Maze and Orange

Normally this time of year when something happens as drastic as Ramar Smith and Duke Crews getting booted off the Tennessee men’s basketball team, you’re sent scrambling as a coach.

Late signing period has come and gone, and the team you have coming back is the team you’re stuck with, for better or worse. That’s what normally happens. It’s not every day you look out there and find a potential star junior college point guard on the “scrap heap.”

Fortunately, that’s just what the Vols — who have become a recruiting juggernaut in basketball — have done. Six-foot-one point guard Bobby Maze, a former Oklahoma freshman starter, signed with Tennessee on Wednesday during his one-day official visit. The Hutchinson (Kan.) CC point guard — who set a school record in assists last year, though dubbed a combo guard by most, chose the Vols over Kentucky and St. Johns. Also Cincinnati and USC expressed interest. According to a Govols.com article this week, “Maze averaged 20.7 points, 6.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game last season and led the Blue Dragons with 55 steals.”

How much does this kid look like Allen Iverson?? Wow. Hope he plays like him

In the same article, his coach — Ryan Swanson, a former Bruce Pearl assistant — had this to say about the speedy point guard:

Maze originally committed to Maryland, another team that runs an uptempo system. But the Terps pulled their offer at the last minute before later coming back and saying they had room after all.

Maze wasn’t interested the second time around.

“Bobby has heard from about 50 Division I schools,” Swanson said. “Bobby is very intelligent; he’s been through this process before, and he can read between the lines.

“Tennessee would be a great fit for him, but he’ll make up his own mind. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Bobby wants to go to Tennessee.”

Coming out of high school in New Jersey in 2006, he was Rivals.com’s No. 135-ranked player. Apparently, there were some player-coach issues at Oklahoma that stemmed from Maze being a high-maintenance player who had a me-first attitude and bouts with immaturity, though his junior-college coach seemed to refute that. Either that, or he changed drastically. We as Vols fans have to hope so.

Whatever the case, Ramar had some character issues, and with only one point guard (sorry J.P.) on the roster next year in true freshman Daniel West, UT had to pull the trigger on Maze, a supreme talent with a decent amount of baggage.

He had a great quote on today’s Volquest.com story.

“I’m a point guard that likes to run, and just looking at the players we’ve got here, as a point guard, it’s like someone handing you the keys to a Ferrari. No offense to the other schools, but if someone hands you the keys to a Ferrari or a Range Rover, I’m going to take the Ferrari.”

What it boils down to is this: The Vols play a fun brand of up-and-down basketball. Any prospect is going to consider playing for UT, and some are going to jump at the chance. Also, Pearl and the Vols have done a good job of getting guys that, for some reason or another, didn’t wind up with their original teams. Think about it: Tyler Smith came to UT from Iowa, J.P. Prince came to the Vols from Arizona after wanting to trasfer to Vanderbilt. Hopson signed with the Vols after verbally committing to Mississippi State and not signing. Now, there’s Maze, an Oklahoma transfer who committed to Maryland before having his scholly oddly pulled.

It’s definitely an odd way to get players, very unconventional. But it’s working so far. Hopefully, with the signing of Maze, it will continue.

Perrilloux going to Alabama?

Well, with a headline like that, at least you’ll read the first sentence. But, obviously, troublesome former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux won’t be transferring to Tuscaloosa. Not even a scoundrel like Nick Saban could get away with that.

Instead, ESPN.com is reporting that Jacksonville State has contacted Les Miles and is interested in taking Perrilloux onto the team. Said Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe:

“Les was very kind to spend quite a bit of time explaining the situation to me,” Crowe told The Associated Press. “He’s very optimistic about him being a successful player and a successful student-athlete.”

Personally, I think Jacksonville, Ala., would be a good fit for Perrilloux. I mean, there aren’t many places in the world lower on the list than rural Alabama when you think of somebody waking up in a mound of expensive cocaine and guns after doing lines off a dead hooker, which, right now, seems a more likely destination for Perrilloux than the NFL.

Instead, Perrilloux would probably just spend his remaining eligibility smoking home-grown ganja and making lesser opponents look silly before somebody wastes a late-round pick on him as a wide receiver until he ends up in a federal prison. Either that, or he’ll just get into trouble again in college and fade into oblivion.

