SEC Coaches in Year One

Setting a reasonable expectation is never easy in college football, especially in a new coach’s first year. For Jeremy Pruitt, five wins would be a literal improvement; six and a bowl berth would probably earn a nod of approval. But it’s not exactly the same as in Butch Jones’ first season, when a bowl appearance would have been the first in three years and a ranked win the first in four.

In a coach’s first year fans are more free with grace and more reliant on hope. The former will be there, particularly if recruiting is going well. And any opportunity you get to cash in on the latter can carry a coach and a program well into the future.

To help us figure out what a reasonable expectation for Jeremy Pruitt is in 2018, here’s a look back at the last year one for each of the 14 SEC schools. There’s quite the spectrum here, teaching us again that you just never know how these things are going to turn out. We’ve included Bill Connelly’s S&P+ data, which is helpful in showing the distance between a former coach’s final year and a new coach’s first year, especially when the records are often similar. Take a look:

ALABAMA: Nick Saban, 2007

  • Record: 7-6 (57th S&P+)
  • Previous Two Years: 6-7 (31st S&P+), 10-2 (15th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #16 Arkansas, #21 Tennessee
  • Bad Losses: Louisiana-Monroe
  • Was year one a success? Eh. It probably would have been considered one before the November 17 loss to ULM.
  • What did they build on? Recruiting, but also margin of defeat. Alabama lost all six games by one possession, three of them to ranked teams.
  • Did it work out long-term? I think so.

ARKANSAS: Bret Bielema, 2013

  • Record: 3-9 (67th)
  • Previous Two Years: 4-8 (39th), 11-2 (15th)
  • Meaningful Wins: none
  • Bad Losses: Rutgers
  • Was year one a success? No, though this was a tougher assignment following basically a lost year in 2012 with the Bobby Petrino scandal.
  • What did they build on? A late season surge: after losing their first six SEC games by at least 10 points, the Razorbacks lost to Mississippi State in overtime and to #15 LSU by four points.
  • Did it work out long-term? No. Bielema had the surest track record of any SEC hire in 2013, but never did better than 8-5 and was fired last fall after going 4-8.

AUBURN: Gus Malzahn, 2013

  • Record: 12-2 (5th)
  • Previous Two Years: 3-9 (73rd), 8-5 (43rd)
  • Meaningful Wins: Beat five ranked teams including #1 Alabama, won the SEC Championship and played in the BCS title game.
  • Bad Losses: none
  • Was year one a success? Definitely. It helps to inherit recruiting classes that finished 5th, 11th, and 10th from 2011-2013.
  • What did they build on? When you almost win the national championship in year one, what don’t you build on?
  • Did it work out long-term? Mostly. Auburn is only 33-20 in the last four years, but has a pair of New Year’s Six appearances and won the SEC West in 2017.

FLORIDA: Jim McElwain, 2015

  • Record: 10-4 (30th)
  • Previous Two Years: 7-5 (24th), 4-8 (33rd). Will Muschamp’s teams lost seven one possession games in his last two years at Florida.
  • Meaningful Wins: Tennessee, #3 Ole Miss, Georgia
  • Bad Losses: None, but did lose to Michigan 41-7 in the Citrus Bowl
  • Was year one a success? Definitely, but the end of the year soured it some and the loss of Will Grier would make a huge difference.
  • What did they build on? September and October, before the offense died.
  • Did it work out long-term? No. McElwain won the East again in 2016, but didn’t seem to be a good fit and was relieved of his duties after a 3-4 start in 2017.

GEORGIA: Kirby Smart, 2016

  • Record: 8-5 (68th)
  • Previous Two Years: 10-3 (45th), 10-3 (4th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #22 North Carolina in the season opener, #8 Auburn
  • Bad Losses: Vanderbilt
  • Was year one a success? Eh. It’s a tough ask for a coach to improve on back-to-back 10-win seasons in his first year.
  • What did they build on? Recruiting, and they were right to.
  • Did it work out long-term? Definitely. Mark Richt’s own recruiting left plenty of talent in Athens, and Smart cashed it in with a textbook year two surge last fall, one play short of a national championship.

KENTUCKY: Mark Stoops, 2013

  • Record: 2-10 (84th)
  • Previous Two Years: 2-10 (75th), 5-7 (93rd). Not all 5-7’s are created equal; UK was actually worse play-for-play in 2011 than 2012.
  • Meaningful Wins: none
  • Bad Losses: Western Kentucky
  • Was year one a success? No.
  • What did they build on? Recruiting.
  • Did it work out long-term? It’s been a slow burn, but Stoops went 5-7 the next two years, then 7-6 the last two years.

LSU: Ed Orgeron, 2017

  • Record: 9-4 (19th)
  • Previous Two Years: 8-4 (4th), 9-3 (11th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #10 Auburn
  • Bad Losses: Troy
  • Was year one a success: If we count Orgeron’s 6-2 run as the interim in 2016, maybe. If we count last season…it’s indistinguishable from the end of Les Miles’ tenure in results, and the quality of play on the field was worse in S&P+.
  • What did they build on? The coach’s personality?
  • Did it work out long-term? DaCoachO has to wait and see.

OLE MISS: Hugh Freeze, 2012

  • Record: 7-6 (19th)
  • Previous Two Years: 2-10 (76th), 4-8 (56th)
  • Meaningful Wins: Auburn, #25 Mississippi State
  • Bad Losses: none
  • Was year one a success: Definitely, and relatively speaking maybe the biggest one of this group of 14. Not only did Ole Miss make its first bowl game in three years, three of their six losses came by six points or less. This was a huge jump from a 2-10 season the year before.
  • What did they build on? All of this, plus recruiting.
  • Did it work out long-term? It definitely did until Hugh Freeze had to be fired for off-the-field issues.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Dan Mullen, 2009

  • Record: 5-7 (33rd)
  • Previous Two Years: 4-8 (95th), 8-5 (55th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #25 Ole Miss
  • Bad Losses: Houston
  • Was year one a success: The answer to this might be “eh”, but look at the jump they made in S&P+. Sylvester Croom’s last team lost four games by at least 25 points. Mullen’s first team only had two such losses despite playing five ranked teams, three in the top seven. Even though they didn’t get bowl eligible, that Egg Bowl win was a huge note to end on.
  • What did they build on? Competitiveness
  • Did it work out long-term? Yes.

MISSOURI: Barry Odom, 2016

  • Record: 4-8 (69th)
  • Previous Two Years: 5-7 (83rd), 11-3 (28th)
  • Meaningful Wins: Arkansas
  • Bad Losses: MTSU
  • Was year one a success: No. Odom wasn’t in year one because the previous coach didn’t work out, but the Tigers did slightly improve in S&P+.
  • What did they build on? …I’m unsure, I think we all thought this one wouldn’t work.
  • Did it work out long-term? Mizzou was 7-6 last year, so we’ll see. Odom’s fate may now be tied to Derek Dooley’s as offensive coordinator.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Will Muschamp, 2016

  • Record: 6-7 (89th S&P+)
  • Previous Two Years: 3-9 (85th), 7-6 (40th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #18 Tennessee
  • Bad Losses: none
  • Was year one a success: Compared to 2015, definitely. Compared to South Carolina’s resume from 2010-13, less so.
  • What did they build on? Recruiting
  • Did it work out long-term? Carolina bounced to 9-4 last year, in line with the expectations Steve Spurrier created.

