SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 5-15-14
DIAMOND VOL DRAMA II: The Baseball Vols lengthy tutorial on the art of winning close games continued in Starkville with one win in three games that were there for the taking. Two one-run losses brings the Vols Conference record in one run games to 2-6 and 0-3 in extra innings. Tennessee (11-16) now sit in 11th place and must keep pace with both Georgia (10-16-1) and Auburn (10-17) to maintain their slim ½ game lead over both and secure an elusive SEC Tournament berth. With league-leading #8 Florida wanting nothing less than to keep the Vols SEC Tournament exclusion streak intact a berth is anything but assured. It should mean some intriguing baseball with near-capacity crowds. The Vols trail Kentucky by one game and hold the tiebreaker over the Cats while Georgia and Auburn hold the same advantage over the Big Orange. Assuming the Vols can win one game versus the hated Gators an LSU or Kentucky series win would be cause for celebration. Here are the schedules for those fighting for the last of the coveted tournament slots:
Kentucky: (12-15) @ Georgia
Auburn: (10-17) #15 LSU
Georgia: (10-16-1) Kentucky
#-Rankings according to Baseball America
RISK WORTH THE REWARD? Donnie Tyndall and staff have hit the ground running and proven to be undeterred in their quest to refurbish the depleted Volunteer Basketball roster in a seemingly impossible four-week period. In the best of situations spring hoops recruiting has always been a minefield full of late bloomers, projects, and academic and behavioral at-risk prospects to be navigated carefully. In ideal times I would advise our staff to proceed cautiously.
These unfortunately are not ideal times. So far the Vols new staff has signed Monroe High School (Albany, Ga) PF Jabari McGhee, Wekiva HS (Apopka, Fl) F Willie Carmichael, JUCO SGs Kevin Punter and Devon Baulkman, Notre Dame Prep SG Detrick Mostella, IUPUI graduate transfer PG/2G Ian Chiles and has a commitment from Florida Gulf Coast graduate transfer C Eric McKnight. That is an excellent class under any circumstances let alone a signing period known for limited options. It must be stated that at the very least Mostella, McKnight and Baulkman meet the definition of at-risk recruits. It is uncertain at this time if Mostella will pass NCAA Clearinghouse requirements, McKnight did not have the option of returning to FGCU due to behavioral issues and Baulkman has a 2013 simple possession of marijuana arrest on his record. I understand completely those who will question if this is the way to begin building the foundation that will become known as the Donnie Tyndall era of Tennessee Basketball. I’m not one to carte blanche subscribe to the philosophy that desperate times call for desperate measures and while those three signings in particular certainly come with some risk they are not desperate and certainly worth the small gamble. Why? Because they show the staff is unwilling to deny young men with reasonable issues a second opportunity or to toss away an entire season. More importantly what small risks exist are short-term involving players with only one or two years of eligibility remaining with the exception of Mostella who would simply open another slot if he fails the Clearing House scrutiny. The true foundation of the program going forward will be determined by the few high schoolers signed prior to the May 21st deadline and those to follow in November and beyond. That group should be expected to come with less rolling of the dice.
WHO’S RUNNING THIS SHOW? In a recent article by Randy Moore at
insidetennessee.com (I urge you to subscribe, it is a great site well worth the minimal cost) concerning Tennessee’s current Point Guard situation he astutely deadpanned:
For years Tennessee basketball fans who grumbled “We don’t have a point guard” were speaking figuratively. Nowadays they’re speaking literally. There is no question that PG is beyond a position of need when it comes to Tennessee’s current roster but I’m not sure we can expect Donnie Tyndall to solve a riddle in four weeks that seemingly befuddled the previous two staffs for eight years following the departure of C.J Watson in 2006. Realizing that true PGs are as rare as pocket passers these days Tennessee’s difficulty in filling the position seems to surpass simple supply and demand issues. As close I can tell Bruce Pearl’s staff tried 11 different players at the position in his last five seasons at the helm while Cuonzo and company utilized eight in only three years.
Take a deep breath and follow along; Pearl employed
Melvin Goins, Trae Golden, Skyler McBee, Josh Bone, Bobby Maze, J.P Prince, Josh Tabb, Ramar Smith, Jordan Howell, Marques Johnson and Dane Bradshaw. Looking back Maze was probably the only classic PG of the bunch while Dane Bradshaw –who popularized the Pearl-invented point-forward position- was probably the next closest thing.
Cuonzo and staff had a similar everyone’s-a-potential-floor-general approach using
Wes Washpun, McBee, Golden, Brandon Lopez, Armani Moore, Josh Richardson, Antonio Barton and Darius Thompson. Like Pearl before him only one (Thompson) of that mishmash seemed comfortably fit for the role.
Tyndall may have to shoehorn several combo guards into the role of floor leader before finding someone that fills the seemingly black hole in the program. He can however take solace in the fact that the Vols have made six of the last 8 NCAA Tournaments facing a similar problem.
SPRING BREAK: With Fab-Five Freddy and my annual baseball junket straight ahead and the month that sports forgot –with apologies to NBA enthusiast- in full swing I am taking a short spring blog break. I will be back in a couple of weeks at which time Donnie Tyndall’s first roster should be finalized, the NBA Finals will be in-progress, MLB will be 1/3 of the way home, College Football Preseason Magazines will be on the stand, the start of the season will be less than 100 days away and we’ll count it down together. Until then may God bless you and your loved ones and I greatly appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to read the blog.
IN A PERFECT WORLD: The Diamond Vols would sweep the Gators on the way to an NCAA Regional Tournament berth.