I’d like to see Perrilloux get back on track, but that seems pretty unlikely at this point. Hopefully, he’ll start making some good decisions and make something of himself. Even if those four Heismans he predicted have spiraled even farther down the drain.

** STORY UPDATE: It appears the chances of Alabama’s crime rate going up just got greater. The Huntsville Times reported this morning that Alabama A&M has been in contact with Perrilloux, and also Alabama State is interested. I guess when you have a talent like this, all the baggage goes out the airplane window.

Most people think this will be Perrilloux’s next destination

Williams makes it No. 4

Tennessee picked up a verbal commitment from Toney Williams on Saturday, giving the Vols their fourth commit so far for the 2009 class. Williams is a 6-foot-1, 235-pound running back (who will likely never see that spot as a Vol).

The thought is Williams will likely move to linebacker or H-back because his frame can hold a little extra weight. He chose the Vols over offers from Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Kentucky, North Carolina State and Indiana. He had interest and was going to visit Clemson, Georgia and Florida but did not yet have offers. He’d sent film to Alabama before receiving the UT offer.

This is a good, solid pickup for UT. Nothing wrong with taking a guy like this. I initially said, “Huh?” since it is thought that we lead for star RBs Jarvis Giles of Florida and David Oku of Oklahoma, but I saw this kid as a bruiser who will not play RB. His film looks pretty good despite the lack of top-tier offers. I project him as being a mid-range three-star kid and somebody who won’t play running back. You simply don’t see a lot of kids with 4.6 speed play RB in the SEC. He has LB written all over him.

He is from Milton H.S. in Alpharetta, Ga. Here’s a nice link from the AJC about him and some comments from some obviously biased people who’ve seen him play. He is a Tennessee native.

We hardly knew ya, Duke and Ramar

LaMarcus Coker II, anyone? That’s what this reminds me of

When I received the call that Duke Crews and Ramar Smith would not be back with the team next year sometime early Friday afternoon, I had to first make a couple of phone calls to inform some UT fans that we were back on the market for a point guard.

Then, the rest of the 40-minute drive to Huntsville I sat back and thought on the careers that weren’t. The 2006 class was really Bruce Pearl’s first, and it brought huge excitement to The Hill, especially with a pair of big men slated to come in: Four-star from Bolivar Central Wayne Chism and five-star from Hampton, Va., Duke Crews.

I remember looking at Crews’ mugshot on Rivals.com and thinking, “This guy’s mugshot looks like an actual mugshot. He looks like one of the meanest, most unsavory characters I’ve ever seen.” Though Crews reportedly didn’t run with the right crowd and looked like he’d rather stab you than block your shot, that was part of his intrigue. We were very, very excited to have a big man — though undersized — come in and be ready to play on this level. We were even more excited that he was nasty, and he would be learning from another nasty-looking dude, Major Wingate. As it turned out, he may have learned more than just basketball from the big man.

After one weed suspension, Crews was kicked off the team along with Smith yesterday, for what is thought to be more of the Sticky Smoking. It turned out you can take the boy out of Hampton, Va., but you can’t take Hampton out of the boy. A Vols fan can only hope Crews’ buddy, Brent Vinson, has a better career and a longer career than Crews. We’re doing a lot of football recruiting up there this year, and while it is a veritable hot bed of talent, you run the risk of running into character issues like Crews, the Vick brothers, Allen Iverson and Jimmy Williams. Still, it’s a price you pay for talent.

Look, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t disappointed when I heard about Crews. Despite the marijuana suspension last year, he did have the heart ailment, which had all of the Vol Nation and a lot of the country pulling for him. He looked like it genuinely made him happy to be a member of the Vols when he returned and sparked us during a midseason stretch where UT outrebounded something like seven consecutive opponents upon his return. Though an undersized 6-foot-6, he gave Chism, Tyler Smith and Brian Williams some fresh legs and always seemed to pull five to seven rebounds in limited minutes. All that, and he wasn’t playing at 100 percent. I was very excited to see his ceiling and see if he could live up to the expectations a five-star brings.