TENNESSEE: Butch Jones, 2013

  • Record: 5-7 (47th)
  • Previous Two Years: 5-7 (38th), 5-7 (30th)
  • Meaningful Wins: #11 South Carolina
  • Bad Losses: none
  • Was year one a success: As was the case with most of Butch Jones’ tenure, almost.
  • What did they build on? Recruiting
  • Did it work out long-term? It almost did, and then it really didn’t. Critical for Jones in year one were a pair of missed opportunities against Georgia and Vanderbilt, either of which would have earned bowl eligibility and a significant dose of early credibility.

TEXAS A&M: Kevin Sumlin, 2012

  • Record: 11-2 (2nd)
  • Previous Two Years: 7-6 (8th), 9-4 (22nd). Very sneaky sir: Mike Sherman’s last team lost four games to ranked teams by a combined 10 points, one of them in four overtimes. They also lost to Missouri in overtime and blasted #20 Baylor by 27 points. We didn’t know it in their first year in the SEC, but these guys were already a great team in disguise. Add in Johnny Manziel, and you get 11-2.
  • Meaningful Wins: Four ranked teams, including #1 Alabama
  • Bad Losses: none
  • Was year one a success? Definitely
  • What did they build on? Johnny Football
  • Did it work out long-term? Surprisingly, no. Sumlin went 9-4 the next year, then three straight 8-5’s, then 7-5 before A&M made a change.

VANDERBILT: Derek Mason, 2014

  • Record: 3-9 (110th)
  • Previous Two Years: 9-4 (68th), 8-4 (55th). Franklin’s teams didn’t set the world on fire in S&P+, but this is still the steepest year one drop for any SEC team on this list.
  • Meaningful Wins: none
  • Bad Losses: Temple, 37-7 in the season opener
  • Was year one a success? No.
  • What did they build on? No idea.
  • Did it work out long-term? He hasn’t been James Franklin, but Mason improved to 4-8, 6-7, and 5-7 the last three years.

What can we learn?

Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin can create unrealistic expectations; Malzahn could rely on Top 10 talent, Sumlin on a Heisman Trophy winner with a team that was already close. The Vols have some talent left behind from Butch Jones, but not enough to expect the unexpected in terms of this team’s ceiling.

The better comparison is in the state of Mississippi. Dan Mullen didn’t get MSU to a bowl game in his first year, but secured a lasting memory by beating Ole Miss and made his team far more competitive. Hugh Freeze got seven wins from a group that won just two the year before and backed it up with elite recruiting, getting his team to 8-5 the next year then two straight New Year’s Six appearances.

Tennessee finished 107th in S&P+ last year, worse than any team on this list when it made a coaching change. Five of Tennessee’s losses came by 18+ points. In many ways there’s nowhere to go but up. We’ll learn more about Pruitt’s recruiting between now and September 1. But just as important as the final record between 5-7 and 7-5 is how the Vols get there: are we more competitive, and can Pruitt create a lasting memory to build on in year one?

Tennessee Football: Will the Pruitt Way Be the Winning Way?

You’re a Tennessee fan, and you’re skeptical. The two things may as well be synonymous after what we’ve been through for the past decade-plus, especially after what our dysfunctional administration put us through this offseason.

New head football coach Jeremy Pruitt doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt yet, and, quite frankly, he probably doesn’t want it. Like everything else in his career, he realizes he has to earn it, too.

You shouldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, either. You should be in wait-and-see mode.

After all, most of us talked ourselves into Derek Dooley and Butch Jones, even while the nation around us warned that they were reaches, at best. As the program burned all around us, we were like that meme, stuck in the middle of the room on fire, saying, “This is fine.”

This isn’t fine. 4-8 isn’t fine. Winless in the SEC isn’t fine. The roster being in such shambles that Pruitt and his coaching staff having to experiment with position changes galore just to find diamonds in a field of quartz isn’t fine.

But it’s what we have. It’s what Pruitt inherited, and nobody hears him complaining, even if you don’t hear him heaping praise, either. Instead — unlike the past two regimes — everybody in the nation is telling us to hold tight, because Pruitt and this great staff he assembled know what they’re doing, and they’ll get Tennessee back on the right track.

We’re not seeing a used-car salesman of the highest order in Knoxville anymore. Butch Barnum has left the circus tent.

There are covert practices taking place in Knoxville, mainly because Pruitt learned at the knee of Nick Saban, and we’re all starved because we know very little about what’s happening at practice, and our reporters are seeing very little to know what to report. Truth be told, there’s probably little to see. We all should know what Tennessee football is going to be in 2018, and it isn’t going to be a pretty picture. It’s going to take more than an offseason to wash the Butch Jones stink off the program.

But you can bet one thing: Pruitt is putting his fingerprints all over this program.

Is that a good thing? We certainly don’t know yet, but we know one thing for sure. It isn’t the same as Jones’ fingerprints. And we know that isn’t bad, don’t we?

The reports from spring practice are about what you’d expect. Gone is the blaring music at drills. It seems that the coaching staff is actually more interested in the players hearing what they have to say than listening to Lil’ Wayne (or whatever kids are listening to these days). There isn’t as much hype or hyperbole. Instead, it’s just straight talk, and not all of it is what we want to hear. But I think we all probably believe it’s the truth, because Pruitt isn’t the type of guy who’ll sugarcoat anything.

Players are talking little, and assistants are talking less. Pruitt is controlling the message and has mentioned to reporters he wants everything to be about getting better this spring and for players to be in full-on business mode. Maybe that gums up the conduit between the program and the public, but none of that matters if they wind up better than we think they’ll be, now does it?

Pruitt is not going to come out and say there are a lot of orange turds in the punch bowl, but you can tell by the way he’s shuffling and trying to find some more puzzle pieces that fit what he wants to do that this roster isn’t in the shape he wants it. This spring has the feel of, “Well, we’re going to do whatever it takes to get to six or seven wins.” Am I reading between the lines? Well, yeah. Aren’t we all?

I don’t think the “Pruitt way” is hoarding graduate transfers or hitting up JUCOs for players. I don’t think the “Pruitt way” is moving kids all over the field to try to find a place where they may play the best. And I don’t think the “Pruitt way” is stripping all the fun away from football.

I think the “Pruitt way” is winning. And I know he’s done it before at the highest level and believe he knows what it takes. I believe he sees the roster is in shambles, knows to recruit at the highest level he has to show marked progress on the field and is trying to piece together a team in ’18 that can compete, and I believe he’s trying to use some of what he has to get there and sprinkle in others he doesn’t have.

So if Alontae Taylor is better at cornerback (where he’s getting a look right now during practice and where Pruitt recruited him to play while at UA) or LaTrell Bumphus is better at defensive end than tight end — and both have a clearer path to help the Vols in 2018 at those positions — that’s where they’ll play. Both of them may go back to offense, but why not look?

It’s part of a pedigree of success, a pedigree of toughness and a pedigree of championships. Butch didn’t have it. Dooley didn’t have it. The biggest difference in those guys and Pruitt, is the new guy does.

“It was very exciting (when Tennessee hired Pruitt), just seeing all the national championships he’s won, and especially with the coaching staff he’s brought in,” senior defensive lineman Kyle Phillips told GoVols247’s Patrick Brown. “We have a great coaching staff here, and I’ll believe we’ll be successful for it.

