The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[cncchris33]

Arkansas is objectively a better job. That’ll probably catch heat in here, but everyone outside of this fan base believes it. As you said, this should be a major wake up call for anyone complaining about Barnes and looking forward to moving on.

I think Muss leaving for an objectively worse job is damaging to Arkansas's reputation and maybe draws Tennessee even, but you're right. Prior to this, Arky was probably viewed nationally as the better job.

I also think that, assuming Barnes retires, then replacing him is going to be a more attractive option than replacing Muss in what may be viewed as a toxic environment.

 

[berryvol]

I think Muss leaving for an objectively worse job is damaging to Arkansas's reputation and maybe draws Tennessee even, but you're right. Prior to this, Arky was probably viewed nationally as the better job.

I also think that, assuming Barnes retires, then replacing him is going to be a more attractive option than replacing Muss in what may be viewed as a toxic environment.

I don’t disagree with any of this. Us having DW is also a major leg up on their current sh*t show at AD. I should revise my statement to “Arkansas is publicly considered the better job (likely considered it within the basketball community as well, on a static, long-term POV if nothing else), but UT will almost certainly be in a much better position to hire a proven coach when Barnes decides to hang it up.”

Hell, let’s just win the natty next season and we’d widely be considered a top 2-3 job, even in the newly expanded SEC. Easy as that

 

[fear]

 

[TheMookieMonster]

I would agree that Arkansas historically has been a better job, but I’m not sure that is as clear cut anymore. In this era of college basketball, where basically everyone has money to throw around, I think what makes a good basketball job today is different to some degree than what it used to be.

I do agree that it won’t be easy to replace Barnes, but I think Tennessee has surpassed Arkansas in terms of desirability. Our roster has been far more sustainable, because of how Barnes hasn’t exclusively used the portal like Muss. We have a better culture. Our athletic department as a whole is far superior and more stable than Arkansas, and Hunter Yurachek is disliked by his own fanbase and is an idiot, while we have arguably the best athletic director in the country.

Our fan support is every bit as good as Arkansas. Our resources are the same, if not better. I’m just not sure the hierarchy of what makes a good job better than another good job is pretty gray now.

 

[gohogs14]

I would agree that Arkansas historically has been a better job, but I’m not sure that is as clear cut anymore. In this era of college basketball, where basically everyone has money to throw around, I think what makes a good basketball job today is different to some degree than what it used to be.

I do agree that it won’t be easy to replace Barnes, but I think Tennessee has surpassed Arkansas in terms of desirability. Our roster has been far more sustainable, because of how Barnes hasn’t exclusively used the portal like Muss. We have a better culture. Our athletic department as a whole is far superior and more stable than Arkansas, and Hunter Yurachek is disliked by his own fanbase and is an idiot, while we have arguably the best athletic director in the country.

Our fan support is every bit as good as Arkansas. Our resources are the same, if not better. I’m just not sure the hierarchy of what makes a good job better than another good job is pretty gray now.

Louisville is a good example that history, facilities and fan support mean very little anymore. Don’t think coaches will be so quick to jump to “better” jobs nearly as much.

Ole Miss should never be able to keep a basketball coach over Arkansas but they’re committed 100% to NIL while the Arkansas NIL is lagging behind and that means pretty much everything in today’s game.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Louisville is a good example that history, facilities and fan support mean very little anymore. Don’t think coaches will be so quick to jump to “better” jobs nearly as much.

Ole Miss should never be able to keep a basketball coach over Arkansas but they’re committed 100% to NIL while the Arkansas NIL is lagging behind and that means pretty much everything in today’s game.

Fair point. Arkansas is still a great job. I think you will land a good coach. But the landscape of college basketball has changed and coaches are jumping (or not jumping) to other jobs for very different reasons than 10 years ago.

 

[cncchris33]

Louisville is a good example that history, facilities and fan support mean very little anymore. Don’t think coaches will be so quick to jump to “better” jobs nearly as much.

Ole Miss should never be able to keep a basketball coach over Arkansas but they’re committed 100% to NIL while the Arkansas NIL is lagging behind and that means pretty much everything in today’s game.

Hard to believe that Arkansas NIL is struggling with the level of talent they are able to attract each year, both from high school ranks and the portal. That's more of a statement of surprise than an argument against your post.

 

[berryvol]

Who knows what CBB and NIL look like even 2-3 years from now, but our seeming reluctance to throw a big NIL backing behind basketball is one thing that concerns me about our program, post-Barnes. We’ve currently got guys like Aidoo and Awaka (probably others too, but those have been stated plainly by our insiders) taking pay cuts to play here because they love Barnes and the culture so much. Take CRB out of the equation and how many of our current team would be willing to stick around for a new coach, for the same money? I don’t know the definitive answer, but I have a good guess.