But there was one player that really thrilled me coming out of school — late-term signee Ramar Smith from inner-city Detroit, who had all the baggage and all the stars of Crews. Except this was a guy who supposedly could play point guard. This was a guy who wasn’t a great shooter but allegedly could break anybody down off the dribble. This was the guard we needed to run the show. Like many, I ignored the high-school bouncing around. I ignored UCONN backing off of him in recruiting, and I ignored the inner-city Detroit pedigree.

You can’t pigeon-hole these kids. You can’t paint them into a corner. So, I didn’t.

Well, fool me twice. The only two players who had character issues coming out of school are now gone from the Vols. Memphis, we ain’t.

It has been uncovered that the downfall of the two was academics and smoking da ganja. Well, big surprise there, huh? It’s the same woes that have followed them from their hometowns.

Here’s the thing with Ramar. I have friends who are friends with him, and he’s a super-good kid. Apparently, he has been a great kid since he arrived at UT. But marijuana isn’t legal, guys. It probably won’t ever be, and as far as I know, he had to medical ailments that would be a good excuse. Plus, ya know, you’re a student-athlete. Gotta pass to play. It’s always been that way, unless you go to school at Auburn or Florida.

As much as it stinks about Crews, I really could care less about Ramar on the court. He failed in so many major opportunities that he’s dead to me. During last year’s NCAA tournament, Ramar played like a star against Long Beach State, scoring 22 points and showing flashes of the player he could be. Though he took a step back against Virginia, scoring just seven points and missing three free throws, he again looked the part in a battle of strong freshmen against Ohio State’s Mike Conley Jr. Though Conley abused him in the Sweet 16 game, Ramar scored 15 points to hold his own. But in the waning seconds after Chris Lofton inexplicably missed the front end of a one-and-one, Ramar — as would become his M-O — did the same, and instead of dishing the ball to an upperclassman on the final play of the game, decided to drive against Greg Oden and was blocked as Ohio State beat UT in the Sweet 16 by a bucket.

From there, Ramar never really panned out. In the SEC tournament and NCAA tourney over the past two years, Ramar was 25-for-58 from the floor, and 31-for-53 from the free-throw line. It’s impossible for me to emphasize for you how many of his 22 misses at the free-throw line were clutch, game-in-a-pinch shots. Then, this year, he was so schizo in the regular season that Pearl over-tinkered with his lineup come NCAA tournament time, playing J.P. Prince — who’d never played the position at UT — there during the postseason. Point guard play cost us a deep run into the tournament, and I’ll forever believe that. In my mind, that goes on the shoulders of senior Jordan Howell and his complete offensive wilting down the stretch, and Ramar, who never could handle the big-game pressure.

Remember when I wrote that Ramar Smith was the key to the postseason? Remember when Ramar shut down Jeremy Pargo in the Gonzaga game? Well, that Ramar Smith never really showed up again other than one little spurt during overtime of the Butler game.

I wish him the best. I wish Duke the best. But much like former Vols running back LaMarcus Coker, they’re going to go down as players with all the potential in the world, all the excitement and possibility bottled up in their bodies. And all of it either went up in a cloud of weed smoke or stayed asleep with them during all the 8 a.m. classes they skipped.

It’s simply hard for me to be sad to see them go.

UT and UA, banding together in one common hatred: Florida

Sure, we’re all close friends here. UT and UA fans co-existing, which is what makes this blog so great, right? (What’s that? Yes, I said “great.” Well, OK. Good? Um, decent? Tolerable? OK, we’ll go with that. I’ll start again…)

Sure we’re all close friends here. UT and UA fans co-existing, which is what makes this blog so decent, right? Right. Despite the fact that I’d rather pluck hairs from hard-to-reach parts of my body than hear about Alabama recruiting, and I’m sure Crimson Daddy, Tide Fan and Capstone had rather see Terrence Cody nekked than hear me detail the Louisiana-Monroe Day of Joy, but we have to rag each other, right?

Well, through all of our disagreements, arguments and rantings, we can come together in oneness over a few things: We love to make fun of the Small Ten up north, we like picking LSU and Auburn scabs and … my personal favorite … we share a disdain for the University of Florida Gators.