“This coaching staff, they’re definitely being tough, especially after a bad season last year, they want us to get the most out of this upcoming season. They believe that we have the talent in the room to do it. And I think we can do it, if we buy in.”

What is the “most” out of the season? Six wins? Seven wins? Could Tennessee somehow get to eight? Few probably think the latter is in the question, but the coaches and players aren’t limiting themselves, and that’s what you want to hear. There’s a reason why it’s exciting that players like Quart’e Sapp, Will Ignont, Jarrett Guarantano and others are bigger and more athletic. There’s a reason to be excited about UT’s personnel fitting a 3-4 scheme better than a 4-3. There’s a reason to be excited about throwing the ball vertically more and having bigger running backs who can get tough yards between tackles.

We have to hope in the little things because the Jones era didn’t leave Pruitt anything big to inherit. We have to find solace in what left with the previous regime.

Gone is the unfolding rusty lawn chair offense of Jones that appeared allergic to vertical routes, tried to work East and West to run from defenders, and make 1st-and-goal from the 2 1st-and-goal from 8 by lining up in shotgun formations.

Maybe this team will play some real football on offense and some real football on defense. Maybe we’ve got a real football coach this time. As my good buddy Wes Rucker said, “Coach Pruitt is the kind of guy who’ll put a dip in and sit in the field house and just talk ball with a high school coach for a couple hours.”

All of us who played ball can appreciate that. Pruitt has worked for every job he’s ever gotten, and he’s been successful every step of the way. He fully expects to be successful at Tennessee, too. But anybody who is expecting an overnight sensation is fooling himself. Get ready to scoff and hear the snide remarks, to feel like “this is the same ol’ Tennessee” as the losses pile up in 2018. Just be ready.

But don’t be surprised if it changes soon. The culture is already changing. Players’ bodies are already changing. Recruiting is already changing.

With Phillip Fulmer in charge of the athletic department and Pruitt in charge of the football program, there feels like an old-school approach to things around UT. Will that include winning? We’re all eagerly awaiting that to happen. We all hope it will happen, and while we all yearn for it to happen quickly, common sense and a look up and down the roster tell us we’re going to have to be patient yet again. You can blame Pruitt — and you probably will at some point in 2018 — but that isn’t his fault. When you make awful hire after awful hire, you rebuild every four or five years. Otherwise, the hires wouldn’t be awful, would they?

I’d love to sit here and tell you, “Be patient because the wins will come.” But I can’t. All I can tell you is expect to win soon. Why?

Because it’s the “Pruitt way.” And everything else so far is being done the way he wants.

Major Vol Hoops Roster Developments Make the Future Look Even Brighter

From Thursday to Sunday there were some relatively significant developments for the Tennessee Basketball program, all of which were positive: 1) News broke that end of the rotation guard Chris Darrington would be transferring, thereby opening another scholarship for Coach Rick Barnes to work with, 2) The esteemed Rob Lewis from Volquest broke the news that 4-star 2018 PG James Akinjo will be taking an official visit to Knoxville the weekend of April 13-14, and 3) 2019 PF DJ Burns took his official visit to Tennessee this weekend.  Below we’ll take a more in depth look at each development and how they intertwine with each other

Darrington Leaves the Program, Tennessee Has Opportunity to Improve

On Friday it was announced that guard Chris Darrington would be given his release to transfer from the program.  While I’ve been more bullish on Drrington that many due to his performance in last summer’s European trip and even in the non-conference portion of last season’s schedule, it was clear that he faced an uphill battle to have a real impact on next season’s team.  He’s a great kid who was dealt a tough hand off the court during the season due to the death of his childhood friend and just never seemed to recover his confidence when his play slipped and his playing time therefore dropped.  He was a popular member of the team and I’m sure his teammates will wish him well.

All that said, this does present an opportunity for Barnes that he simply did not have before.  Tennessee can use its two scholarship openings to add some combination of a high school player, a grad transfer who’s immediately eligible, and even a transfer who has to sit out a year.  They also have positional flexibility that they simply didn’t have with only one opening.

PG James Akinjo (more on him below) is the clear #1 option on the high school front, and what happens with him will likely impact the direction the Vols go with the other spot (or with the remaining two if they don’t land him).  However, with the spring AAU circuit starting and the skaeout from coaching changes still happening, there will likely be a handful of new targets that Tennessee takes a look at.  An immediate example is Carlos Curry, an MTSU signee who asked out of his LOI last week and was immediately offered by Florida State.  Along the Seminoles (where he took an unofficial visit this past fall), Ole Miss (where former MTSU coach Kermit Davis is now the head man), Georgia, Witichia State, and Cincinnati have all been in contact.  And so has Tennessee.  Why?  Because he’s nearly 7’0 and 245 lbs and this weekend at The Opening tournament in Atlanta he was showing range out to 18 feet (projecting to be able to hit 3s as he continues to develop) while using his length to protect the rim.  When he signed with MTSU he did so over offers from Oklahoma and WKU and interest from FSU and Clemson among other ACC schools.  So while he’s not a no-doubt blue-chipper he’s also not exactly under the radar, and he looks like a legit SEC propsect.  We’ll see if anything comes of Tennessee’s interest, but it’s clear that with another scholarship to play with the Vols are going to explore every option out there.

Given the aforementioned hype that the program has and its status as an SEC and National title contender, should the Vols look to go the grad transfer route they are going to be a very attractive option for the best players on the market who are looking to be a part of something special.  At the same time, a grad transfer would mean that Tennessee still has four total scholarships for a 2019 class that is already looking good and has a chance to be special. Finally, the Vols could also look to land a transfer who would have to sit out a year but would have multiple years left to play.  The most prominent of those so far to be mentioned with Tennessee is Utah State SG McEwen, who Lewis has mentioned as someone to definitely keep an eye on.  McEwen, who would be a sit one/play two player, averaged 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 32.3 minutes per game as a sophomore at Utah State and is being courted by Iowa State and Creighton among others. The tie here might be that McEwen is originally from Canada and Barnes as well both assistant coaches Rob Lanier and Desmond Oliver have deep connections in Canada basketball having signed three Canadians while at Texas (NBA players Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph as well as Myck Kabongo) and have at UT signed two in Ray Kasongo (who since transferred) and Kyle Alexander.

The bottom line is that as good as Tennessee was last year, and as much development as this roster still has in front of it, Barnes has a real opportunity to increase the overall talent and depth of the 2018-2019 roster while also adding pieces for the future.  And he can do so in a variety of ways.

 

Akinjo Scheduled Official Visit to Knoxville

While Barnes has emphatically stated that his preference for what was then the lone open scholarship for 2018 was another Guard, it has been hard to find a high level high school prospect that the Vols had a shot with.  That changed when 4-star California PG James Akinjo scheduled his official visit to Tennessee for this coming weekend.

Akinjo is a 6’0, 170 lb player who burst onto the recruiting scene last summer when he earned MVP honors at the 2017 Peach Jam, averaging 18.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.3 rebounds and leading his team to the tournament championship. After taking an official visit to UCONN he signed with the Huskies in the early signing period over offers from Indiana and Virginia among others, but after Coach Nate Ollie was let go he received his release and went back on the open market.

