POSTERIZED: Kenny Hall brings down the Hump

This post is sponsored by the Fairfield Inn Bloomington.

Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin was always known for his hard, tough-as-nails type of play when he patrolled the paint at Purdue. His attidude, work ethic and demeanor seems to be wearing off on his players.

Just take a look at what Junior forward Kenny hall did to some poor sap on Mississippi State last night:



The Volunteers lost the game by four, but the final score is irrelevant when a guy throws down a monster dunk like this. Wendell Lewis, the poor bloke who got #POSTERIZED, finished with five blocks. He was going for No.6 when Mr. Hall put him on a poster.


But was it as good as these?

Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26


Continue reading...

Memphis has its issues, but Tennessee is better than we thought

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

Maybe now we know why Josh Pastner won't schedule Tennessee.

Memphis, who came into the Maui Invitational as one of the favorites, lost to Michigan in the first round as the Wolverines ran offense and defense that was simply too complex for them. In Tuesday's bounce back game against Tennessee, the Tigers opened up a 14 point first half lead, but were never able to put away the Vols. Jeronne Maymon, who finished with 32 points and 20 rebounds (the last three players to go for 30 and 20 were Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley) in what can probably be deemed a breakout game, tied the game at the end of regulation on a swooping drive to the rim, but the Tigers pulled away in the second overtime and held on to win.

Barely.


Before I get into the issues with Memphis, let me get this out there -- Tennessee is not as bad as you think they are. They might even be a top six team in the SEC. Trae Golden is a talent at the point, and while he didn't shoot well against Memphis, he still managed to dish out seven assists without turning the ball over. Jordan McRae and Cam Tatum are talented perimeter players that are both capable of providing a scoring pop. Tennessee has a big front line that can play physical.

And, of course, there is Maymon. The 6'7" combo-forward has gotten himself into shape, and when he's playing like he did today, he's a force. He's strong enough and aggressive enough to work on the glass, but he's has enough perimeter skills to knock down a jumper and put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. The basket that tied the game in regulation came as Cuonzo Martin ran Maymon off of a down screen. The kid will be a matchup nightmare as long as he is buying into the offense.

Most importantly, however, Martin has gotten this team to play hard and play tough. They embody the persona of their coach, and that's a good thing with their new head coach.

Memphis is going to have issues all season long. From a talent perspective, I'm not sure that there are five teams that are better than them.

The issue isn't talent, however. To be frank, I'm not sure that this team has much, if any, basketball smarts. They don't know how to play. The loss they suffered to Michigan is evidence of that. The Tigers were clueless against the offensive sets that the Wolverines ran and couldn't function against the junk zone that John Beilein runs.

Against Tennessee, Memphis took a big first half lead because the Vols let them thrive off of their talent. Memphis was forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. They turned it into a glorified AAU game, and that's where they are effective. But in the second half, as Tennessee gained control of the tempo and turned the game into a half court dog fight, the Vols were able to fight back.

The biggest issue is that I'm not sure the Tigers have the coaching staff to really teach these kids how to play or convince them play within a defined system. Josh Pastner is a terrific recruiter, but in terms of x's-and-o's, the youthful head coach still has a ways to go. His assistants aren't much better. He has two NBA players in Damon Stoudamire and Luke Walton and a third assistant in Jack Murphy that is also known as a recruiter.

Until Memphis learns things like what a good shot is and what a bad foul is -- or, most importantly, how to consistently give great effort for 40 minutes -- the Tigers are going to be a group of underachievers.
Continue reading...

If only Bruce Pearl had been honest

Bruce Pearl is going to get a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA.

That's according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz (it should become official this afternoon), who also said that his assistants -- Tony Jones, Steve Forbes and Jason Shay -- will receive one year show-cause penalties. (A show-cause penalty means that any NCAA program that wants to hire one of those coaches must present a case to the Committee on Infractions as to why, and is liable receive additional punishments from the NCAA for making the hire.) In addition, Chris Low was cited in Katz's article as reporting that the NCAA will not levy any further penalties against the Tennessee program than what they already self-imposed -- two years probation and a handful of slap-on-the-wrist recruiting restrictions.

None of that is really much of a surprise.


We all knew that Bruce Pearl was likely going to receive a show-cause penalty and that his assistants were probably headed down that road as well. We all knew that Pearl's career as a college coach would, at worst, be over and, at best, be a shell of what it once was -- a high-major coach slowly turning around a dormant program.

So what does all this mean?

Don't lie to the NCAA.

Seriously.

Just don't do it.

When they come a-knockin', just be honest.

Because the actual violation that Bruce Pearl got busted for was not all that serious. He had illegal contact with a couple of recruits, inviting them to his house for a barbecue when they weren't allowed to be at his house, barbecue or not. What got him in trouble was lying to the NCAA about recognizing where a picture from that barbecue was taken. I know, I know, its a bit more complicated than that -- not only to he get his coaching staff to cover for him, he tried to convince the recruit's parents to do the same, hence the "misleading an investigation" charge -- but the bottom-line is that the cover-up is what killed Pearl's career. Not the violation.

He went from a beloved head coaching making seven figures to an NCAA pariah. Its fairly likely he'll never return to the college coaching ranks. He'll probably never again reach the level he did at Tennessee.

Todd Bozeman was a star-in-the-making as the head coach of Cal back in the 90's, but he received an eight-year show-cause penalty for paying Jelani Gardner's family upwards of $30,000. Bozeman is back in coaching, but despite having built Morgan State into a low-major powerhouse -- bringing them to two NCAA Tournaments in his five years at the helm -- his name is never brought up when a better coaching position comes open.

Pearl isn't exactly going to be living on the streets. Presumably, he hasn't blown all the money he's made in his career. And he has a standing, $500,000 offer from the Texas Legends of the D-League. The guy can coach, and there's no reason he can't follow Kelvin Sampson's footsteps from show-cause penalty to the NBA.