Whether it’s from being the first-place loser in the Tim Tebow sweepstakes or getting manhandled by them every year without fail, we all have our reasons. So, UT and UA fans, unite as one! At least for a couple of minutes this offseason. I give to you the Florida anthem: “This is why you suck.” It may be a little old, but it never gets old …

(Warning: There is a little bit of language, so proceed with caution.)

Lofton Beat Cancer this past year

Well, I guess I’ll think twice about whining when I pull a muscle on the treadmill from now on.

In an unbelievable reporting job by ESPN.com’s Chris Low, a story broke today that Tennessee senior guard Chris Lofton actually beat testicular cancer this past year secretively. When I say “secretively,” I mean that less than 10 people — and just one teammate — knew about this. This is jaw-dropping, unbelievable stuff. Seriously, I honestly can’t believe what I’m reading. I had to share this with you guys.

When idiots like myself were griping about Lofton taking a step back this season and wondering why he’d lost a step, seemed more out of shape and simply wasn’t the same player, he was recovering from radiation treatments after battling for his life.

As if the Legend of the Maysville, Ky., who will one day have his number retired at UT wasn’t revered enough, now we get to add the fact that Lofton was STILL a dominant scorer at times this year while undergoing cancer treatments. I simply don’t know what to say about this. Heroic comes to mind. Amazing does, too. Stunned as well.

I believe that this is one of the most miraculous stories I’ve ever heard, one of the most remarkable acts of selflessness and heroism ever by a college athlete. I am the king of hyperbole, but what tops this? He is so humble and soft-spoken that only one teammate — roommate Jordan Howell — found out about this situation, and that wasn’t until late in the season.

There were some whispers around the program about Lofton failing a drug test, and some even thought that Lofton would have taken something to get ahead, maybe something to help gain that step of slowness that hounded him coming out of high school. As it turned out, he did fail a test because of a tumor marker. The reason he lost a step this year wasn’t because he was off the juice. It was because he was taking treatments.

I am perhaps the biggest Vols fan who has ever lived. I am also a fan of journalism, of getting the story and beating everybody else to the punch. I’m finally a bigger fan of people who come through in heroic situations time after time, doing things that go beyond the normal call of duty, becoming people whom you are proud to say represents your program.

Chris Lofton, you are a truly remarkable person.

Oh. God. No!

Well, I just threw up in my mouth. Not a little, either. I mean, I honestly just had to get up out of my chair, run into the bathroom and gag myself.

The good news is Jerod Mayo catapulted up the draft board to go 10th overall. The bad news? HE WENT TO THE FRIGGIN’ PATRIOTS!!! HE’S PLAYING FOR BILL BELICHICK!!! IN NEW ENGLAND!!! HE’S NOW A CHEATER!!! WHY CAN’T I QUIT TYPING CAPITAL LETTERS OR EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!

nastyboys sports blog gives us the leader of the Evil Empire

OK, I really didn’t vomit, but the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just won’t go away. This is not quite as bad as Eric Berry announcing he’s transferring to Alabama — which would be a Gouge-Out-My-Eyes-With-A-No.-2-Pencil on a scale of 1-to-Kill Myself. But this is easily a Curl-Up-In-A-Corner-And-Cry move. I mean, I just can’t believe it. I have to denounce my favorite Vol since Al Wilson? Really?

Some of you may not understand, but Vols fans do. Jerod Mayo is important to us. Forget the fact that he didn’t return for his senior season. The guy ran a 4.52 at the combine. He dominated last season. He was ready. If you watched any Tennessee games last year, you know that he was the Skittle in the turd that was the Vols defense during the early season.

When nobody could make a tackle early in the season, Mayo made 15 a game. At a new position. Because he was asked to move. Because he HAD to carry them.

Then, as a young defense matured and meshed to make a run to the SEC Championship game, Mayo willed the team to wins, making huge plays in every game down the stretch. He wore out the combo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, single-handedly beat Vanderbilt, owned Kentucky. Then, in a matchup against LSU and Ali Highsmith, he just made Highsmith look average.

But it goes even further than that.

