Welcome Assistants!! (OFFICIALLY)

[VolFuture]

 

[Volfan2012]

Sh*t! No wonder players are staying. Source for this info please?

Right not going anywhere with that in the bank.

 

[spojo13]

Heard we have 2.3 million in NIL funds now, so let’s go buy some players

Oh I really hope you are correct.

 

[DeerPark12]

Pat Summit with Holly Warlick and Mickey DeMoss seemed to do ok, for a very long time. What makes you think black players can't relate to the coaches other than black female coaches?

If you think that it isn’t important in 2024 to a majority of high-level recruits, then you don’t know anything about it.

20 years ago, most schools didn’t have a dedicated strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball, either. Should we pass on one of those as well?

 

[dazzleme]

Interesting. Wondering if there is gonna be a swapsy.

 

[DeerPark12]

I’m cool with that. She needs her people to implement her system but I think packing Lazo and Tubner was excellent, two coaches who know the league and can coach.

This staff is better than any we had under Harper imo.

Especially her first staff, that just was not it and really dug a hole for our recruiting. Goldwire was a snake.

I don’t know that I would call her a snake, but she was definitely not what Kellie was sold on in bringing her to the staff, which was supposedly being an elite recruiter. The postmortem for the Kellie Harper era would identify many elements over the years that ultimately led to death, but I would argue that two years of Goldwire as the recruiting coordinator, immediately followed by a year-long recruiting shut down with Covid, dug a hole that no coach was going to dig out of.

 

[Volfan2012]

I don’t know that I would call her a snake, but she was definitely not what Kellie was sold on in bringing her to the staff, which was supposedly being an elite recruiter. The postmortem for the Kellie Harper era would identify many elements over the years that ultimately led to death, but I would argue that two years of Goldwire as the recruiting coordinator, immediately followed by a year-long recruiting shut down with Covid, dug a hole that no coach was going to dig out of.

Look at Arkansas now they are falling like a rock. Their recruiting has hit rock bottom even if they did get Scott for one season last year.

 

[SGMVols]

Reminder: Every coach in the country had to deal with Covid.

 

[House|RockyTop]

Heard we have 2.3 million in NIL funds now, so let’s go buy some players

That’s just the foundation. GBO! Like I heard from a person on Twitter referencing recruiting and offers of a prospect.. yesterday’s price is not today’s price.

Go look at all the highly rated HS recruits taking notice and liking Coach Caldwell posts on the official UT WBB Twitter Page. And now look at the current elite college players liking and commenting on the additions of Coach Lazo and Coach Tubner on the official UT WBB Twitter Page.

People about to respect UT WBB. It’s lit.

 

[SGMVols]

Well the #1 excuse we heard from the Only Kellies was that she couldn’t get recruits because there wasn’t enough NIL.

If there’s been a surge in contributions since the change was made, that tells me donors/fans had lost faith in Kellie and didn’t want to throw good money after bad.

That’s Kellie’s fault.

 

[Majors]

I'd rather you address the actual question and tell me you don't really think CKC is sitting around thinking of ways to troll us like you said.

Do you even look at other posts in the thread? Literally NO ONE has whined about these hires. Everyone has applauded it. Sorry to disappoint you. Need a nap?

Look over the last few days of fans here on what she should and shouldn’t be doing. Seems she addressed all the issues while everyone worried.

 

[sjsmith87]

But UConn somehow manages to get by. Go figure...

UConn has a black woman on the coaching staff... so what point are you making here?

 

[Dak1219]

If you think that it isn’t important in 2024 to a majority of high-level recruits, then you don’t know anything about it.

20 years ago, most schools didn’t have a dedicated strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball, either. Should we pass on one of those as well?

I see the athletes are still signing to Florida and Texas schools that have removed DEI and full DEI departments within their universities. Some may see it as a major factor, but many will not.

 

[Ladyvol777]

Welcome aboard, best of luck. Love the Lady Vol’s. As always go Lady Vol’s.

 

[sjsmith87]

I do agree about the most qualified, but they are parents and players who are going to ask why no black assistants. It's a shame but that's the world we're living in

How is it a shame? Not sure why it's a stretch to many that players leaving home, traveling miles away to play at a school, would care about having someone on staff to identify with to some degree... and that parents sending their child away would want the same. Imagine the recruiting implications on football if we had an all white coaching staff. Would we still have top-tier classes? Of course. However, we'd definitely miss out on quite a few because of it.