I know part of it is probably Barnes wanting kids who are high character and care about team culture and development as men, not just players, rather than money-chasers. For the most part, that only works with a HOF coach with a reputation of building programs off that culture - there’s a very low chance we bring in someone with the same pedigree to be our next coach.

I hope DW is as committed as he says he is sustaining a championship level basketball program for years to come and is willing to put the literal money where his mouth is on the matter.

 

[Volprofch05]

Who knows what CBB and NIL look like even 2-3 years from now, but our seeming reluctance to throw a big NIL backing behind basketball is one thing that concerns me about our program, post-Barnes. We’ve currently got guys like Aidoo and Awaka (probably others too, but those have been stated plainly by our insiders) taking pay cuts to play here because they love Barnes and the culture so much. Take CRB out of the equation and how many of our current team would be willing to stick around for a new coach, for the same money? I don’t know the definitive answer, but I have a good guess.

I know part of it is probably Barnes wanting kids who are high character and care about team culture and development as men, not just players, rather than money-chasers. For the most part, that only works with a HOF coach with a reputation of building programs off that culture - there’s a very low chance we bring in someone with the same pedigree to be our next coach.

I hope DW is as committed as he says he is sustaining a championship level basketball program for years to come and is willing to put the literal money where his mouth is on the matter.

I wonder how much of this is impacted by our push to be an “everything school.” For a lot of the blue bloods the basketball program dominates the scene, but we may be spreading ourselves thin by distributing funds among many teams.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

Who knows what CBB and NIL look like even 2-3 years from now, but our seeming reluctance to throw a big NIL backing behind basketball is one thing that concerns me about our program, post-Barnes. We’ve currently got guys like Aidoo and Awaka (probably others too, but those have been stated plainly by our insiders) taking pay cuts to play here because they love Barnes and the culture so much. Take CRB out of the equation and how many of our current team would be willing to stick around for a new coach, for the same money? I don’t know the definitive answer, but I have a good guess.

I know part of it is probably Barnes wanting kids who are high character and care about team culture and development as men, not just players, rather than money-chasers. For the most part, that only works with a HOF coach with a reputation of building programs off that culture - there’s a very low chance we bring in someone with the same pedigree to be our next coach.

I hope DW is as committed as he says he is sustaining a championship level basketball program for years to come and is willing to put the literal money where his mouth is on the matter.

Do you have any evidence to support this claim or are we suppose to just trust you?

 

[walkenvol]

Arkansas is objectively a better job. That’ll probably catch heat in here, but everyone outside of this fan base believes it. As you said, this should be a major wake up call for anyone complaining about Barnes and looking forward to moving on.

25 years back Arkansas was the better program for sure. I’m not sure that’s currently the case in light of the success we’ve had under Pearl and now Barnes? Is it possible we’ve passed them by?

 

[DowntownVol]

This is wild to me. Arkansas went to back to back Elite 8s in 2021 and 2022, so it's not like they've been wandering in the wilderness for the last 20 years or something. They did go 15 years from their mid-90s heyday to 2021 where they didn't even make a Sweet 16, though. Amazing how quickly the landscape changes.

 

[berryvol]

Do you have any evidence to support this claim or are we suppose to just trust you?

As I stated, every single insider we have here (SF, BTO) as well as paid sites like on3, have stated that Aidoo was looking around last year because he was making no NIL money. They also stated that he took less from us than he would have earned transferring to a Carolina school because he loves playing for CRB. It’s also been said by the same group that Awaka could make more and have a larger role by transferring.

Considering you’re the smartest guy on this site, I’m shocked you didn’t know all this already.

 

[Nighthawkvol10]

Sounds like we're probably losing Rod Clark to Dusty May's new staff at Michigan sadly. Any idea why he'd make that move? Promotion or upgraded title?

 

[GoodTimeVol]

As I stated, every single insider we have here (SF, BTO) as well as paid sites like on3, have stated that Aidoo was looking around last year because he was making no NIL money. They also stated that he took less from us than he would have earned transferring to a Carolina school because he loves playing for CRB. It’s also been said by the same group that Awaka could make more and have a larger role by transferring.

Considering you’re the smartest guy on this site, I’m shocked you didn’t know all this already.

“Reluctance to throw big NIL” we are currently paying Aidoo it’s just last year he wasn’t an All SEC second team performer…so yeah he is going to want more money now in retrospect. That however doesn’t mean we are “reluctant to spend NIL”. The collective pays what they feel is a fair price for their market value they don’t let the athlete dictate that price, but that doesn’t mean we are reluctant to pay players what they are worth.

