Was Kevin Nash any good?

#54
#54
DeVoe was before my time but did he leave us high and dry or did we show him the door?
 
#55
#55
Shaun1985 said:
DeVoe was before my time but did he leave us high and dry or did we show him the door?
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We showed him the door...


He had some decent teams. But he was really strict. So players like Kevin Nash struggled with him. We finally gave him the boot after a couple of average years. He ended up coaching Florida for half a season as a temp coach for some dude that got fired mid-season. His style didn't work there either.

Then Don ended up at Navy which was a good fit for him.

That story is off the top of my head so may not be exactly right...?
 
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#56
#56
I just noticed that he went to Florida after coaching here so I didn't really know the story.
 
#57
#57
Shaun1985 said:
I just noticed that he went to Florida after coaching here so I didn't really know the story.
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Yeah, I can't exactly remember how that worked. Maybe he was there for the whole season? But there was something odd about it. Their previous coach resigned at the last minute or something. He was just plugged in for one season, it didn't work, and he left. They had a 7'2" center named Dewayne Schnitz (sp?). He called Don Captain Ahab and quit mid-season. Dewayne died this year
 
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#58
#58
Thanks for the info man! Since you seem to know a little about him...what was the deal? He looked like he had a decent resume before coming to UT and went on a sweet 16 run. Did he just have some classes not pan out? I know someone said he was a little tough so was it the case of just losing the team? Always interested to know some UT history. My family was more UT football fans than anything. We'd catch a basketball game from time to time but I sorta grew into loving UT basketball when it wasn't that popular around me and flew solo with that for awhile lol.
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#60
#60
Shaun1985 said:
Thanks for the info man! Since you seem to know a little about him...what was the deal? He looked like he had a decent resume before coming to UT and went on a sweet 16 run. Did he just have some classes not pan out? I know someone said he was a little tough so was it the case of just losing the team? Always interested to know some UT history. My family was more UT football fans than anything. We'd catch a basketball game from time to time but I sorta grew into loving UT basketball when it wasn't that popular around me and flew solo with that for awhile lol.
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This is from memory so some of the details may be wrong...

Don took over from Ray Mears who was a legend at Tennessee. So that is always tough. Don was an excellent X's and O's coach. I think he was somehow tied to Bob Knight. They may have gone to Ohio State together. Don was an old school coach who ran a tight ship. You had to play defense first. No fast breaks often or anything. Team ball. No superstars allowed kind of approach. That style kind of limited his recruiting.

Through the early 80's, he had some good teams. But we were never great. He was steady as I recall. I don't really remember exactly why we decided to fire him. He was like 20-10ish most years. But you just got the feeling that we were never going to get past the second round of the NCAA with him.

So much like the Phil Fulmer firing, we finally parted with him. And then we spent the next two decades wishing we were as good as we were when Don was there. We had Wade Houston, Kevin O'Neal, Jerry Green, Buzz Patterson....none of which got us back to Devoe's level. Finally Bruce woke up the sleeping giant
 
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#62
#62
volger said:
Good stuff Harris. I didn't start following UT hoops until 99'.
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I was in about 8th grade when the Ernie & Bernie show started up. That really caused a huge spark in interest in Tennessee basketball. Most of the boys started parting their hair down the middle. That was something we learned from Ernie.

Not often that a college basketball player, at a traditional football power, impacts the entire states fashion. Everywhere you went, young guys went to the part right down the middle.


Now days, I guess the 6th graders could grow that Skylar porn star goat / stache thing he has going...???
 
#64
#64
I thought I started the parting the hair down the middle thing first in the 60's. I had the reverse Alfalfa cowlick in the front middle of hairline. Made for a natural part.
 
#67
#67
Jax_Vol said:
I was in about 8th grade when the Ernie & Bernie show started up. That really caused a huge spark in interest in Tennessee basketball. Most of the boys started parting their hair down the middle. That was something we learned from Ernie.

Not often that a college basketball player, at a traditional football power, impacts the entire states fashion. Everywhere you went, young guys went to the part right down the middle.


Now days, I guess the 6th graders could grow that Skylar porn star goat / stache thing he has going...???
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Same age as me I guess - I too started following with the Bernie and Ernie show - I kept up until DeVoe was let go - couldnt stomach all the losing from those other coaches - Not many games were televised in my area
 
#68
#68
Devoe never adapted to the 3 pt line and the shot clock. He was on the same Ohio State team with Bobby Knight. A hard nose, defense first coach who had success at UT until the rule changes.

Last game at UT was a blow out loss in the first round of the NCAAs to Va Tech (?)
 
#69
#69
Backwards K said:
Devoe never adapted to the 3 pt line and the shot clock. He was on the same Ohio State team with Bobby Knight. A hard nose, defense first coach who had success at UT until the rule changes.

Last game at UT was a blow out loss in the first round of the NCAAs to Va Tech (?)
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West Virgina beat the fire out of them one year in the NCAA. After that game, Doug Roth said, "after two trips up and down the floor, we knew they were big, and they were bad!"


Was that Devoe's last game with Vols?
 
#72
#72
Shaun1985 said:
He sure was a big dude.
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nash was not near as big at ut as he is now ,while he is no john snodgrass for those who do not understand the remark he was around 7 foot and weighed closer to 150 than 200.i think nash was listed at 6,8 220.i watched UT at Stokely a lot between 79 and the final game vs uga .and saw him play several times .UT was like most high schools back then players sizes were exageratted .tyrone beamon and tony white were liste 6,0 or 6,1 but were closer to 5,10 and fred white was listed at 6,5 but my dad was taller when we all stood side by side before a game .and dad is 6 ,3.but the biggest player i ever saw at ut past or present and i met most of them personally was big Dan Federman .he might not have been tallest or the heaviest but was he was a big man.
 
#73
#73
I think Dan Federman was the one that got the tip at the buzzer to beat LSU , Dale Brown went ballistic !
 
#75
#75
NO SIR EEE said:
I wouldn't remember, but was Kevin Nash any good when he played bball at UT? How was his career before he took off to be a huge wrestling star?
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He was a WWF and WCW champion...I'd say he was not only pretty good, but JUST...TOO...SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!! But, in all seriousness, he said in shoot interviews that he played overseas before bouncing at strip clubs and then signing with WCW. With the exception of King, Houston, Tobias, Walker, and a few others, he's pretty much reached the average level most UT greats from the basketball program have reached
 
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