Things could be much, much worse for Pearl. The NCAA scrap heap is nothing when compared to the battle his former counterpart Pat Summitt is currently facing.

But if he had just come clean to the NCAA's investigator's, Pearl would still be Knoxville's hoops king.
Continue reading...

Swiperboy is retiring

Tennessee senior forward Renaldo Woolridge has developed a cult following under his alter-ego, rapper Swiperboy".

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if more people knew about his ability to spit a verse than get buckets. He has over 10,000 followers on twitter (as @Swiperboy) and has upwards of 100,000 views on a number of his 107 videos uploaded to youtube, which is quite a feat for a player that's never averaged more than 13.0 mpg and 3.4 ppg in three seasons, playing just eight injury plagued games in 2010-2011.

It makes his decision to quit rapping, which he announced on his blog today, all the more surprising:

After this release, there will be no more mixtapes from me. Now I know what you all are thinking, "Wow..did SB just give up on a dream and quit??"...No, thats not the reason. In all honesty I feel extremely under appreciated when it comes to the talent I was given for music. There are a lot of artists in mainstream america who are TERRIBLE, but have more shine than the sun reflected off a mirror in the middle of July has.... MEANING, if I have to stoop down and be "wack" to "make it", then I don't want that.

Now, if he was making this decision to focus on basketball, that would be one thing. Watch his videos. Its obvious he puts a tremendous amount of time and effort into his music. As an athletic and versatile 6'8" forward, he has the potential to be a very effective player in college.

But what is his ceiling as a basketball player?

He doesn't currently have NBA personnel fawning over him -- they don't pay attention to big men that average 3.4 ppg unless you play for John Calipari -- and playing on a Tennessee team that will be off the national radar this season is not a good way to up his exposure.

Making it in the NBA, or as a professional basketball player overseas, is incredibly difficult.

But making it in the music industry is even harder. You need a blend of talent, timing, successful promotion, and sheer luck to make it past being a youtube rapper.

Now, I listen to a lot of hip-hop, and while I wouldn't consider myself a leading scholar on the subject, I know more about rap that 99% of the population. Swiperboy is good. He is clever, he has a good flow and timing, and he uses clever punch lines. He also has a national profile as athlete at a major college and the corresponding following from a devoted and passionate fan base. Big breaks have been made out of less.

He's also a college student-athlete, with time commitments that -- hopefully -- force his music to take a back seat at times. And he's still been able to accomplish some impressive things.

The one thing I think we all can agree on is that there are some truly horrific "musicians" out there making a helluva lot of money releasing trash.

That doesn't mean that any aspiring musician should give up on their dreams. Here's to hoping Swiperboy doesn't give up on his.
Continue reading...

Wanna know how Bruce Pearl lost his job?

Thanks to some terrific reporting from Andrew Gribble of Go Vols Xtra, you can now read through, step by step, the process with which the NCAA took down Bruce Pearl and his coaching staff at Tennessee.

First, there were the lies to the NCAA's enforcement staff. Reading through, Pearl not only lied to the NCAA but, after having the line of questioning stopped by his attorney, was given a second chance to clear the air. He maintained the lie and, as Gribble puts it, that was the beginning of the end of his tenure at Tennessee.

Also worth reading is the breakdown of the "bump", the "incidental" contact between Jordan Adams and Bruce Pearl at a practice at Oak Hill Academy. Adams initially said the conversation last upwards of three minutes, which is almost certainly an NCAA violation.

Recapping the articles anymore in this space wouldn't do justice to the work that Gribble put in. So click the links and read through. Its interesting to see how a major college coach gets taken down.
Continue reading...

Josh Pastner doesn't want to play Tennessee

Josh Pastner made some waves on Monday during an interview he gave with Josh Ward and Will West on WNML-AM 990.

"I have no desire to play Tennessee," Pastner said. "I don't think it does us any good. I'm just being honest with you. For us, it’s a game that, I don't know why we play it, but we play it because the athletic director wants me to play it and he’s my boss and what he says goes."

After taking a three-year hiatus, the Vols and the Tigers have played every season since 2005-2006. They are currently scheduled to play this season and in 2012-2013, but beyond that the series is in doubt.


For Pastner, the issue comes down to recruiting. He wants to own Memphis, which is a hotbed of high school hoops. Proof? The YOMCA AAU program just won the 16U Peach Jam while the 17U team made it to the finals, where they lost to BABC and their seven high-major prospects. The current Tiger team has seven Memphis natives on the roster -- including star point guard Joe Jackson and starters Chris Crawford and Tarik Black -- while the jewel of their 2011 recruiting class, Adonis Thomas, is another hometown star.

Simply put, Pastner doesn't want to give Tennessee any kind of advantage recruiting the city.

And while that is understandable, in practice the Vols haven't had much success recruiting in the city. Only two players have signed with Tennessee from Memphis. One was Dane Bradshaw, a career-role player. The other was Chris Jones, who backed out of his LOI when Bruce Pearl was fired and is now headed to Florida to play at a JuCo.

Its silly to be arguing about this.

One game played every other year between Memphis and Tennessee in Memphis is going to have zero effect on recruiting. None. If a kid from Memphis -- which may be the tightest basketball community in the country -- really wants to play in front of Memphis fans, he will sign with Memphis. That's a fact.

But its also true that Tennessee and Memphis wasn't exactly a huge rivalry until Bruce Pearl and John Calipari came to town. Prior to that, the big game every season was against Louisville, when the two programs were bitter Conference USA rivals. That game has been renewed, which makes one wonder whether, with the loaded non-conference schedule that the Tigers always seem to play, the Tennessee game has become expendable.

It would be a shame to see a game as entertaining for the fans as Tennessee-Memphis is to be lost over recruiting issues.

But as long as the Memphis-Louisville rivalry continues, I'm sure that Tiger fans will be fine.
Continue reading...

Bruce Pearl is optimistic about his future

Bruce Pearl thinks he'll get a chance to coach again, and he's probably right.