When the Vols had only slim hope and no leg to stand on back in 2006, coming off a 5-6 season, who was it who dominated Cal with his breakout, four-sack performance? You became a natural leader that year, flying all over the field and becoming Al Wilson on a team that wasn’t as good as that 1998 team. Then, last year, you gave us 140 tackles and everything you had. I love you, man!

I’m biased, but Mayo was better than — is better than — Keith Rivers. When all is said and done he’ll probably be better than (Lord, forgive me…) Al Wilson. And now he gets to wreak havoc for the Patriots. The crybaby, hate-everything-they-stand-for Patriots.

THE PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This guy. My guy. Wahhhhhh!

He gets to run around and eat running backs for the AFC champs, making them even better. He gets to learn how to be dirty and grimy and worship Satan. He gets to high-five Tedy Bruschi, Randy Moss and rub the head of — I’m swallowing puke right now — Tom Brady.

I just can’t live this way anymore. Life changed today.

Mayo matters to Tennessee. And while it looks good for the program for him to be picked that high and it’s certainly good in the pocket-lining category for Mayo, I just can’t get used to it. I feel like crying. Mayo now becomes the mortal enemy of Peyton Manning. Pulling for Mayo to succeed is almost inconceivable now. Well, pulling for him would be OK, but pulling for him to play for a winner is impossible.

That would be like burning a Ronald Reagan picture at the Republican National Convention.

Congratulations, Jerod. At 6-2, 230 pounds and a freak of nature, you will always, ALWAYS be one of my favorite Vols for the things you did. What you meant to me will never be forgotten. The orange No. 7 will be stamped on my heart forever.

But you have to be dead to me now. I hope we can still be friends. I just can’t trust you anymore. It’s me, it’s not you. We had a good thing, didn’t we, you and I? This hurts me more than it hurts you.

Don’t look back in anger … My sorrow consumes me.

Keep him away from the goats, Tom! I MEAN IT!

Is There a Draft in Here?

No, not that kind of draft.

I’m talking about the NFL Draft! Yes, it’s that time of year again, and I must admit that I always love watching it if I’m home on that Saturday — or at least having it on in the background. If you’re stuck inside, it’s good to have on the draft with a good book in hand, choosing to pay attention when your favorite team or teams come up with their picks or a player from your alma mater is announced.

Well, it’s not going to be a huge year for the Vols draft-wise, but I am looking for one player — junior all-world linebacker Jerod Mayo — to go in the first round. Whether it’s to San Francisco (who loves them some SEC linebackers after last year’s glittering selection of Tennessee native and Ole Miss star Patrick Willis) or the Tennessee Titans (who owe the Vols some good vibes after skipping on Robert Meachem last year) or another team, expect Mayo to get snapped up early in the day. He’s an electric talent, can fly, makes every tackle in his vicinity, showed the versatility to move inside and play either linebacker position last season, and he’s only getting better. When matched up against some of the better linebackers in the conference, Mayo proved he was the best. Expect him to go in a hurry, likely in the first 20-23 picks of the first round.

From there, it gets sketchy. There may not be another Vol taken on Saturday (first and second rounds). As a matter of fact, it would be down-right mouth-dropping if another was taken. The next two who are expected to go are tight end Brad Cottam and quarterback Erik Ainge. Joel over at Rocky Top Talk does a better job of breaking down these two Vols than we have time to do over here, so I’ll just let him do the dirty work with the links. Also, Wes Rucker with the Chattanooga Times Free Press hits Ainge with a strong article.

It’s funny that looking back at these two guys, UT fans probably don’t have a ton of fond thoughts. Personally, Ainge and me never really got off on the right foot. I respected his grasp of the offense, and I know that he made some big plays. That, along with his 6-foot-6 frame, should lead to a selection by some team in the third- or fourth-round. Ainge certainly had the tools, but after a disastrous sophomore year when he may have deserved most of the blame for the 5-6 season, we just never could make up. I never really could accept him as our leader.

Really, Erik, it’s my fault, I’ll admit. But when you had a chance to get back in my good graces and end your career on a strong note, you threw the two critical interceptions to single-handedly lose us the SEC Championship game, and then you were only mediocre in a win against Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl.