Whether you like it or not, it matters to a lot of players. If it's any consolation for some of you, try thinking about having a black assistant coach on staff as a strategic move for recruiting purposes. While that would be a mostly misguided take, it's SOMEWHAT true.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Well the #1 excuse we heard from the Only Kellies was that she couldn’t get recruits because there wasn’t enough NIL.

If there’s been a surge in contributions since the change was made, that tells me donors/fans had lost faith in Kellie and didn’t want to throw good money after bad.

That’s Kellie’s fault.

Or the AD didn’t support someone he didn’t hire, but either way I don’t care.

 

[sjsmith87]

Interesting, I didn't realize black players learn basketball differently when taught by non-black coaches.

I'm gonna assume you aren't simply being willfully obtuse and offer that there's a SLIGHT possibility that there are other factors student-athletes (who are obviously good enough at basketball to be recruited here) consider in their choice than just "learning basketball".

 

[madtownvol]

Reminder: Every coach in the country had to deal with Covid.

True, but like in all things in life, adverse events don't impact everyone the same way. If a billionaire and a waitress both get leukemia, they may be "dealing" with the same disease but their situations are not the same.

If I am an established coach and have my recruiting connections all in place, the covid shutdown was an inconvenience. If I am a new coach trying to building a new recruiting culture, the covid shutdown is a catastrophe. Do you think CKC would want to face that same constraint right now?

Not sure why this difference has been so hard to grasp.

 

[madtownvol]

I'm gonna assume you aren't simply being willfully obtuse and offer that there's a SLIGHT possibility that there are other factors student-athletes (who are obviously good enough at basketball to be recruited here) consider in their choice than just "learning basketball".

Indeed, we sure have a lot of "I don't see skin color" (except when a POC gets a job that could have gone to a white person) on this board.

 

[House|RockyTop]

Tennessee has put together a great staff of coaches from diverse backgrounds with elite coaching characteristics. The staff of other teams now and before is irrelevant. Someone mentioned another school and that seems to have dragged one of their supporters in here now at a time when it’s clear that Tennessee staff is well rounded and has checked every single box!

This is UT the most iconic WBB program in the country. Last night, in prime time we watched a LVFL Rickea Jackson being selected as the #4 pick in the WNBA draft.

It’s a great time to be a Vol!

 

[SGMVols]

Or the AD didn’t support someone he didn’t hire, but either way I don’t care.

Danny White didn’t hire Rick Barnes or Tony Vitello but I guarantee they’d tell you they feel supported by him.

He just wants to win. He doesn’t care if it happens with coaches he inherited or coaches he hired.

 

[creekdipper]

If you think that it isn’t important in 2024 to a majority of high-level recruits, then you don’t know anything about it.

20 years ago, most schools didn’t have a dedicated strength and conditioning coach for women’s basketball, either. Should we pass on one of those as well?

Interesting although dubious comparison.

 

[Dak1219]

Tennessee has put together a great staff of coaches from diverse backgrounds with elite coaching characteristics. The staff of other teams now and before is irrelevant. Someone mentioned another school and that seems to have dragged one of their supporters in here now at a time when it’s clear that Tennessee staff is well rounded and has checked every single box!

This is UT the most iconic WBB program in the country. Last night, in prime time we watched a LVFL Rickea Jackson being selected as the #4 pick in the WNBA draft.

It’s a great time to be a Vol!

We sure did. The player who wasn't projected to be a first-round draft pick until coming to Tennessee where she was given the coaching and tools to improve her skill set, not to mention the Forth 1st round draft pick in a row.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Danny White didn’t hire Rick Barnes or Tony Vitello but I guarantee they’d tell you they feel supported by him.

He just wants to win. He doesn’t care if it happens with coaches he inherited or coaches he hired.

Men’s sports are different, because they always have the money. We all know the money is not always available to women’s basketball.

 

[volbeast33]

Or the AD didn’t support someone he didn’t hire, but either way I don’t care.

The AD is doing a great job supporting all the programs…. Most of which were hired by someone else.