If you don't remember, Pearl was fired from his post as the head coach at Tennessee for a myriad of wrongdoings. The biggest issue, however, was lying to the NCAA about a picture taken with Aaron Craft, then a point guard recruit who is currently playing for Ohio State, at Pearl's home at a time that Craft was not allowed to be at Pearl's home. Throw in some other bogus behavior -- including a recruiting violation just days after his original punishment was handed down back in September -- and the Vols had no choice but to get rid of him.

And now, Pearl is finally giving interviews. He spoke with 790 the Zone in Atlanta in his first interview since he got the axe.


"I do think that I'm going to have the opportunity to coach again," Pearl told the radio station. "I've got to wait and see what the Committee on Infractions, what they say, probably coming up sometime in the middle of August and how quickly will they allow me to come back into coaching. That's going to go a long way towards whether or not I do coach again."

"Do you want me to write the book about how do you lose $10 million jobs? I can write the book. How can you be so dumb and so careless? ... It's not so much about what we did, it's about how we handled it."

"I think there was some decisions that we made. Specifically, in my visit with the enforcement staff. I answered about 150 questions. I answered 148 of them honestly. There were two questions that I did not answer honestly. Had I answered those two questions knowingly, willingly, honestly, instead of a week later asking them to come back because I knew I had made a mistake ... you guys would be interviewing the coach at Tennessee."

I'd be willing to bet a decently large sum of money that Bruce Pearl will one day coach college basketball again.

Most people in charge of hiring college basketball coaches don't exactly care about what you have done, they care about what you can do for them. And at every level, Pearl's proven to be a winner. He won at D-II Southern Indiana, he won at UW-Milwaukee, and he won at Tennessee, a place where basketball success is far from a given.

And what did Pearl in -- what has him heading in front of the Committee on Infractions -- isn't necessarily what he did. He had illegal contact with recruits, inviting them to his house for a BBQ when the rules stipulated that they weren't allowed to be there. That's, without a doubt, an offense you can recover from. His attempt to cover it up -- his lies to the NCAA and to the fans -- is what got him in trouble. Its like being a parent; you can get over the dumb stuff your kid does while growing up, but lying to keep themselves out of trouble is what gets them grounded during the summertime.

Pearl is a bit of a polarizing figure. Fans in Tennessee love him. Some of the media members that cover him feel differently. But the bottom line is that he wins games.

So did Todd Bozeman. He got an eight-year show-cause penalty after admitting to paying the family of Jelani Gardner $30,000. He's currently the head coach at Morgan State. Tim Floyd allegedly put thousands of dollars into the pocket of OJ Mayo's handlers and played a role in bringing down the USC basketball program. He's currently the head coach at UTEP. Eddie Sutton went on to finish his career at Oklahoma State after nearly bringing down the Kentucky basketball program in the late 80's. Hell, even Kelvin Sampson, whose excessive phone calls at Oklahoma and Indiana got him a five-year show-cause penalty, is coaching in the NBA right now.

People care about whether or not you can win them basketball games, and Pearl can flat out coach.

He'll get another job if he wants one. Its only a matter of time.
Continue reading...

NBA Draft Profiles: Tobias Harris, Tennessee

Bjorn Zetterberg of SwishScout.com will be helping us out with all of our NBA Draft Profiles this year. You can follow him on twitter @swishscout.

To browse through the latest prospect profiles, click here. To see a complete list of the players we have profiled, click here.

Stats: 15.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.8 t/o's

Age: 18, freshman

Size:

• Listed: 6'8", 225 lb
• Official: 6'6.5" (no shoes), 6'7.5" (with shoes), 6'11" (wingspan), 8'7.5" (reach), 223 lb

Strengths: Tobias Harris is one of those players that seemingly does everything well. He can score on the perimeter or in the post. He an knock down threes and jump hooks. He can run the wing in transition, he can run the middle of the floor and catch and dunk, and he can lead the fast break himself. Part of the reason that Harris went to Tennessee in the first place is that Bruce Pearl told him that he would have the opportunity to show off his all around basketball abilities.

Weaknesses: While Harris has a jack-of-all-trades reputation, his problem as a prospect is that there isn't anything that he does at an NBA level. He can hit threes, but he can be inconsistent from beyond the arc and needs to work at his ability to hit a pull-up. Harris is also going to have his fair share of problems on the defensive end of the floor. He's not necessarily quick enough to defend threes on the perimeter, but at 6'8" with a fairly slender upper body, Harris doesn't have the strength to be able to defend on the low-block at the next level.

Comparisons:

• Best Case Scenario: Luol Deng meets Shane Battier. Deng is much more offensive minded and Battier is a defensive specialist who can shoot the ball, and I see Harris as a mixture of the two. He’s a slightly awkward mover and isn’t the greatest off the dribble like Deng, but he can shoot from anywhere on the floor and plays smart. Gives solid effort and energy on the defensive end like Battier, but won’t nearly be quite as lockdown of a player.


• Worst Case Scenario: Ryan Gomes. Solid forward who can play in the post, do a little bit of everything on the
  court, and is a solid shooter from the perimeter. Tobias clearly has more upside to his game, but if he fails to meet it, then he will be another Ryan Gomes who can play within a team’s rotation but won’t thrive.

Outlook: Harris is going to be an intriguing prospect simply because of how much he is able to do on a basketball court. He is a versatile player, capable of playing the wing or the post, and potentially even a point forward spot as his handle continues to develop. Harris has a terrific work ethic and comes from a hoops family, one that spends quite a bit of time in the gym. The key to what kind of career Harris eventually does have at this level will be determined by how much he improves defensively. Can Harris ever guard on the perimeter? Or in the post? Or is he going to be a constant mismatch for opponents?

Draft Range: Mid to Late 1st Round

And the experts say...