I will pull for you in the NFL, and you will always be a Vol, but pardon me for not being able to completely forgive you for the kid gloves David Cutcliffe always had to equip you with or the mistakes you made with games on the line.

Then, there’s Cottam. The 6-foot-8, speedy freak of nature had all of the intangibles to be a Jason Witten-type tight end that went down in Big Orange Lore. Instead, he spent essentially his entire career mired on the depth chart or recovering from devastating injuries. When we finally got a glimpse of what might have been during his 59-yard jaunt against Kentucky that looked briefly like he was the fastest man on the field, it was enough to give us warm and fuzzies. But it was also enough to make us just a little angry that we didn’t get to know you better.

Good luck, guys. But when it comes to hero status that has been reserved for recent Vols such as Peyton Manning, Al Wilson, Gibril Wilson, Travis Henry, Albert Haynesworth, John Henderson, etc., you aren’t in that conversation. Still, there’s nothing wrong with being mentioned in the same breath as Kevin Burnett, Omar Gaither, Parys Haralson, Scott Wells, Donte Stallworth and guys like that who we’re still proud were Vols.

Finally, there’s one thing I don’t understand: Many experts have Chris Brown as a free agent possibility only. Huh? This guy did everything for the Vols as an H-back/tight end/fullback, and now the former five-star may not even get drafted? I realize he’s undersized at 6-1, 250, but gosh, the guy has great hands, tenacious blocking ability, is versatile and has a nose for the end zone. UT coaches are dumbfounded that Brown may not get drafted. He did so much for the Vols last year that they went out and tried to recruit to that position, a position that really doesn’t have a name because he’s such a Swiss Army Knife of a player. Now that Dave Clawson is the OC, there will probably be more of a true fullback in the Vols’ system, but I for one thought Brown’s versatility would have helped his draft status. Apparently, I was wrong.

Other Vols who could get drafted:

• Eric Young (a near-certain top-three rounder until an injury ended his UT career prematurely. This is a great kid who comes from nothing, so if you’re looking for an underdog to pull for to sign a big contract with somebody, pull for Eric. He’s a great guy and a great player who got a raw deal with the injury.)
• Jonathan Hefney (a safety that was expected to be a top few rounds pick until he returned for his senior year and stunk up the joint playing through injuries. Hefney is still a good player, but his measuring at 5-foot-7 surely aren’t going to help his chances.)
• Xavier Mitchell, Antonio Reynolds (these two defensive ends are essentially the same person as far as production goes.) They just never lived up to expectations — especially Reynolds. Mitchell and Reynolds had flashes of brilliance, but UT really needed them to have better careers than they had.
• Ryan Karl (OK, I spit out my Diet Dr. Pepper … seriously, the outside linebacker insists that he’s being contacted by some teams, and he may not be such a bad player to use a late-round pick on. Still, he probably lacks the size or speed to play on the next level.)

I’m sure I’m leaving somebody out, but that’s all I can think of. Good luck, Mayo! You were really the only one who made enough of an impact to be remembered as a Vols legend.

Tyler Smith is Sticking Around

Fear the Teardrop!

Considering you only play every other day during the NCAA basketball tournament, I’m not sure there has ever been a better two-day stretch in the history of Tennessee basketball than the past two days.

A day after consensus national top-10 player Scotty Hopson cemented his verbal pledge to Bruce Pearl and the Big Orange official Wednesday by signing on the dotted line, Tyler Smith held a press conference today and told the legions of Faithful that he is staying at UT for (at least) one more year.

The 6-foot-7 forward, who averaged 13.7 points per game last year but provided the type of all-around season that makes NBA scouts stand up and take notice elected to come back for his junior year. He’d been projected anywhere in the upper teens of the first round to the top part of the second round, and though many thought he’d solidly crack the first-round festivities, he will remain a Volunteer.

Smith was a first-team All-SEC performer and an honorable mention All-American one year after transferring from Iowa to the school he originally chose. He was, of course, granted a waiver on the NCAA’s policy making players who transfer from one Division I school to another sit out for a season due to the diminishing health of his cancer-stricken father. Billy Smith passed away before last season started, leading Tyler to get a tattoo of a pair of teardrops under one eye.