When you watch his tape you see a very hard-nosed kid who is fearless going to the rim and a strong finisher; can get there basically whenever he wants due to his quickness and strong handle; can shoot from the outside and has a quick release; and knows how to get his teammates involved.  He also appears to be a willing defender, which is key if he were to sign with the Vols and play for Barnes.  He’s also young enough to classify for 2019, which means he’s got plenty of upside physically and mentally with the game. Without a doubt Akinjo would be a huge addition to the team both immediately in 2018 as a 3rd primary ball handler behind Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner and also moving forward as Bone and Turner eventually move on.

Akinjo has received intense interest from the likes of Arizona, Georgetown, Cal, and Wichita State, and was at Georgetown this past weekend on the first of four available official visits.  Interestingly, Arizona, who many thought would be a prime contender, picked up a commitment from a different 4-star California PG over the weekend which could very much impact Akinjo’s decision.  Tennessee will certainly have a chance to move into the front of this recruitment this weekend.

Vols Brings in 4-Star 2019 PF DJ Burns for Official Visit, Look to Keep 2019 Momentum Going

After having been on campus multiple times over the last 1-2 years, 2019 stud DJ Burns took his official visit over the weekend, bringing his parents with him on the trip.  Bringing a 2019 prospect in almost seven months before he can sign is a strong sign that Barnes and Co. feel very strongly about their position and the hope is that while he did not commit while on campus he will do so in the coming days and will shut down his recruitment.

Burns is a rugged, 6’9 260 lb forward whose calling card is his combination of brute strength and an advanced post-up game that comes from great footwork, hands, and soft touch around the rim.  His high school coach has incredibly high praise for him, saying, “I think with him he always is developing and always is a great passer. His foot work and feel for the game is unreal. I see this kid as being a pro someday.”  From here it looks like his floor would be freshman year Derrick Walker in that he’s physical and incredibly skilled and that his ceiling is very high and will depend on further growing/body shaping/conditioning, etc.  He is a great student and also appears to be a high character kid (see him quoting Rudyard Kipling in this tweet) who, like his host over the weekend, Grant Williams, is also an accomplished musician who plays four instruments.

Depending on what they do with Darrington’s scholarship, Tennessee should have at least three to four scholarships to give in the 2019 class, and pairing Burns with longtime commitment Davonte Gaines, who will head to Hargrave for a 5th year, would be an outstanding start for the Vols.  This is especially true given that the AAU season is just kicking off and the staff would be able to really narrow in on its targets for the remaining spots.  At the same time, the program is about to get a serious uptick in national exposure, as the offseason hype for next season’s team has already begun with the Vols being ranked anywhere from 5th to 8th in a number of preseason rankings.  Additionally, Tennessee will participate in next season’s NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn, NY along with Kansas, Louisville, and Marquette, and one can assume that Tennessee will get a marquee matchup in the annual SEC-Big 12 Challenge as well.  These will complement what is annually a strong non-conference slate (which this year will at least feature home games against ACC school Georgia Tech and Wake Forest) under Coach Barnes, giving the Vols a myriad of opportunities to showcase the program.

The staff has also already laid the groundwork to fill the class with very highly recruited players.  Tennessee hosted 5-star PG Jalen Lecque for the Kentucky game this past season (to go with two coaches’ visits – in November and again in March), and was the first major conference offer for 5-star Wing Josiah James.  Additionally, the Vols hosted Guards Marcus Watson (#88), Trey McGowens (#89) and Kira Lewis (#119) along with C Jason Jitobah (#191) for last season’s UNC game.  Barnes started the offseason recruiting by by visiting Kira Lewis today (Tennessee’s 3rd visit, this time with the whole staff), and he doubled up with Top 100 guards by visiting Watson as well.  This was the second time UT coaches have visited Watson, the first being back in January, and not only was he in Thompson-Boiling Arena for the UNC game but he also visited campus last June  Per Lewis, Barnes will be visiting James the following weekend, and it’s safe to say that likely won’t be his only visit.  So while more targets will pop up, the Vols have definitely started to hone in on a handful of top level prospects with whom they have already established firm relationships and who have been to campus already.  It’s a great spot to be in as Tennessee looks to have an outstanding opportunity to bring in its highest rated class in a long, long time, which is incredibly exciting for Vol fans

Tennessee Recruiting Efforts Show Commitment to More Beef

This past week might be more indicative of what we should expect from the Jeremy Pruitt regime, as the relationships he’s taken time to build manifested itself in a flurry of commitments.

One common theme throughout most of these new pledges is that they’re bigger than the players currently on campus. That’s no surprise. Pruitt mentioned several times over the course of his first few months that he wanted to see the Vols get bigger — both in the weight room and on the recruiting trail with the type of athlete they were recruiting.

Not only have we noticed in drills that a lot of the players are bigger (guys like quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and linebacker Quart’e Sapp) but also, the guys Pruitt is bringing in are elevating the average size of the roster.

The week started with an expected pledge from Cartersville, Georgia, tight end Jackson Lowe, who Tennessee loved and had high atop their list at the tight end position — a major need for the team in this recruiting cycle. At 6’5″, 242 pounds, Lowe is athletic for his size, can catch passes and looks to be a strong inline blocker. He’s used to catching passes and pass-blocking, as his quarterback a season ago was top-ranked signal-caller Trevor Lawrence, a player who grew up high on the Vols but ultimately chose Clemson because of failures by the previous regime.

Lowe was coveted by many of the top teams in the country, including Clemson, but fell in love with the Vols, Pruitt, tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer and commitment Jackson Lampley.

Tennessee continued the trend with a defensive tackle pledge from LeDarrius Cox, a 6’4″, 305-pound defensive tackle from McGill Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama. He had offers from Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and others, and he will be a high-rising recruit. Though he’s just a 3-star prospect, he’ll see his interest surge. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if Alabama or Auburn pulls the trigger because everybody knows how hard it is to pull players out of the Yellowhammer State, especially with the way both those instate teams are currently surging.

Earlier in the week, Tennessee pulled 2020 athlete Kristian Story from Alabama, a 6’2″, 207-pound athlete who is one of the nation’s top 200 players in that class. He’s expected to be one of the top overall players from the state in that group, which could be Pruitt’s best class with all the time to build relationships.

Tennessee followed up Cox’s recruitment with a commitment from an old name. JUCO defensive end Darel Middlelton, who chose UT while he was an underclassman at Powell High School. He transferred to Oak Ridge, had some off-the-field issues and wound up at East Mississippi Community College. He was once a 240-pound tight end prospect, but now he’s a 6’7″, 290-pound defensive end. It’s unclear whether he’d be part of the 2018 or ’19 class for the Vols, who are trying to get him in, but he’s an elite athlete if he can make the grades.

Sure, he’ll be rough around the edges, but a player of that size is somebody Tennessee can’t afford to turn away. Pruitt liked him when he was at Alabama, and teams like LSU and Georgia showed a lot of interest in him, too. If Tennessee can start getting big bruisers like him and 300-pound JUCO commitment Emmit Gooden in school, that’s a positive development for a program that looks like it finally wants to start competing to play SEC football.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Tennessee is going after all these big-name prospects who are bigger in stature, too. Pruitt immediately noticed the size discrepancy when he got to Rocky Top. Simply put: There were times a year ago when UT didn’t look like an SEC team, and that goes for the team throughout the roster.