• Chad Ford: "Harris may have been the most underrated prospect we discussed during the season. Despite his excellent pedigree and a terrific freshman season, he flew under the radar. No more. As I reported Friday, scouts have been buzzing about him for weeks and it looks as if he has a legitimate shot of cracking the lottery. While he certainly could go higher with another season of college ball, it's probably a good year for him to make the jump. "


• Draft Express: "Overall, Harris is amongst the more intriguing forwards in this class. He'll impress in interviews and workouts with his uncommon maturity and skill level. He isn't a strong candidate to function as a top offensive option for a NBA franchise down the round, and won't be featured on many highlight reels, but he has a lot of raw tools team's look for in a complementary scorer and plenty of time to work on his weaknesses as he adapts to the pro game."


• Swish Scout: "Smart, instinctive player who can shoot the ball, handle the rock, and play almost any position on the floor. Limited by athleticism and lack of muscle, but can overcome those with his excellent size, length, and skill set for a forward in addition to a great feel for the game."

Highlights:




Continue reading...

Martin's contract will protect him from Pearl's wrong-doings

(Ed. Note: Due to technical maintenance to Blogger's user interface, we have been unable to publish any posts for the last 24 hours. This post should have been published on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for your patience)

Part of the reason that many folks were surprised that Tennessee was able to move so quickly on getting a new head coach was that the job vacated by Bruce Pearl was a tarnished one.

In other words, with the NCAA breathing down the Vols' neck thanks to Bruce Pearl's inability to comply with NCAA rules, coaching Tennessee was like dating someone on active military duty. Things may be going great for a while, but in the back of your mind you always know that they are, eventually, going to get called into action. On the surface, Tennessee looks like a very good job for Martin. But those NCAA sanctions are coming eventually.

So in order to land Cuonzo Martin, Tennessee had to add some extra incentives into his contract:

If, as a result of currently pending NCAA proceedings, the men's basketball program (a) receives NCAA restrictions on recruiting in addition to those already self-imposed by the University; (b) banned from postseason play; or (c) incurs a reduction of one or more scholarships, then the initial term of employment will be extended year-for-year based upon the number of years the University (a) receives NCAA restrictions on recruiting in addition to those already self-imposed by the University; (b) banned from postseason play; or (c) incurs a reduction of one or more scholarships. In the event that any additional year(s) are added, the terms applicable to those additional year(s) will be the same as in year five.

For those not as well-versed in legalese, essentially what this is saying is that if the NCAA hands down anymore sanctions, than Martin will have his contract automatically extended a year for each year that the program is restricted. Lose a scholarship for the 2011-2012 and the 2012-2013 seasons, and Martin will have his contract (worth $1.3 million annually) extended from five to seven seasons.

The link above is to the Knoxville News-Sentinel site, which provides a full breakdown of Martin's contract with UT.

Continue reading...

Swiperboy thanks the troops

Our favorite collegiate rapper is back at it.

Tennessee' Renaldo Woolridge, aka SwiperBoy, posted a video on youtube last night of his newest song, titled USA Troops (Thank you):


Continue reading...

Tennessee loses another recruit

The first of the now-former Bruce Pearl coaching staff to land another job was Steve Forbes, an assistant with Tennessee.

He landed at Northwest Florida State College, a JuCo.

On Wednesday, Forbes was in Memphis as Chris Jones, a top 50 point guard and Tennessee-signee, looks to be headed to NFSC, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal (Jones is a Memphis native):

[Q]uestions remained whether Jones would qualify academically to play at Tennessee.

Johnson said Jones, who attended two prep schools in North Carolina last season before re-enrolling at Melrose last month, would benefit from playing under Forbes at Northwest Florida, formely known as Okaloosa-Walton Community College. Forbes was heavily involved in Tennessee's recruitment of Jones.

"He can concentrate on getting better mentally and physically," Johnson said.

Jones is now the of the two top 50 recruits that Pearl had signed at Tennessee to leave. Kevin Ware is off to Central Florida.

Cuonzo Martin had initially convinced Jones to honor his LOI, but it appears that the coach that had recruited him to Knoxville (Forbes) was able to bring him to Florida.

The question now is whether this will affect the decisions of Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson to stay in the NBA Draft. Tennessee loses five seniors this season, and while they do return some talent for next season -- Cam Tatum, Trae Golden, Skylar McBee -- the Vols' season hinges on whether or not those two return to school.
Continue reading...

Emmanuel Negedu's career at New Mexico is over

Sad news coming out of New Mexico today as it has been announced that Emmanuel Negedu's basketball career is over.

If you remember, back in September of 2009 when Negedu was still at Tennessee, he was working out in the school's football facility when his heart stopped. He had to be revived by a defibrillator. Negedu had an internal defibrillator implanted near his heart, which was enough for Lobos head coach Steve Alford to accept Negedu as a transfer into the program last fall.


Things were going well. After 10 games, Negedu was averaging 4.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg in 14.4 mpg, but most importantly, he was playing basketball. That all changed at halftime of a December 19th game against The Citadel. His internal defibrillator gave a reading that forced New Mexico trainers to sit Negedu for the second half, and he never returned to competition.

"The most important thing about the situation is Emmanuel's health," said head coach Steve Alford in a statement. "It's unfortunate that due to health concerns he will no longer be able to participate. However, Emmanuel will continue to be a vital member of Lobo basketball on a daily basis. He will remain on scholarship and work hard towards attaining his degree as well as continue to get the medical care he needs."

"Emmanuel and I both very much appreciate all the efforts of the UNM medical staff that continues to ensure his good health."

Negedu has already received a medical disqualification waiver, which means that the NCAA will allow New Mexico to honor Negedu's scholarship without having him count against the 13 scholarship players they are allowed.

You never want to see a kid's career end this way.

That said, the ending could have been much, much different, and that hits way too close to home. If the outcome of this situation is that Negedu simply receives an education and goes on to live a full life outside of basketball, its a win.

Its obviously disappointing, but he's alive.
Continue reading...

Tennessee hires Cuonzo Martin; hire is much better than UT fans think

Bruce Pearl was arguably the single biggest storyline through out the season.