Though Billy Smith never got the opportunity to drive from Pulaski to watch Tyler suit up for the Vols, Pearl promised to act as a father figure to Tyler, vowing to help him make the right decisions. For that reason, many in Big Orange circles thought Tyler would at least test the NBA waters without hiring an agent. The reasoning behind it was … what could it hurt?

Instead, Tyler wanted to ensure that he’d be in Knoxville another year to be close with his young son and work more on his game. Many NBA scouts said if Smith — who played most of the year as UT’s power forward last season — could go a long way in developing his outside shot (which he has, he just didn’t shoot much last year) — he may elevate his status to lottery potential. Smith will undoubtedly shoot a lot more from the outside next year and evenly distribute his time between the low post and the wing.

Nobody just simply replaces a guard tandem like Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith, especially their offense. But with Hopson’s signing and Tyler coming back, this does three things that should make every Tennessee fan pretty excited heading into next year:

1.Replaces some of the offensive output.

Last year, Smith did not have to focus on being the alpha dog, though it was said many times — and was evident in many big games — that Tyler could have averaged 20 points per game if asked. Though that may not be required of him next year, one would expect that his per-game average will increase four points, giving him an average of near 18 points per game. When you throw in that the entire offense will revolve around him, and also that Wayne Chism and Duke Crews will have another year under their elastic waistbands, you don’t feel nearly as badly about losing CLo and Juanny. That, and Hopson will assuredly go through some freshman struggles, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he will average double figures in points, especially if Ramar Smith improves at the point and true point guard signee Daniel West can help immediately.

2. Makes the Vols incredibly more athletic.

Not taking anything at all away from the importance of Lofton’s career as a Vol and his impact on last season, but he was a liability at times on defense. With the addition of Hopson and West and the return of Tyler, the Vols will be a much longer and athletic team, which will help drastically on defense. Though Hopson isn’t known for his defensive prowess and there will be a dropoff from what JaJuan gave UT, the infusion of his athleticism and West’s defense should keep the Vols matching up pretty well. Tyler is one of the best defenders in the SEC.

3. Puts a more talented team on the floor.

Nobody wants to say UT is losing a walk-on and a player nobody else wanted because JaJuan and Lofton became so, so much more than that. But Tyler was a four-star player, as was Chism and J.P. Prince and Philip Jurick (6-11 freshman out of Chattanooga) and Cameron Tatum (who will wow a lot of people with his athleticism a year after redshirting.) Also, Hopson, Crews and Ramar Smith were five-star players, and Daniel West is a three-star point guard who played for one of the top 10 teams in the country.

…

If Tyler goes pro, you see the sort of dropoff that leads to a fine line between making the NIT and NCAA tournament simply because of a lack of experience and experienced scoring. With him sticking around, the ceiling for the 2008-09 team is higher than this year’s team. Now, does that mean that they’ll again make it to the Sweet 16? Of course it doesn’t. There are tons of question marks, but, talent-wise, next year’s team will be better despite being much younger. With Tyler electing to stick around and Hopson’s signing, the Vols and Bruce Pearl make one thing clear:

They’re going to be relevant for a long, long time.

Vols get huge talent in small package for third commitment

Manassas (Va.) Stonewall Jackson HS athlete Damien Thigpen committed to play for the Vols on Sunday, giving UT its third commitment and second in two days.

Thigpen is a 5-foot-8, 170-pound jitterbug who runs a 4.34 40-yard dash and is a four-star athlete. He is No. 250 on the Rivals.com’s Top 250 players. He joins New Jersey WR Je’Ron Stokes (a four-star, top-50 player) and Dominique Allen (who will rate to be a three-star FB most likely but could play linebacker or bulk up to be a DL at Tennessee, already being 5-11, 240) from Paris, Tenn.

This new Vols coaching staff is laying the foundation for a solid recruiting class during their first full season on the job. Of course, the rumbles in the Big Orange Nation are to get some offensive and defensive linemen on board, but those guys are coming. You never turn down a talent like Thigpen.