That’s why the Vols vowed to get bigger, and they did at places like running back where they recruited 6’2″, 220-pound Jeremy Banks and received a graduate transfer from Michigan State power runner Madre London, who is 6’1″, 220. Heck, even Keller Chryst, the graduate transfer quarterback, is 240 pounds.

It just so happens the nation’s top-ranked player is a running back/outside linebacker from North Carolina named Quavaris Crouch, who is a monstrous 6’2″, 224 pounds and who has already visited Tennessee for a multi-day visit. Of course, the Vols will have plenty of competition for him, but they’re going to be in the race for the long haul.

For those looking for a quick fix in Knoxville, you’re probably going to be disappointed. The roster deficiencies Butch Jones left are prevalent. The argument can be made that the roster — at least in places — is worse than the one he took over when Derek Dooley was fired, which is crazy considering the good recruiting Jones did at times. That speaks to his failures in player development, and it’s why UT fans hold out hope that the new staff can get the most out of players who were expected to play better than their careers have proved thus far.

But you simply can’t play SEC football with a finesse scheme on either side of the ball. That was evidenced by all the injuries the Vols suffered the past few years and also by the fact that Tennessee had few players on its team that made any game-breaking plays on either side of the ball. They were kind of just … there.

When you see Alabama and Georgia step onto the field, you see physical freaks flying around all over the field, making tackles or breaking tackles, making plays and forcing turnovers or scoring touchdowns. Tennessee isn’t there, and the ’18 version of the Vols probably won’t be, either.

But Pruitt has seen it up close and personal while with the Tide and Dawgs. Heck, he recruited a lot of those players making those plays. So, he knows what it takes.

The Tennessee transformation has begun.

The Next Step for SEC Basketball

2017-18 saw the deepest SEC of all-time, with eight NCAA Tournament teams breaking the old conference record of six. The championship banner Tennessee and Auburn will hang is the greatest testament to the quality of their seasons.

Seven of those eight tournament teams had a favorable seed in the opening round; only Alabama was truly on the bubble. Six SEC teams won in the first round. It was in the second round when things got crazy. Kentucky, the league’s bluest blood, beat 13-seed Buffalo by 20. Florida, a six seed, lost to three seed Texas Tech by three points. Everything else? Tennessee lost to 11-seed Loyola-Chicago on a semi-miraculous bounce with three seconds to play. Alabama lost to Villanova by 23 points; Auburn lost to Clemson by 31. And Texas A&M beat two seed North Carolina by 21.

The Cats and Aggies then bowed out in the Sweet 16, leaving the league with zero teams in the Elite Eight one year after putting three in the regional finals. The Big 12 added to their claim as the nation’s best conference with three teams in the Elite Eight, followed by the ACC with two.

But while the lasting SEC memory from 2017-18 is depth, the league has also positioned itself to continue to evolve.

Three SEC teams were in the 2017-18 preseason AP poll: the usual suspects from Kentucky and Florida in the Top 10, plus Texas A&M sneaking in at #25. In the first round of Way Too Early Top 25s for 2019?

You get the idea. Behind Tennessee, Auburn, and Kentucky is a Mississippi State program looking to cash in, star-studded freshman classes at LSU and Vanderbilt, and more of the same from Florida and Texas A&M. A team like Arkansas would have been the third or fourth best in the league almost by default five years ago. Now they might not make the top ten.

As it relates to Tennessee, the league should be tougher than ever…but it should also represent the best opportunity on the Vols’ resume. Much of UT’s case this year was made by beating Purdue and almost beating Villanova and North Carolina. But what we know of the non-conference schedule for next season doesn’t have as many opportunities. Home-and-homes with Wake Forest and Georgia Tech haven’t panned out as both programs have struggled. It’s great to have the Memphis rivalry back in our lives, but I’m not sure it’ll be a resume builder in Penny Hardaway’s first season. And the Vols are in the preseason NIT next year with Kansas, Louisville, and Marquette, but only the Jayhawks will be considered a national threat in the preseason.

We’ll see who the Vols draw in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but if the league does indeed feature five or six ranked teams throughout the season, their best work will come in conference play. You have to go back to the pre-Bruce Pearl era at Tennessee to find a time when the SEC was good enough to make or break its own teams.

It will only get harder, but the basketball will only get better. One year after showing its depth like never before, the SEC should have a chance to make its case at the top of college basketball world.

Should Tennessee Shoot More Threes Next Year?

Earlier this week Dylan took a look at how Tennessee might adapt its offensive philosophy next season. It’s a great question: should the Vols continue to rely on their physicality and inside presence, or look to space the floor even more with better three-point shooting?

The 2017-18 Vols were not only the program’s second-highest-rated team of the KenPom era (still trailing Cuonzo Martin’s final squad), they were also one of the more complex during Tennessee’s run in the last 13 years. Bruce Pearl’s first squad won with great shooting, turning you over and not turning it over themselves. The 2008 Vols added inside threats with Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism, enabling them to space the floor with Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith while continuing to force turnovers on the other end. The Elite Eight squad in 2010 was one of the worst three-point shooting teams of this era (32%), but played excellent team defense with a bothersome lineup of Bobby Maze and four guys that went 6’7″ to 6’10”. Cuonzo’s 2014 team feasted on offensive rebounds while playing great defense without sending teams to the free throw line.

What was this year’s team best at? Statistically the answer is defense, where the Vols are sixth in KenPom’s efficiency ratings, and, as has been the case all year, assist percentage. The Vols are seventh nationally with an assist on 62.1% of their made shots.

So the story on Tennessee’s three-point shooting goes like this:

  • The Vols shot 38% from the arc, 45th nationally. It was Tennessee’s highest percentage from three since…2006! Pearl’s first team shot 38.8%, 18th nationally that year. The Vols fell slightly to 36.5% and 35.8% the next two years, impacted by the loss of C.J. Watson and, in 2008, Chris Lofton’s cancer. Since 2008 the Vols had not shot better than 34.4% (Cuonzo’s first team) from three until this year.
  • Who was the best shooter on this team? All of them. Admiral Schofield, Lamonte Turner, and Jordan Bowden all amazingly finished at 39.5%. Jordan Bone shot 38%. James Daniel shot 37.2%. Tennessee’s percentage didn’t come from one or two really great shooters, but five pretty good shooters. And four of them will be back next year.
  • But…only 35.7% of Tennessee’s field goal attempts were threes. That percentage is 220th nationally. The production is counter-balanced by what Tennessee did at the free throw line: a free throw rate of 35.5% was solid, 107th nationally, but the Vols also shot 75.7% at the line, 43rd nationally.

The answer, of course, is more complicated than, “Let’s just shoot more threes!” I don’t know if there’s a shooter on this roster who is consistently good enough to build more of the offense around. This year the Vols built it around going inside to Grant Williams (and later playing through Admiral Schofield) and emphasized great ball movement. Tennessee made so many threes in large part because so many of them were good looks off good ball movement. The way the 2016-17 team’s success and failure was so easily identifiable through how many assists they had, you could see this coming at the start of the year.

Dylan also took a look at one area of improvement for the starters on this team. When it comes to outside shooting, I think the greatest room for improvement isn’t necessarily what a player can do to shoot it better from three, but what the Vols could do with Kyle Alexander and Derrick Walker inside next year. If one or both of those guys can make even a mini-leap, Tennessee could have two inside players capable of scoring at a high rate on the floor at all times next season. That sort of dynamic can open things up even more for Tennessee’s guards from the outside, and showcase Admiral Schofield even more in the J.P. Prince facilitator role.

