Dave Hart addressed the media on Tuesday to announce Tennessee’s latest basketball coach, Donnie Tyndall. According to Hart, Tyndall not only fit the profile, it was like the profile was written specifically for him. Tyndall began with a bang: congratulating the players on their Sweet 16 run and praising Butch Jones. Boasting his knowledge of Tennessee basketball history, he mentioned Ray Mears, Ernie and Bernie, Tony White, Dale Ellis, Allan Houston, and Chris Lofton; he even complimented the legendary Pat Summitt.
Tyndall explained his defense as a full court press, much like Louisville. His teams are always nationally ranked in steals. Offensively he plans to push the ball given the opportunity, and run high-low offensive sets similar to Kansas.
Tennessee’s new coach said he’s a big fan of Bruce Pearl and that Cuonzo Martin did an excellent job, but it’s time to move on. Vol fans all have the same goal he said, and he urged everyone to start today, put the past aside and get to work.
Tyndall has met with the players on Tuesday and is unaware of any transfer plans out of that current group. He contacted Tennessee’s four signees and spoke to three of them, but planned to follow up with their families later last night.
Tyndall’s staff from Southern Miss are all expected to follow him to Tennessee, but he’s not sure if they will have exactly the same roles. There are at least of couple of candidates he plans to speak with before making a final decision later this week.
In closing, Tyndall said of recruiting talent to Knoxville, “Trust me, we will be able to sell Tennessee just fine.”