Wayne Chism Commits to Tennessee

[baseballa28]

This is great to see Bruce Pearl going after the in state talent. Maybe Willie will go in his footsteps.

[COACHHARD]

This is great to see Bruce Pearl going after the in state talent. Maybe Willie will go in his footsteps.

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http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...349/1345/SPORTS

 

 

This is great news for the Tennessee basketball program and even more so for Coach Pearl. Wayne sounds like a great kid. Like you said......hopefully Kemp will follow.

 

 

Maybe some of the Pearl critics will calm down....including Climer.

Edited August 16, 2005 by COACHHARD

[Gerry Bertier]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...349/1345/SPORTS

This is great news for the Tennessee basketball program and even more so for Coach Pearl. Wayne sounds like a great kid. Like you said......hopefully Kemp will follow.

Maybe some of the Pearl critics will calm down....including Climer.

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I am not going to stop picking at Pearl cause he still doesn't present a positive face for the UT athletic dept. and men's basketball team. He still has a shady past and since he has been at UT his actions have been just as shady. But congrats to Wayne, I am glad he is going to be in orange and white, and like other have said maybe Willie, Thaddeaus, and Mr. Wright will follow.

[WesVLT]

I am not going to stop picking at Pearl cause he still doesn't present a positive face for the UT athletic dept. and men's basketball team. He still has a shady past and since he has been at UT his actions have been just as shady. But congrats to Wayne, I am glad he is going to be in orange and white, and like other have said maybe Willie, Thaddeaus, and Mr. Wright will follow.

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Gerry, what actions in Pearl's pre-UT past do you think were shady? I'll tell you one thing -- he's been anything but shady in his young tenure at UT.

 

Bruce Pearl has done a sensational job revitalizing the UT basketball program. He's recruited two top-55 prospects for the 2006 class. He's traveled the state and beyond garnering support from alumni and fans. He's gained the support of his players, all of whom seem to enjoy his coaching style. He even went so far as to speak to the UT freshmen at 8 different orientation sessions, preaching academics first and then getting them fired up about basketball.

 

The only actions for which Pearl has received criticism are his refusal to grant Tyler Smith a release and his release of Matthew Dotson. Both actions fit well within the framework of the business of college basketball, particularly when a coaching transition takes place. Tyler Smith signed a piece of paper mandating that he attend the University of Tennessee. When he decided he wanted out, Pearl simply pointed to the piece of paper that bound him to his commitment. That action wasn't "shady" -- he did something that was perfectly within his right as a basketball coach, something for which an ethical precedent had been set by coaches across the land.

 

The release of Dotson was for the good of both parties, UT and Dotson. As Pearl began to evaluate the program he inherited, he determined that Dotson didn't fit within his scheme. He was not an SEC-caliber ballplayer. Why would a coach retain a player who would not contribute to his team? Doing so would simply deprive another good player of a scholarship and deprive the team of the potential for improvement, a word so many UT fans have cried since Buzz's termination. And why would Pearl lead a young player into thinking he could contribute when he couldn't? Bruce did the right thing for both parties: he didn't give Dotson any illusions that he might be successful, and he protected the talent and cohesiveness of his team. There's nothing shady about that.

 

In fact, there's been nothing shady at all about Pearl's actions at UT. He's an honorable man and a darn good basketball coach, and he has the potential to do some special things in Knoxville.

[Gerry Bertier]

Wes, just like McDaniel's consequences of his action were fit well within the framework of the business of college football, but does that make what was done morally right? No, it doesn't. Pearl manipulated a young man into thinking he was about to join an SEC basketball team and then the day before he reports for summer classes he tells him not to come. It isn't about doing things within the framework of the business, it is about doing what is morally right, but I forgot you have been on the hill long enough to be brainwashed into thinking that anyone in the UT athletic dept. is above everyone else. I am a UT fan, but I am sick and tired of all these actions being allowed by the UT athletic dept. and university and nothing being done about it. Go ahead and defend Pearl, as TO says, " if it smells like a rat and looks like a rat, then it must be a rat."

 

I don't know what Pearl is doing to get these recruits to Knoxville, but as a UT fan I sure hope it is legal, cause the basektball program can't afford anymore setbacks.

[Harris' hooligans]

Kemp and Thad Young are going to visit Ark on the same weekend most likely

Distance favors Arkansas over UT for Kemp because of his mother Maxine. Thad Young isn't going to UT u can bank on that

[Tom142]

Brandan Wright isn't looking at the Vols. I don't see Thad Young coming to UT. I can see Kemp in the Orange and White. He'll be relatively close to his mother, he'll be with a teammate and one of his friends, and he can contribute early on because of C.J. Watson's last year of eligibilty.

[bigAsports]

Siegel[/url]_Senior_ptII' date='Aug 16 2005 - 08:13 PM']Brandon Wright should be looking at the League if you ask me...I hope he doesnt make the jump if he is able to, which in my mind I think he is...He is the real deal though...Iwas lucky enough to see him play in a game and all I could say was WOW...

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H.S. kids cannot go straight to the NBA anymore. Wright will have to go to college or play in the NBDL or over sea's. New rule this year. I'm suprised you haven't heard about it.

[Guest The_Siegel_Senior_ptII]

H.S. kids cannot go straight to the NBA anymore.  Wright will have to go to college or play in the NBDL or over sea's.  New rule this year.  I'm suprised you haven't heard about it.

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Oops forgot all about that...my fault...I actually wanted the rule to be in place so kids wouldnt mess their lifes up...my bad on the slip up...