You know Tennessee is going to play excellent defense at this point. Offensively next season, I don’t think the answer is a philosophical shift to more outside shooting as much as an opportunity to get even better looks through the offensive maturation of the players with the most room to grow. And obviously, as a team, the Vols played pretty close the national ceiling all season as a three seed. There is much to be excited about here.

Will Rick Barnes Adapt His Offensive Philosophy Next Season?

The Ringer has a really interesting piece about how while there are very few future NBA players in the Final Four, all four teams are running NBA systems (i.e., spreading the floor with virtually all five players on the court as three-point threats).  It speaks to a few things about the future of college basketball (the NBA is already there) in which positional versatility is incredibly valued while at the same time true back to the basket big men are ever rarer.  All of these are germane to a discussion about the immediate future of the Tennessee Basketball program:

Should Tennessee Zig While Others Zag?

On the one hand, one could make a strong case that Tennessee’s physicality inside with Grant Williams, Derrick Walker, Admiral Schofield (if the opposing defense puts a smaller defender on him), and potentially even Yves Pons given his physique, is the one competitive advantage the Vols might have against most every opponent regardless of relative talent.  And that when the rest of the country is playing small ball, with either UK/Duke/UNC-type NBA talent or not, Tennessee should instead lean on its biggest asset – size and physicality – to win games and go deep into March.  A sort of reprise of the Memphis Grizzlies’ Grit n Grind style where the Grizzlies parlayed the size, brute force, and defensive tenacity of Marc Gasol/Zach Randolph/Tony Allen into a stretch of deep playoff runs when everyone else was talking about how floor-bound big men were a thing of the past and the only way to win was to shoot 50 three-pointers a game.  That was basically Tennessee’s formula this past season and they won 26 games and an SEC Championship and will return just about all of the talent + experience next season.  It would be very fair for Rick Barnes to say let’s do it again, just a little better, right?

Or Should Tennessee Evolve?

On the other hand, the article presents a compelling reason for Tennessee to if not change its philosophy (you can be physical and play great defense no matter what your offensive style is) then at least augment it on the offensive end to get better.

The author states: “The point isn’t that their offenses ensured deep runs in the NCAA tournament. It’s that a more progressive style of play gave them a chance against more talented teams.”  No matter who Tennessee adds in the late signing period to fill its (current) one spot on the roster, the Vols will not be among the most talented 15-20 teams in the country based on NBA potential if not also other metrics.  However, the team is good enough to likely be at worst a Preseason Top 15 team and a strong contender for yet another very high seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Therefore, it would behoove Coach Barnes to both make sure that a worse/less talented team doesn’t use a more optimized offensive strategy to pull an upset while at the same time giving Tennessee its best chance to win against more talented teams. As if to drive home the point for Tennessee, the author very specifically calls out the fact that Tennessee took twice as many long 2s as Loyola did in its one-point 2nd round loss – illustrating that it was offensive philosophy and not talent that won that game for the Sister Jeans.

The article strongly bolsters the case presented here and here that what many of Tennessee’s returning roster – both starters and bench players – can do for their respective games in the offseason is improve their 3-point shooting:

Imagine a team where neither Grant Williams nor Kyle Alexander are solely dependent on post scoring but instead have added respectable and even reliable three-point shooting to their respective repertoires; Jordan Bone is deadeye with an open look that comes from great ball movement from the perimeter as well as inside-out passing; Yves Pons has continued to develop his three point shooting; and both Jalen Johnson  and Zach Kent have earned minutes on the defensive end such that their strong shooting is on the floor…and all of these are in combination with the already deadly shooting of Admiral Schofield, Lamonte Turner, and Jordan Bowden.  That’s a team that is nearly impossible to defend and can adapt to any kind of defense thrown at it regardless of the relative talent on the floor.

Judgement: Make that Change

The first scenario is interesting, more comfortable, and therefore probably easier to lean on if you’re Rick Barnes.  The man has won a ton of games and played in 23 NCAA Tournaments – he’s clearly very good at what he does.  However, in the end I think it’s pretty clear that in order for the Vols to take the next step – unless they’re going to start landing one and done type NBA players and can simply outman everyone, which is extremely unlikely – they’re going to have to adapt their offensive scheme to start spacing the floor better and shooting more threes.  The good news is twofold: Barnes is both incredibly smart and strategic – witness how he handled this team all season – and he has the players with the potential to do this with some simple offseason skill development that requires neither a full overhaul of the existing roster nor anyone completely retooling their game.  It will be fascinating to watch and see what kind of changes Barnes looks to make with his veteran roster so that the Vols are dancing much further into March of 2019 than they were in 2018.

Gameday Today: Special ICY(&I)MI edition

The end of a couple of long seasons is a fine time to catch your breath and maybe focus on a few things you’ve been neglecting for a bit too long. There will be no condemnation here because that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for the past week. For me, I devoted a day or two to digesting the Loyola-Chicago loss and then became a fan of the team, rooting them on to the Final Four. I’m hoping they win the whole thing. I’ve also been attending to some other business matters in much need of such attention and working on getting our annual magazine on pace to get to the printer on time in late April.

All that is to explain why this is a special ICYMI edition of our usually-more-regular Vols link dump. Mostly, it’s because I would have otherwise missed it, but I’m guessing that many of you might be in the same boat. So, let’s catch up together.

The Vols’ coaching search FOIA data dump

Yeah. This was big, and there’s a lot to process, but one of the best articles on the subject is this one from Celina Summers. Celina, by the way, has contributed an article on the topic to our magazine this year as well. She does a great job, and we’re happy to have her contributing this year.

Say Goodbye to Basketball

Rick Barnes had his post-season debriefing with the media a couple of days ago and said mostly what you’d expect him to say, but it’s still refreshing:

And no, we’re not being picked to finish 13th in the SEC next season. We already being picked first:

Say Hello to Football

The smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips sticking their beautiful noses into the sky.

And guys running around in shoulder pads and shorts to the glorious noise of whistles and shouts:

And all of it happening under the no-nonsense leadership of Jeremy Pruitt:

Pruitt is either (a) not big on praise, or (b) lacking much to praise, as sweet nothings from the lips of the head coach are pretty sparse these days. He sounds like he’s in full-on evaluation mode, and he’s not yet drawn any conclusions about anything.

You can, however, begin to discern what is especially important to him from the few words he does utter:

“The first thing we talked about is that we want to become a team, we think that’s important for us,” Pruitt said. “We want to learn how to practice, we want to see how much knowledge we retain at each individual position and we want to see who the competitors are, we want to see who handles adversity.”

So, we didn’t know how to practice, we’re having to re-teach them everything, and we’re not sure yet which ones have the mental fortitude to do what we’re asking. Whew. Okay.

There’s also this bit that I found particularly interesting:

“Sometimes you get beat because the other guy’s better than you, and sometimes you get beat because maybe you don’t execute it the right way,” Pruitt said. “If the other team beats us because they’re better than us, that’s one thing, but when you make mental errors, which we made a lot of mental errors out there today. We were not very focused in the meetings and didn’t take what we went over in meetings to the field. That probably contributed to some of it.”

