to sell a product to 10 clients and secure their contract, and then if you failed to land any of those 10 clients your boss would likely not be too pleased with you.

Again, no one is being that harsh on Gainey and Clark. They did a good job changing the narrative and finishing strong. I still don’t think it’s unreasonable to have had concerns at one point in time about the recruiting. It’s a completely fair discussion point and you’re no less of a fan if you aren’t effusive in praise of your team at all points in time. Contrary to popular belief, it is in fact okay to point out the flaw in something you like. Flaws can also be fixed.
 
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