Impossible, Iâve seen multiple posters claim we didnât have ACC-starter-worthy players on last yearâs team, hence the exodus is no big deal. And yet those players are being snatched up by peer programs and even NCAA tourney teams like Cal, Louisville, Iowa State, Wisconsin, with ARob and Cofie on similar radars (and I bet Saunders is too).
Maybe talent wasnât the issue last year?
NCAA tournament team with more experienced skilled bigs
Definitely had some talent, but it was mostly role player or third option type talent. These guys will be great pieces on a tournament team, but we did not really have center piece talent last year.
Given the pace of play change A-Rob, Cofie, and Gertrude should be top priorities of retention.
Iâm not panicked, or even frankly concerned yet. But it is notable that all our outbounds are headed to HM teams (mostly those that were top 25 all last year) and everyone weâre linked to is coming from a mid- or low- major.
As @Hoos5004 just said, we had some useful pieces, but nobody who was that good.
Better Bigs and a PG. Plus a good coach.
The guys who I thought were going to be great never really took the leap. IMac was closest but I never felt like he was the guy to take over games consistently. He was not Ty, not Kyle. He will be great for Louisville next year because more is working around him and he will fill his role.
Damn Rohde living the Bennett dream.
Howâs the saying go @WFS_HOO? We are so fuckedâŚ
Notice how he went to a better team in a different conference? Some of his backcourt mates could take notesâŚ
I donât think the exodus is being met with as much indifference as it is because of the individual talent we had. Iâm sure there were a few people who thought that there were no redeeming qualities to our squad, but generally speaking I think the consensus was that it was a team that could be something but it was also a team that suffered from 1. A severe lack of star power at the top 2. A lack of a few key stoppers on defense and 3. Overall mediocre coaching/matching of personnel to scheme (which was also an issue under Bennett in his last few seasons).
The indifference comes from the fact that weâve been told over and over again there wasnât really much we couldâve done about the exodus. We keep Ron around, maybe a few more players donât enter but then youâre stuck with Ron as a coach which again goes back to your point about what the issue was this past season. Go with Odom, well Odom wants to have a vastly different approach to his roster building and isnât gonna beg to keep certain players, so theyâre gonna see what their options are. Regardless though we were going to lose a lot of these guys no matter what we did.
Iâm hoping that inevitably a couple of these guys do end up taking their name out of the portal and coming back here, but generally speaking Iâve reached acceptance with the idea of a reset. Maybe Odom could have taken a different approach and tried harder to keep some of these guys but generally speaking they came here to play for Tony Bennett. And Ryan Odom is not Tony Bennett, at least not yet. Donât blame him for saying fuck it Imma go get guys who wanna play for me.
And so far it appears none do. Even dudes that wanted to play for him at VCU ha
I just expected 1-3 semi big splashes from the get like couple other teams have via the portal.
We shall see
Imma give him time. It seems like an eternity already but itâs only been two weeks.
If weâre reaching near the middle/end of April and things are still looking shitty then Iâll start to worry a bit more. Am hoping for a domino to fall that gets the train rolling.
I just hope your guy stays. It has to be hard watching your whole team and you be the only one left. If he really does stick it through that is some mental toughness! Hope the medical team and coach are talking to him.
Plus from the new power 5 coach timelines last year that someone shared, it was really only one coach that had any splash during the initial transfer phase. That was Kelsey with one transfer (outside of a few ok guys that came with)
I would love to come on here to see an incoming commitment not an outgoing one. Has there been any word on Jennings or Bamgboye?
I signed up for the âactionâ part of the transfer portal action, but thereâs nothing but backing away so far . . . 
I have to wonder how Tony feels watching all of his guys leave (players and coaches). He was pushing the two year plan at his retirement conference, but have to imagine deep down he knew that there was going to be a total reset and his guys were going to be gone.
I will always appreciate what Tony did here, but the way he left gives him no say. Everyone is entitled to their feelings, but if he wanted a different outcome, he had choices that would have given him more control.
To flip it, I wonder how all Tonyâs guys (players and coaches) felt when Tony decided to step down weeks before the season, knowing there would be a total reset and their guy was gone.
With experienced bigs, a point guard, and a lock-down defender somewhere on the court, last year would have been a NCAA tourney team.
The thing is, a lot of the pieces were in place for next year. Add a PG, Gertrude could provide some of the elite athleticism that was totally absent from last yearâs roster. A-Rob, Cofie just need time. I think they are going to be really good players. Sharma has lots of potential too. A couple more upgrades from the portal and next year had the potential to be really good.
But in todayâs game it is totally possible to have absolutely nobody returning & still put together a damn good team on the floor. Really no reason to not to put together a tourney team, or at least a bubble team together for 25-26.
Iâm aware of what both Rothstein & Goodman reported.
Myself, I have no idea. I know a member of the media in the Knoxville market with really good sources & Tennessee admin fully expect the 5th year as a âwhenâ not âifâ type of thing. They think it will come to fruition around June or July.