Most of our recent football-related pain has come in the form of Tennessee losing to teams that were not better, so woo for the focus on jettisoning those first. I think most of us will be happy only losing to better teams. That has to be first, and only after that do you get to actually being the best team every week.

But while we’re not getting any opinions from the head man yet, we do have some actual news. Four players are being tested at new positions: running back Carlin Fils-aime at cornerback, tight end Princeton Fant at running back, defensive lineman Ja’Quain Blakely at tight end, and wide receiver Tyler Byrd at defensive back. Pruitt’s not sure whether any of the experiments are going to work.

Also, Quay Picou has left the program, but the absences of Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Tim Jordan are nothing to worry over, as Kirkland is recovering from a knee procedure and Jordan is recovering from appendix surgery.

And finally, the defensive-minded Pruitt was “ticked off” after practice yesterday, and it made him openly wonder about his defensive bias. Statements like that are likely to cause fans to experience anxiety borne of watching other former defensive coordinators who suddenly found themselves in head coaching gigs running feeble offenses out onto the field and hoping to win every game 3-0.

Fortunately, Pruitt seems to be aware of this potential blind spot and has not only assembled an offensive staff he trusts but has also enlisted help from John Lilly, who’s been hired as executive assistant to the head coach. Check this out:

“The first thing John does is he’s here to help me,” Pruitt said. “I think it’s clear that I want to be involved on the defensive side from a daily organization standpoint, but at the same time, we’re not going to do anything our program that I’m not aware about, that it don’t go through me.
“Now, what I don’t want to do is come in there and ask the offensive staff a million questions. ‘Why you doing this? Why you doing that?’ You’ve got a guy that can explain to me a little bit about what’s going on, so I can eliminate some of the questions.”

So, maybe Lilly is less an executive assistant and more a “Liaison to the Offense.”

Looking Ahead to 2018-2019 II: 2017-18 Bench Can Take 2018-19 Team to Next Level

Looking at Tennessee’s projected roster for the 2018-2019 basketball season, it is truly striking how young the team is and therefore how much improvement can be expected. Further illustrating that fact is that all but one of the returning bench players were freshmen (true or redshirt), this past season and two of them will in fact be redshirt sophomores. After looking at what the Vols’ starters, along with the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, can do to improve their games during the offseason, it’s time to take a look at what we might expect from each of the returning bench players after an offseason of development

Derrick Walker

Walker emerged as an integral piece of this past season’s team, showing outstanding court awareness and passing ability to go with a soft touch around the rim and a physicality that matched up with his brawny physique.  However, he struggled mightily on the defensive end against Loyola, where his lack of foot speed and overall conditioning were weaknesses that the Ramblers exploited time and again.  That said, in that same game he showed some skills that make you think he’s got All-SEC potential down the line – tenaciously fighting for multiple offensive rebounds using his motor and bulk and making a midrange jumper that showed off his nice shooting stroke.  An offseason of physical development will likely turn up a much different looking Walker come November – stronger yet leaner and with an improved ability to much more effectively hedge against ball screens out on the perimeter.

Yves Pons

Pons came to Tennessee as a very raw but very tantalizing prospect with uber-athleticism and decent-looking shot.  After getting barely spot minutes for most of the season, he slowly worked his way firmly into the rotation to the point where he was often the first non-guard off the bench for the latter part of February and all of March.   He was physical on the defensive end and used his length, athleticism, and physicality to be able to defend multiple positions. He also expanded his offensive game, going 2-3 on 3-pointers (his one miss being an ill-advised shot against Loyola) and going from instantly passing the ball when he got it on the wing to slashing to the basket in an attempt to make things happen. The play that showed what he can be next season with a full offseason in Knoxville occurred against Wright State when he drove the baseline and made an up and under layup where he made it look like he was playing on an 8-foot goal – he just looked like a beast, and one who was finally figuring things out.  If he can become a legitimate threat to get to the rim from the wing while at the same time honing his three point shot he’ll get more and more minutes at both the 3 and 4 spots

John Fulkerson

Fulkerson has had an up and down season following missing almost a full year of basketball and strength and conditioning after his injury but continued to get minutes deep into the season.  He played quite a bit during Tennessee’s run to the SEC Tournament championship game and then got 15 strong minutes in the Vols big opening game win over Wright State in the NCAA Tournament.  During that stretch Fulkerson displayed the kind of skills that Barnes has liked about him since he camped with the Vols before his senior season of high school: nonstop hustle and a willingness to crash the boards along with some raw but developable post moves.  However, when forced into more than spot duty with Kyle Alexander out against Loyola, Fulkerson’s lack of bulk and overall offensive game was exploited.  He’ll need to fully dedicate himself in the weight room in the offseason to be ready for the rigor of post play at the kind of level Tennessee wants to be playing, while at the same time continuing to hone his post moves to make him a viable if last resort option on the offensive end

Jalen Johnson

Jalen Johnson, the #147 ranked player in his class, came to Tennessee with a rep as a good three-point shooter with explosive leaping ability. Johnson worked to earn some playing time later in the season and showed flashes of the athleticism and shooting that has the staff very excited about his future. He’ll need to continue to get stronger so that he’s not as easily knocked off his spot on dribble drives and at the same time continue to earn Barnes’s trust on the defensive end.  He’s got one of the best combinations of athleticism and length on the team though, so it’s imperative that he start to put it together in order for him to be able to get on the court

Zach Kent

Kent, like Jalen Johnson the season before, was a strategic redshirt for Coach Barnes this past season.  He was ranked in the Top 175 in his class and earned offers over the course of his recruitment from Indiana, Maryland, Notre Dame and Oregon among others.  Kent will bring a skill set that is unique to the team: A 6’11, ~235 lb player with range to 25 feet, Kent will give Barnes tons of options in terms of who he can pair him with – that kind of shooting threat from a PF/C will make teams think twice about double-teaming Grant Williams and Tennessee’s other big men in the paint.  After a year in the weight room Kent should be able to at least hold his own in the post on defense and on the boards, and his ability to spread the floor will open things up inside not just for Volunteer post players but also driving lanes for Tennessee’s slashers

Chris Darrington

Darrington has a real chance to fill in for James Daniel III should Tennessee not fill its last roster spot with a Guard.  A JUCO College All-American, he’s got great length and uses it well on the defensive end.  Darrington came in with a rep as a scorer/shooter, and actually led the team in scoring on the preseason European trip (14.3 points per game over the 3 games).  He subsequently missed most of the preseason with an injury that threw him off, but he came back and played quite well, and quite a bit, earlier in the season – he had 10 assists against both High Point and Mercer.  He also enjoyed his most productive game in Tennessee’s win over Lipscomb (12/9/17), as his 11 points, five assists and three rebounds were all season-highs, and he averaged 13 minutes a game over first 10 OOC games (with a high of 20 against Lipscomb), then 9 and 11 against Arkansas and Auburn.  After that his play fell off and subsequently his minutes did as well.  Likely not coincidentally that happened around the same time as the untimely death of one of his best friends from back home, which threw him into a funk mentally.  Tennessee is searching for another Guard in the 2018 class and hoping it is someone dynamic who can complement what they already have on the roster in Bone/Turner/Bowden.  Regardless of who they add though, Darrington will have a chance to move on from a disappointing individual season and carve out a meaningful role on next season’s team

The Vols will be hoping to add more player to the roster to fill James Daniels III’s spot.  Whether that is a high school player or a graduate transfer remains to be seen, as is whether that player is a Guard or Forward.  What is really exciting though is that no matter who else is added there are already six players on the roster behind the top 6 that together bring a combination of experience, skill, and unique talent to the team, and are just scratching the surface of their games.