What were his violations? What was his punishment going to be? Was he going to be fired?

With that in mind, it was almost a shock when Cuonzo Martin was announced as Bruce Pearl's replacement.

"Cuonzo is among the most promising young coaches in the game, and we are excited about the coaching ability, toughness and energy that he brings to our program," Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said. "He has a proven track record of success as a head coach at Missouri State and an assistant at Purdue as well as an outstanding career as a college basketball player."


The hiring was shock because it happened so quickly and without much warning, but also because it didn't involve Tennessee getting shot down by too many bigger names.

You see, the rumors and speculation involving Tennessee's coaching search included much bigger names that Martin, who had spent the previous three seasons at Missouri State. The wish list that was leaked included Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright, Anthony Grant, Mark Turgeon, and Gregg Marshall.

And the Vols ended up with a guy whose resume includes three seasons at an MVC school, a CIT title, and a single win in the NIT.

So you can understand why the reaction from those in Knoxville has been less than enthusiastic. (Read the comments here. The message board trolls are out en masse.)

When you have a passionate, rabid fan base that expects a homerun hire, they are not going to be excited when they end up with a bloop double.

But before you trash Martin, Vol fans, I urge you to do a bit of research. When Martin took over Missouri State, the Bears had just five scholarship players. He took a team that was 3-15 in the Missouri Valley in 2008-2009 to the regular season conference title this season. He may not be the kind of coaching commodity that Brad Stevens, or Shaka Smart, or Chris Mooney is, but Martin was a guy that was on the radar for a lot of high major programs.

An example? A lot of Purdue fans had Martin pegged as a possible replacement for Matt Painter should the Boilermakers head coach bolt for Missouri.

There is more to Martin than just what happens on the court. He made it out of St. Louis' rough east side. He beat life-threatening cancer when he was 26 years old. Read this, and tell me that Martin isn't a guy that you want to root for.

This hire will only send the wrong kind of shockwaves through Knoxville.

It shouldn't. Cuonzo Martin is far from a bad hire. And given the circumstances at Tennessee, any Vol fan with some sense should, eventually, be pleased.
Continue reading...

Once again, the injustice of the Letter of Intent comes to light

If you haven't yet been convinced that signing a National Letter of Intent is the wrong course of action for a high school recruit, Tennessee AD Mike Hamilton provides you with yet another piece of evidence of the NLI program's worthlessness.

As you no doubt know, Bruce Pearl has been fired as Tennessee's basketball coach. The two players that he signed in the Class of 2011 -- Chris Jones and Kevin Ware, both top 100 guards -- have requested to receive a release from their Letters of Intent.

And to both, the answer Hamilton gave was essentially the same -- wait it out, and see what you think of the new coach we hire.

In all honesty, there is nothing wrong with this approach. In fact, if it was my kid in this situation, I would probably give him the same advice.


I'm not a fool. I know that at this level of basketball, you sign with the coach, not the school. You sign because you like their offensive style of play, not their english department. You pick a coach based on how he develops players at your position, not whether the school can get you a position on Wall Street or with a prestigious law firm.

But it is late March already. Both Jones and Ware signed with Tennessee back in November. The late signing period is in mid-to-late May. While the players may have signed on with Pearl, there had to be something else -- something about the University of Tennessee or the town of Knoxville or their future teammates -- that Jones and Ware enjoyed. If there was nothing to like about a school beyond the basketball coach, is that really going to be the place that a 17 year old high school senior decides he wants to spend the next 1-4 years of his life?

So, yes, I would tell my son or daughter that they should give Tennessee's new head coach a chance.

But I would also tell them that they need to start thinking about a back up plan.

And therein lies the problem.

If Jones and Ware are not released from their NLI, they cannot explore other options. They cannot begin to build a contingency plan should Hamilton opt to hire a coach that either Jones or Ware does not like. As of today, there are less than two months left for these two kids to make a decision about college, and that time frame is only going to get shorter.

To make matters more complicated, coaching searches are not easy. Coaching searches where a school's expectations for their next coach vastly overestimates the position's can be downright impossible, to the point that it is almost painful to follow. Look at Oregon last season. They tried to woo everyone from Brad Stevens to Tom Izzo, Jamie Dixon to Mark Turgeon.

And based on the list of targets floated by Tennessee, they may face the same problems finding a new head coach. There is nothing wrong with swinging for the fences as long as you understand that strikeouts come with the territory.

Oregon struck out so often that it took them 37 days to find a new head coach.

37 days from now is April 30th, which means that if the Tennessee coaching search is anything like the Oregon coaching search, Jones and Ware will have less than three weeks to decide whether or not they like the new coach that Hamilton hires. If the answer is no, that means the two high school seniors will have a couple of weeks to find a new school that a) they want to attend, b) has scholarships available, and c) is a good fit for their personality, skill set, and position.

I don't want to see that. I don't want to see a kid forced into a situation in college he's not comfortable with. And I would hope that Tennessee fans would agree with me.

I don't think it will come to that. Maybe I'm too trusting in the goodwill of humanity, but I think that both Jones and Ware will, if they still desire, be released from their NLI. Because that's the way it generally works with a coaching change. The folks that are left will try to convince you to stay, but if their best sales pitch still falls on deaf ears, they let you go.

The problem?

All the power lies in the school's hands.

The University of Tennessee should not be able to wield this much control over the future of two recruits. If Mike Hamilton wanted too, he could refuse to release Jones and Ware from the NLI's, which would force them to sit out a season and lose a year's worth of eligibility if they didn't attend Tennessee. That is precisely what happened to Joseph Young, who signed with Providence but decided that he wanted to go to Houston, this year.

And while the school can prevent a recruit from attending somewhere else without punishment, they can also cut the player loose without punishment. Look at the plight of DJ Newbill from last season. He signed an NLI with Marquette, but once Jamil Wilson made it clear that he wanted to transfer out of Oregon and to Marquette, the former top 100 recruit needed a scholarship. And it was Newbill that was on the chopping block. He landed on his feet at Southern Mississippi, but Newbill is a Philly kid. I doubt playing in Conference USA is the same as playing in the Big East.