So no I don’t believe that is the narrative SF and BTO was trying to convey, otherwise guys like Phillips and chandler would not have come here.

 

[sami]

That was a textbook moving screen, especially when seen from the sideline broadcast angle. But I still hate that they made it in that spot. Robbed us of a great ending.

Yeah, it was a moving screen, but a very tough call in that spot and yet another example of refs making themselves the story. The one good thing is that it happened to Auriemma and ended his season.

 

[vol94]

I must admit, it has been extra depressing this week as I fell in love with this team more than I have perhaps any TN team. And this team had the ideal combination of experience, talent, and star power that maybe no TN team will have for another decade or more. I want the F4 for this team badly, and I want it for Barnes whose time feels like it is running out.

It’s been hard to reconcile the fact that we maybe squandered our best opportunity to make an F4 we will have for awhile, but I am still very proud of what this team accomplished.

My hope has been shattered a bit that we will see an F4 anytime soon, but I will say that maybe our path will be similar to Alabama. They had Brandon Miller. They had the #1 overall seed. They lost. No one expected this team this year to be the one for them. We still bring back a lot of experience next year, and while I don’t think we will win the SEC again, maybe with a few new portal pieces that can score, and maybe if we have a few upsets in our bracket next year like Alabama did, maybe next year can be the “year after the year” if that makes sense.

I have similar emotions but pessimistic in our chances on reaching a final four, especially in the next four years. I truly thought this was the year. For the first time, I’m not excited about football season as it’s playoffs or bust, and I don’t see us being a top 12 team. Sorry for the doom and gloom.

 

[berryvol]

“Reluctance to throw big NIL” we are currently paying Aidoo it’s just last year he wasn’t an All SEC second team performer…so yeah he is going to want more money now in retrospect. That however doesn’t mean we are “reluctant to spend NIL”. The collective pays what they feel is a fair price for their market value they don’t let the athlete dictate that price, but that doesn’t mean we are reluctant to pay players what they are worth.

So no I don’t believe that is the narrative SF and BTO was trying to convey, otherwise guys like Phillips and chandler would not have come here.

Whatever you say, my man. I literally had a short convo with SF earlier this week about the next coaching staff likely needing to open up the NIL coffers more after Barnes leaves.

Based on all pieces of evidence, we are absolutely getting a Barnes-discount on a lot of players. It’s not some diabolical diss against Spyre to say this. Yes, we will pay competitively for talent, but we haven’t seen that for anyone here more than a year (Phillips, Chandler, DK, Dillione) and we’re forcing others to show their worth on the court before opening up the wallet (which I am fine with and prefer). It’s going to take more money to keep the basketball success rolling after Barnes, when there’s likely no longer a HOF coach with a track record of putting guys in the league to sell to recruits.

 

[berryvol]

I have similar emotions but pessimistic in our chances on reaching a final four, especially in the next four years. I truly thought this was the year. For the first time, I’m not excited about football season as it’s playoffs or bust, and I don’t see us being a top 12 team. Sorry for the doom and gloom.

I totally understand this train of thought in the wake of the season ending, but big picture I think it’s a slight overreaction. We’ve had a good enough team the last 3 seasons to make a deep NCAA run. If we add 2-3 solid transfers, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a top 15-20 squad next season. I’m still upset we couldn’t make it this year, but the names being linked in the portal are getting me excited for our chances of having a very successful 2024-25.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The last time we were this close, we added 2 additional future NBA players. Then all hell broke loose. 19-15 record. 30 point NCAAT one and done loss. Coach gets fired. I feel confident that another run at the FF is in the cards. I certainly don’t expect another dumpster fire.

 

[oldaaucoach]

I totally understand this train of thought in the wake of the season ending, but big picture I think it’s a slight overreaction. We’ve had a good enough team the last 3 seasons to make a deep NCAA run. If we add 2-3 solid transfers, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a top 15-20 squad next season. I’m still upset we couldn’t make it this year, but the names being linked in the portal are getting me excited for our chances of having a very successful 2024-25.

Agreed. I am probably overly optimistic, but if Cam Carr shows out like I think he will, and we plug in the right portal guys I don't think a FF run is out of the question.

 

[CornbreadVol]

So is Rod Clark going to UM?

 

[berryvol]

So is Rod Clark going to UM?

Sounds like it, smoke on both Michigan and Vols side.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Sounds like we're probably losing Rod Clark to Dusty May's new staff at Michigan sadly. Any idea why he'd make that move? Promotion or upgraded title?

Man that would stink

 

[CornbreadVol]

Sounds like it, smoke on both Michigan and Vols side.

Damn. I guess it’s better than losing Gainey but Clark seemed to be well liked by the team.