Looking Ahead to 2018-2019 I: One Area of Improvement for the Starters

After observing a personal 24-hour rule and mourning not only the actual season-ending loss to Loyola but the missed opportunity it represented, it’s time to look at next season’s roster and forecast how the team can get better to make a run at a repeat SEC Championship and a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament.  As we’ve discussed here, there is at ton of upside to the team based on the fact that there is a lot of talent on the team and a large majority of it is still very young and has a lot of development ahead of it.  There’s also the possibility of adding another player to the roster to take the place of the departing James Daniel III – either a freshman (hopefully the more than likely NBA-bound SG Anfernee Simons) or another grad transfer – that we’ll discuss in more depth soon.  Right now let’s talk about the front end of the returning rotation, meaning the (all 5!) starters and the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, and look at the one main are of improvement each of them can make:

Grant Williams

The reigning SEC Player of the Year will only be a Junior and as one would expect has a pretty solid all-around game.  He’s a brute inside, has nice touch on his midrange jumper (though he misses too many bunnies for my liking), and has great court awareness and does a good job of finding the open man when he’s double teamed.  All that said, the one weapon he could add to his arsenal that could make him much more difficult to defend – and at the same time make the team much harder to stop – is a dependable three-point shot.  Specifically, the top of the key three (think Yaten Maten and how deadly he was from that spot), either within the halfcourt offense or trailing on a secondary break.  The good news is that he already displays good form on his jumpshot and shoots a relatively high percentage from the free throw line.  Not only that, but it’s easy to forget that although he only took 25 three-pointers this season – and made a very poor 3 of them for an ugly 12% (frankly I don’t remember him taking even that many) – he was a more than respectable 12/32 his freshman year, good for 37.5%, most of them coming from the top of the key.  Point being, he has the capability, and though I respect his willingness to play to his strengths inside and at the same time let the better three point shooters take them if he can add this to his game it would make him virtually unstoppable

Admiral Schofield

One could pretty easily make the case that Schofield was the MVP of this past season’s team, and that was before we saw what happened when he left the Loyola game with his second foul five minutes into the game after his 11 points pushed the Vols to a 15-6 early lead. Schofield was a revelation this season, expanding his game to become both a bully inside as well as a very dependable 3-point shooter.  He also added a face-up midrange jumpshot to his arsenal.  You know that no one is going to work on his game harder than Admiral, and after his famous 1000-three pointers per day this past offseason led to his performance from behind the line this season one can be assured he’s going to do the same before next season.  So what can he add to his game to take it to another level?  My take would be that if he can clean up handle to make his slashing game smoother and more effective he would be near impossible to stop at the college level and make himself into a legitimate NBA prospect as a 3 and D slasher who can defend a handful of positions

Jordan Bone

The subject of a lot of frustration to fans and coaches alike due to his inconsistency, Bone had a really good March overall (ask Arkansas in particular) and showed more than a few glimpses of what he can become with some reachable improvement.  Bone is probably one of two guys on the current team (along with Jordan Bowden – see below) who has the physical ability to be an effective one-on-one player that can get to the rim and score when Barnes’s half-court offense doesn’t generate a good look for someone.  He’s so quick and fast that there aren’t many college basketball players who can stay in front of him.  He also somewhat quietly developed a both a pretty solid three-point shot and midrange pullup jumper.  Getting himself to where open three pointers automatic (he’s not going to take contested threes unless it’s the end of the shot clock) and at the same time developing the mentality that he can’t be stopped getting to the rim – and bulking up a bit to be able to finish better through contact – is how Jordan can make tangible improvement.  Finally, Bone has the physical ability to become a defensive stopper/difference maker – simply a guy who cannot be driven by and also as someone who causes turnovers regularly.  The adage about how guard play determines winners in March is uttered ad nauseum for a reason, and Bone is the guy on the team whose improvement is directly linked to that, which is why I’ve taken some liberties with the number of areas of improvement for him

Jordan Bowden

Bowden brings a lot to the court, including solid defense and excellent rebounding for his position.  He was also one of the best three-point shooters in the country throughout the entire out of conference slate; unfortunately, that touch left him for much of the SEC season and even into March.  That said, he did make a couple of threes in the NCAA Tournament, including a huge corner three during Tennessee’s furious late-game comeback against Loyola, and I am operating under the assumption that he can get himself to a solid 40%+ shooter from deep with another offseason of work and development.  Where his game can take another step is in the halfcourt, tightening up his handle and, maybe importantly, developing an attacking mentality, such that when he catches the ball either on the wing or in the paint off of a curl, he’s looking to get to the rim and finish.  He must get stronger and quicker to do that, but the ability is clearly there, and with the threat of the catch and shoot three pointer in the opponent’s scouting report he should be able to easily get a first step on his defender on his way to the basket.

Kyle Alexander

Oh how Kyle was missed on Saturday against Loyola. While his offense can be hit or miss, the rim protection he brings to the table is simply unmatched by the backup big men on the team.  Without Alexander at the back of the defense Tennessee’s wings had to help on drives, which led to multiple kick-out three pointers.  The good news is that Kyle will be back to anchor the defense once again, likely with more size and explosiveness after another offseason of physical development.  And while he’s most often the 5th option on offense, if he can become a consistent shooter that would give Tennessee that many more options on offense.  Frankly, if Kyle wants to be an NBA player he would be wise to follow Admiral’s lead and work on his three point shot.  Thin 6’11 rim protectors are valuable in the NBA, but guys who fit that profile who are also at least reasonable threats from three are not only where the NBA is headed but really where it is already.  It was a long time ago, but don’t forget that Tennessee doesn’t beat Purdue without Alexander’s late-game three pointer that helped send it into overtime.  He’s got a nice stroke, which shows up from the free throw stripe, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.  I’m not sure that’s where Barnes will want Kyle to go, but imagine an offense that has 5 three-point shooters on the floor with Bone/Bowden as true drive threats…to me that’s enticing and entirely possible

Lamonte Turner

Mr. Big Shot earned that nickname all season long, making game-changing and even game-winning shots throughout the year and into March.  Later in the season he also started taking the ball to the rim, mostly in transition with the idea of making a play by wither scoring or getting to the foul line.  His aggressiveness and fearlessness are unmatched and are a big part of why this past season was so successful.  Turner’s development will come from improving his overall quickness to improve on both ends of the floor, allowing him to drive past defenders in the halfcourt on offense and better stay in front of his man on defense (a real weakness, in my opinion). Additionally, Turner, a natural scorer in a PG body, needs to improve his post passing and overall awareness about when and how to get the ball into guys like Williams and his fellow big men

There is obviously tons of improvement that Tennessee’s 5+1 can make between Saturday’s heartbreaking end to the season and the beginning of what should be the most hyped and anticipated Volunteer basketball season in at least 10 years.  That’s what makes the future of the program so bright and Tennessee fans so excited about what Coach Barnes has going on in Knoxville.  Next up we’ll take a look at the remainder of the roster and what each of them can do with their games to take the team to the next level.