[WesVLT]

Wes, just like McDaniel's consequences of his action were fit well within the framework of the business of college football, but does that make what was done morally right? No, it doesn't. Pearl manipulated a young man into thinking he was about to join an SEC basketball team and then the day before he reports for summer classes he tells him not to come. It isn't about doing things within the framework of the business, it is about doing what is morally right, but I forgot you have been on the hill long enough to be brainwashed into thinking that anyone in the UT athletic dept. is above everyone else. I am a UT fan, but I am sick and tired of all these actions being allowed by the UT athletic dept. and university and nothing being done about it. Go ahead and defend Pearl, as TO says, " if it smells like a rat and looks like a rat, then it must be a rat."

 

I don't know what Pearl is doing to get these recruits to Knoxville, but as a UT fan I sure hope it is legal, cause the basektball program can't afford anymore setbacks.

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The merit of your argument is damaged by your desire to resort to pettiness. Back to the discussion...

 

A college basketball coach is hired, paid, and expected to produce a successful basketball program, which means his chief task is to protect the well-being of his institution. While the timing of Matthew Dotson's release is certainly not desirable and may not seem fair, a look at the details of the situation will reveal that there was really no other way to handle the situation.

 

Dotson made the conscious decision to be released from his scholarship. He did so after he and his parents discussed his potential at UT with Pearl. Pearl was honest with Dotson and told him that playing at an SEC level was going to be a challenge for him, but that Tennessee was going to honor his scholarship. If Dotson had chosen to stay at UT, there would have been a spot for him.

 

However, after Dotson and his parents spoke with Pearl and after Tennessee signed Cincinnati Moeller's Ryan Childress, the Dotson family became concerned. Pearl encouraged Dotson to delay his academic work from the first summer school session to the second session while considering his future at UT. A few days later, he called Pearl to inform him that he would not enroll at the university and wanted his release.

 

What could have been done differently? According to Pearl, if the Dotson family had met with him and discussed their concerns sooner, they would have gotten to the bottom of the situation much quicker and both parties would have benefited. Unfortunately, that's not the way it worked, and both Dotson and UT experienced a setback.

 

Let me also remind you that neither you or I know the intricate details of every situation. We know what we read in the newspaper and online and that's about it. Pearl, Dotson, Tyler Smith -- all those folks -- know details we'll never see in print that likely had significant effects on the situations we've discussed. It's bush league to bash a coach or player when we don't know the inside information about the situation. It's like saying the ocean floor is blue because that's the way the top of the water looks.

 

Is Bruce Pearl a perfect man? Nope. Is he a perfect coach? Nope. I don't know many of either. Let's give him time to prove himself before we start throwing rocks at him.

[COACHHARD]

The merit of your argument is damaged by your desire to resort to pettiness.  Back to the discussion...

 

A college basketball coach is hired, paid, and expected to produce a successful basketball program, which means his chief task is to protect the well-being of his institution.  While the timing of Matthew Dotson's release is certainly not desirable and may not seem fair, a look at the details of the situation will reveal that there was really no other way to handle the situation.

 

Dotson made the conscious decision to be released from his scholarship.  He did so after he and his parents discussed his potential at UT with Pearl.  Pearl was honest with Dotson and told him that playing at an SEC level was going to be a challenge for him, but that Tennessee was going to honor his scholarship.  If Dotson had chosen to stay at UT, there would have been a spot for him.

 

However, after Dotson and his parents spoke with Pearl and after Tennessee signed Cincinnati Moeller's Ryan Childress, the Dotson family became concerned.  Pearl encouraged Dotson to delay his academic work from the first summer school session to the second session while considering his future at UT.  A few days later, he called Pearl to inform him that he would not enroll at the university and wanted his release.

 

What could have been done differently?  According to Pearl, if the Dotson family had met with him and discussed their concerns sooner, they would have gotten to the bottom of the situation much quicker and both parties would have benefited.  Unfortunately, that's not the way it worked, and both Dotson and UT experienced a setback.

 

Let me also remind you that neither you or I know the intricate details of every situation.  We know what we read in the newspaper and online and that's about it.  Pearl, Dotson, Tyler Smith -- all those folks -- know details we'll never see in print that likely had significant effects on the situations we've discussed.  It's bush league to bash a coach or player when we don't know the inside information about the situation.  It's like saying the ocean floor is blue because that's the way the top of the water looks.

 

Is Bruce Pearl a perfect man?  Nope.  Is he a perfect coach?  Nope.  I don't know many of either.  Let's give him time to prove himself before we start throwing rocks at him.

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Good post!

[Gerry Bertier]

Wes, Two quick points: 1) Telling a recruit the truth about their chances is a good thing, even though painful for all. 2) Waiting till the last minute to tell the truth, because you're waiting to see how another shoe falls, is a bad thing.

 

Go ahead and refuse to comment on the moral decline of the UT athletic program. I know its there, you know its there, but only one of us will publicily recognize it. Maybe you don't want to get you friends mad in the athletic department, but you know there comes a time when you need to be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think about you. So maybe if enough people in Knoxville stop worry about what the person above them in the career ladder thinks of them and have a conscience on the moral level of the athletic department maybe something positive will start to happen. Growing up I always wanted to be a UT Volunteer but every year that desire has shrunk to non existence cause I have realized there are things more important than winning and I hope people in Knoxville some day realize that cause once student athletes (see student is before athlete) leave Knoxville they will no longer be above the law ( ie Jamal Lewis, Leonard Little)

 

I hope Wayne goes to Knoxville makes the right decisions, stays out of trouble, gets his degree and has a successful career on the court.