NLI's hold no benefit to the players, but precious few players realize this.

They are contractually binding agreements that put the power in the school's hands.

And you don't have to sign them.

Ask Brandon Knight. He signed a financial aid agreement, which forced Kentucky to commit to him while still allowing Knight to be able to leave should unforeseen circumstances arise.

Maybe one day this blog will have enough influence to convince every high school hooper to follow Knight's lead.
Continue reading...

UPDATED: Bruce Pearl out at Tennessee

According to Jeff Goodman -- and everyone else that knows these kind of things -- Bruce Pearl has been told by Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton that he has been fired. An announcement is expected this afternoon. Pearl will receive a buy out from the University.

This decision ends what has been a six month soap opera. It began back in September when Pearl admitted lying to the NCAA's investigators about a recruiting violation involving now-Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft. Pearl was fined over $1 million by the University already and missed eight SEC games this season.

The question now is who will replace Pearl?

Shaka Smart is a good candidate. Chris Mooney will probably be on everyone's wish list. I'm sure that Brad Stevens' run to the Sweet 16 has only made him even more of a high-major crush. Even Buzz Williams is bound to attract plenty of attention.

The problem? Tennessee is not a very good job right now. They have the NCAA bearing down, their AD could very well be on the way out the door right behind Pearl, they don't have a natural recruiting base, and next year's team will likely be without Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris.

That's not an ideal job.

This post will be updated when an official announcement comes down.

UPDATE

Its official. Pearl is gone.

There isn't much in the statement made by Mike Hamilton that we don't already know, but they do mention a recruiting violation that was committed in March of 2011 which is, well, this month. No wonder he was shown the exit.

There are two things I am anxiously waiting for in this story. The first is what that March recruiting violation was. I wonder if it led to the change in attitude that the University has in regards to Pearl? (UPDATE: According to this report from ESPN -- which cites sources from Chris Low, who has connections all over Knoxville -- the violation that Pearl committed in March was procedural in nature and involved tickets the Vols gave out to their March 6th game against Kentucky. It also says that the non-NCAA related incident cited involved a substance-abuse policy violation by Brian Williams.)

The second is who actually sent the photo of Craft and Pearl to the NCAA? The word is that the photo showed up in an unmarked envelope, but I can't be the only that believes the NCAA knows who sent it.

The one thing that bothers me? Bruce Pearl gets slightly less than $1 million from the University as a settlement. His assistants, who got paid significantly less than Pearl did, only get four months worth of salary despite losing their jobs because their boss lied.

Here's the statement from AD Mike Hamilton:

"Today, we are announcing that we have reached an agreement with Bruce Pearl that will result in him and his immediate staff being relieved of their duties with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball program. This is a difficult day for many obvious reasons.

Six years ago, Bruce Pearl arrived on our campus and renewed hope in Tennessee Basketball. He, his staff, and our student-athletes have allowed us as administrators and fans to enjoy unprecedented success and many victories during that time. He has become a friend to many and has done tremendous work in our community.

Upon receipt of our NCAA Letter of Inquiry in September, we made the difficult decision to forego common national opinion and forge ahead with Bruce and his staff pending any further major infractions or issues that would preclude our basketball program from representing the University of Tennessee in the right manner.

The months that followed have been difficult on everyone – our staff, our coaches, our administration, our fans and, certainly, our young men. During this time, the dynamics of our case with the NCAA have evolved further, including additional violations committed on September 14 and in March 2011. The cumulative effect of the evolution of the investigation combined with a number of more recent non-NCAA-related incidents have led to a belief that this staff cannot be viable at Tennessee in the future. Therefore, it is in the best interests of our institution to move in a different direction.

We have included separation terms that will detail more clearly our role in the transition for Coach Pearl and his assistant coaches. In the meantime, we have named native Tennessean and a former head coach, Houston Fancher, as interim coach during our hiring process.

Our search process will begin immediately. This is a great job and will attract a significant number of interested coaches. Much of that interest is a tribute to what Coach Pearl has helped to build, but more importantly, what our fans have built. We will take an appropriate amount of time, but will move as swiftly as is effective to bring this to conclusion.

Lastly, I want to apologize to our fans for my untimely comments prior to last week's NCAA appearance. distraction to what has already been a year of distractions. While my comments were never intended for harm, they became an unneeded distraction to what has already been a year of distractions."

----- Terms of Agreement -----

• Head men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl will be paid at his current salary rate through June 30, 2011. He will also receive $50,000 per month for 12 months, from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, and will also receive health insurance costs. This cumulative figure is $948,728.
• Additionally, the men’s basketball coaching staff will each be paid at their current salary rate through July 31, 2011.

Continue reading...

Tennessee's travesty of a performance should spell the end for Bruce Pearl

It was a fitting send off for Bruce Pearl. A 75-45 loss to Michigan. Yuck.

In a season that was a roller coaster ride of embarrassment for Pearl and the Tennessee program, the Vols ended their season by packing it in at halftime of their opening round NCAA Tournament game against Michigan. Down 33-29 thanks to a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the first half by Darius Morris, Tennessee never showed up in the second half, allowing Michigan to go on a 42-16 second half run.

Seriously, Tennessee scored 16 second half points. The 30 point defeat was the worst of Bruce Pearl's career.

And Michigan did it without the benefit of a made free throw.

Simply put, the Vols gave up. They rolled over and died.

“We just didn’t play with no heart out there," Tobias Harris, who scored all of his 19 points in the first half, said after the game. "We basically just quit.”

I understand how a season with the kind of distractions and off the court issues can plague a team. I get that 18-22 year olds aren't exactly the most well prepared people for dealing with that kind of drama. And I feel bad ripping them for it, but it must be said.

I hate to sound like and old fogey, but playing in the NCAA Tournament is an honor. Don't believe me? Ask Malcolm Delaney. The Virginia Tech senior spent his entire career on the outside looking in. You don't think he would have given anything to have traded spots with the Vols?

Quitting on a game, quitting on your coach is disrespectful. Its disrespectful to the game, its disrespectful to the fans that spent all that money to travel to Charlotte to support you. Its a slap in the face to the teams that didn't make the NCAA Tournament cut.

I don't like bashing college athletes. They are kids. And contrary to popular opinion, they are not yet professional athletes.

But that performance today was an embarrassment. Its one thing to give up on a game when you are down 35 at halftime. Its another to quit when a game is still very winnable.

There is no way that Bruce Pearl can survive this.

With the NCAA preparing to drop another hammer on the Vols head coach and a team that is capable of quitting on the sport's biggest stage, its time for Pearl to go.

The good news?

Pearl will now be able to invite who every he pleases to his barbecues.
Continue reading...

Gary Parrish's scoop creates an interesting storyline

You've surely heard about it by now, but Gary Parrish broke the news of a recruiting violation committed by Arkansas head coach John Pelphrey.

In a photograph obtained by CBSSports.com, Pelphrey is shown posing with Sylvan Hill High standout Archie Goodwin (a consensus top-20 national recruit) and teammate Trey Smith last December at a high school tournament in Conway, Ark. Bylaw 13.1.1.1 states that off-campus contact cannot be made with a prospect (or his relatives or legal guardians) before July 1, following the completion of his junior year of high school. Goodwin and Smith are still in their junior years of high school.

Despite having a terrific recruiting class coming in next season, Pelphrey has come under fire in the last week as the good folks of Arkansas have been calling for his head. An ad was taken out in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week urging fans to push for Pelphrey's firing.

That just about answers the question of how Parrish got a picture that, in Smith's words, happened as simply as "My mom was like, 'Hey, go get a picture.' So we snapped a picture." Someone that saw the photo and wants Pelphrey gone sent it to a guy he knew would be able to get it seen.

That's not what is interesting about this story.

Tonight at 7:30 pm, Arkansas plays Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Just in case your memory has failed you, Bruce Pearl was fined over $1 million, was suspended for eight games by the SEC, and is still facing the NCAA firing squad as a result of lying to the NCAA about a picture taken of Aaron Craft during an illegal recruiting visit to Pearl's home.
Continue reading...

Tennessee's hand will be forced by the NCAA

As you most certainly know by now, Tennessee received -- and released -- their Notice of Allegations from the NCAA regarding the infractions committed by the football and basketball teams. You can read it in its entirety here.

As you also should know by know, the only new information to come out of the NoA was that Bruce Pearl and Tony Jones made an illegal visit to a recruit just days after Pearl's tearful press conference where he admitted that he had made mistakes on the recruiting trail.

That's right.


On September 14th, just four days after Pearl sat in front of national television cameras and cried, telling the world how he was remorseful over the mistakes he made, Pearl went to Oak Hill Academy and "bumped" Jordan Adams, a 2012 recruit. Essentially, the "bump rule" allows a coach to greet a recruit at his high school should the two happen to cross paths, but anything more is considered a contact violation. Pearl talked with Adams for 2-3 minutes. This "bump" occurred during the two-week period between Pearl's press conference and the beginning of the school-sanctioned ban on off-campus recruiting.

Ballsy, ain't he?

For those expecting this document to bring with it any kind of news regarding Pearl's standing with the university, well, you got your hopes up for nothing. The school has until May to respond to the NoA, and a hearing has been scheduled for June 10th and 11th of this year. And if Tennessee has told us anything, its that they are going to ride with Pearl until forced to do otherwise.

If they weren't, Pearl probably would have been let go a long time ago.

The Tennessee coach not only committed violations, he lied about them when confronted by the NCAA. He then tried to convince a recruit's father -- Jon Craft, the father of Ohio State point guard and then-Tennessee commit Aaron -- to lie to the NCAA to cover for him.

That's brazen. And just cause for termination.

So if Tennessee was going to do away with their popular head coach, he would be gone already.

But they don't. This is an athletic department that clearly values victories over ethics.

Pearl has brought Tennessee basketball to unprecedented heights. He wins basketball games. He's bringing all-americans to Knoxville. He's making Elite 8's. His teams fill Thompson-Boling Arena. And, most importantly, he has the undying support of the Tennessee faithful. The scene last night at Vanderbilt was telling. With news that the NoA was due to arrive, Pearl walked out of an opponent's arena waving and blowing kisses to throngs of Tennessee fans after an important, come from behind win.


The Vols may just be put into a situation where they are forced to make a change.

You see, the NCAA hit Pearl with an "unethical conduct" charge. As Dana O'Neil dug up this afternoon, cases in which an unethical conduct charge is brought almost always result in a show-cause penalty, which is more or less means getting blacklisted by the NCAA.

What will be interesting to see is whether the NCAA accepts the punishments given out by Tennessee and the SEC as enough. Pearl's already lost $1.5 million and sat out eight games of this SEC season.

Will that be enough to satiate a Committee on Infractions that just slammed a UConn Director of Basketball Operations with a two-year show cause penalty to lying?

Methinks it won't.
Continue reading...

POSTERIZED: Yo, Scotty Hopson has got hops, son!

Scotty Hopson has more to his game than just the hi-top fade.

South Carolina freshman Brian Richardson had to find out the hard way:



This dunk catapults Hopson into the running for "Poster-dunk of the year" and possibly "Dunk of the Year"

But for now, just embrace it.

(UPDATE: If you even slightly questioned whether or not this could be a candidate for "Dunk of the Year", take a gander at this photo:)



But was it as good as one of these?:

POSTERIZED - Justin Brownlee, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Tyrone Johnson
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Ross, Washington
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Andre Roberson, Colorado
POSTERIZED - Durrell Summers, Michigan State
POSTERIZED - Phillip McDonald, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Kyle Kuric, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Anthony Nelson, Niagara
POSTERIZED - Cory Joseph, Texas
POSTERIZED - Will Sheehey, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Tom Pritchard, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - John Holland, Boston
POSTERIZED - Keith Gabriel, VMI
POSTERIZED - Travis McKie, Wake Forest
POSTERIZED - Jefferson Mason, Minnesota State (D-II)
POSTERIZED - Tyler Johnson, Fresno State
POSTERIZED - Justin Williams, UNC-Ashville
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
POSTERIZED - Darnell Wilks, Cincinnati
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
POSTERIZED - Darrius Garrett, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Travis Cohn, Jacksonville
POSTERIZED - Ramon Galloway, South Carolina
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Ashville
POSTERIZED - Kevin Smith, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Mitchell Watt, Buffalo
POSTERIZED - Chandler Parsons, Florida
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Paris Horne, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Laurence Bowers, Missouri
POSTERIZED - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - LaMarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
POSTERIZED - Marcus Morris, Kansas
POSTERIZED - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
POSTERIZED - Langston Morris-Walker
POSTERIZED - Chris Wright and Juwan Staten, Dayton
POSTERIZED - D.J Stephens, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas
Continue reading...

UPDATE: The season gets rockier on Rocky Top

UPDATE: I wanted to give this post a bump because there has been some news that came out regarding Renaldo Woolridge. First, Tennessee announced that they believe no violation occurred. They said that Woolridge did not shoot any video, he only scouted the location for a future shoot. They also said that Woolridge was not given any private access to the area and that UT student groups are allowed to use that area for free.

Well, it appears that Tennessee has once again tried to cover up a violation.

Multiple eyewitnesses, including Raed “Ryan” Zekry, who identified himself to a News Sentinel representative as an owner of the bar, said Woolridge spent an hour shooting a music video in a reserved portion of the two-story bar.

Zekry, who originally asked not to be identified because the publicity may hurt the bar, told the News Sentinel on Sunday that Woolridge "shot the video to support UT."

"It was given to him by the New Amsterdam for free because we do support him and UT sports in general," Zekry said.
...
Grant Ramey, a freelance reporter for the News Sentinel who was at the bar to cover the event, said the upstairs area where Woolridge and his friends were located was blocked off by two chairs and a man serving as a bouncer.

Katie Leone, a bartender who has worked at New Amsterdam for six years, also confirmed that the area was blocked off. Leone also is employed as a part-time copy editor at the News Sentinel.

Well, that is pretty damning.

I guess the Vols didn't learn their lesson. When you get caught, just come clean. Woolridge is injured right now, right? If I was Tennessee, I would have said that it was an honest mistake, a young man just trying to advance a career outside of basketball (which is 100% accurate), and that the Vols would sit him for three games. For what it is worth, Woolridge also has an injured ankle right now. He didn't play against UConn on Saturday.

Getting Swiperboy healthy while allowing him to "serve" his suspension sounds like a better option than seemingly trying to cover up yet another NCAA violation.

------------------------------------

Eventually Tennessee has to hit rock-bottom, right?

You'd think so.

Simply put, the past year has not been the easiest for the fine folks down in Knoxville. From the New Year's Day arrest a year ago that resulted in the suspension of Brian Williams, Cam Tatum, and Melvin Goins and Tyler Smith getting kicked off the team to the current soap opera that Bruce Pearl is starring in with the NCAA to the Vol's midseason collapse, the good news has been scarce.

I wish I could reverse that trend, but unfortunately I can't.

Freshman guard Jordan McRae didn't play with the Vols on Saturday in their loss to the UConn Huskies. In fact, he wasn't even at the game. Here's Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel:

A source on the team, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they lack the authorization to speak publicly on the specifics of the matter, said McRae’s suspension stemmed from a verbal altercation with a teammate on the team bus in Hartford.

He apparently used language that was unacceptable on the team's bus ride back from a visit of the ESPN studios on Friday. Bruce Pearl confirmed the report Monday at his press conference, and announced that McRae would not be practicing with the team this week as punishment.

Here is Pearl's statement from Saturday:

Jordan has exhibited some behavior recently that is unacceptable and a distraction to the team. We'll deal with this issue in-house, and my hope is that Jordan will use this as a learning and maturation opportunity. Jordan has coaches and teammates who all love and support him. We all want him to be an important member of the Tennessee basketball family. But that is a privilege, and he knows what’s expected of him.

Unfortunately, that isn't the only piece of bad news.

Renaldo Woolridge is being investigated by the NCAA as a result of a video shoot for a new song he has written. If you didn't know, Woolridge also goes by Swiperboy, and is a pretty good rapper and musician on the side.


Essentially, what happened is that on Saturday night after Tennessee returned from Connecticut, Woolridge was allowed to use a room at the Knoxville Bar The New Amsterdam to shoot is video. As I wrote over at Beyond The Arc, if the bar requires patrons to pay to reserve that section, allowing Woolridge to use that section would constitute an NCAA violation.

"Just heard about it ourselves, probably about the same time you guys (the media) did," Pearl said at his weekly press conference. "We're looking into it right now. We're going to visit with Renaldo and visit with compliance and find out if there was anything that was done that was in any way a violation of NCAA rules or extra benefits."

"This situation aside because we don't know the details of it, we're very supportive of Renaldo as a student and very supportive of him in his major and film and communications and particularly with a very unique talent. We encourage him to be the best he can be in both pursuits academically as well as through basketball (but) there's got to be a balance there."

I'll admit, its a bit ridiculous that Woolridge could face a suspension for this. But the issue is that the bar essentially gets a free promotion with the video (some of Swiperboy's youtube videos have over 100,000 views), which is, quite obviously, a no-no in the eyes of the NCAA. Don't be surprised to see a suspension get handed down.

That's exactly what Tennessee needed this season.

More distractions.

Continue reading...