Thigpen had offers from Notre Dame, Auburn, Stanford, Boston College, UCONN, Stanford and West Virginia with plenty of interest from other schools. Either Latrell Scott (new WR coach) or DBs coach Larry Slade put in some work on this guy. This is completely out-of-the-blue.

Photo courtesy of Anna Pimsler’s Photo Blog

Orange Is Always on My Mind and In my heart

(If you don’t like hearing my long-winded sidebar stories, scroll down for the Orange and White game commentary… It’s riveting.)

The annual Orange and White took place today to conclude the most important spring football practice in Knoxville in quite some time, and I was nowhere to be found.

Instead, I stood for 12 hours, tucked happily an hour or so away from Knoxville on a breathtakingly beautiful 8-mile stretch of the Tellico River, doing what I love more than almost anything except watching the Vols — fishing for trout.

(Note: The previous sentence excludes hanging out with my wife. If you’re reading, dear, you know you’re No. 1 on that list …)

I started trout fishing about five years ago, and every time I get the chance to go, I relish it. Normally, those days are spent on the Elk River. But there, you normally just sit in the same spot all day, bottom-fishing the depths and hoping a fish comes lazily along and bumps into your bait. It’s more like “trout catching” than “trout fishing,” but it serves its purpose.

Then there are the trips to Tellico and Wildcat Creek — another stream that runs straight down a mountain on the Georgia-North Carolina line about five miles from Nick Saban’s lake house on Lake Burton (I think that’s the name of the lake …) As beautiful as that stream is, nothing compares to Tellico.

After a brief spell of heavy rain in the morning, we had pretty much the perfect day. The “we” to which I’m referring is myself and a buddy of mine who lives in Chattanooga and is turning 30 on Sunday. The trip was a celebration of sorts, but really, we make any excuse we can to get to Tellico. And those excuses usually run only about twice a year.

The trip is so important to me, I spent $90 on an out-of-state fishing license, and even if I don’t go again this year, it’s worth every penny. The last time we all went, VolstotheWall was there, and between the three of us, we caught 18 and just had a complete blast. That day was one-in-a-million. Saturday, my buddy and I caught four in 12 hours. But the rain caused the water to be higher, faster and murkier from all the sediment, so we considered the haul a success.

Can Eskimos Play Football? The Legend of Michael Odell

Can Eskimos play football? Tennessee fans sure hope so.

Apparently, the Vols are getting an invited walk-on running back from Alaska named Michael Odell, the leading rusher in Kodiak High School history. Just saw this posted on Volquest.com, and I found it interesting, so I thought I’d pass it along.

Now, before I go any further, I assuredly don’t know if the kid is an Eskimo. I’m sure there are a lot of people in that great Northern state who aren’t Eskimos, woodsmen or fishermen. Only about 85 percent of them are one or another, I imagine. I just put two-and-two together, and though I’m not much on stereotyping, isn’t it cooler if he’s a freakin’ Inuit? I think so, so we’ll go with that.

When I googled “Michael Odell,” this guy popped up. One can only hope he’s not this guy, though it would be funny…

After hearing that he’s been a Vols fan for basically his entire adolescent life, I’ve fallen in love with the kid. I’ve even painted this picture in my mind of his legendary toughness. But I didn’t just want to speculate. Instead, I called him, interviewed him and came away with this story. The first thing he said to me when he found out what I was doing is “$@%*@ Nick Saban.” I love him already … I hope you enjoy…

As a youth in the great Alaskan Bush, Michael Odell tracked grizzly bears with Swiss army knives and a gleam in his eye, stopping occasionally to kill with his bare hands Moose he came across that got in his way.

Once, his father blindfolded him and took him into the middle of the woods some 20 miles from home in the dead of winter and dropped him off.

“Find your way home or die trying,” he told Odell. This is a tough-love rite of passage for Alaskan youths.

The next morning, when Odell’s father awoke at 4 a.m. to drive 25 miles to his job diving barechested in the Arctic Ocean for charr, and Michael was sitting on the porch of the family igloo with two dead rabbits in each hand.

“Already had breakfast?” he asked.

“You’ve only been gone five hours,” his father said.

“I sprinted home, and veered off on two separate three-mile excursions to chase rabbits so mom could have a healthy breakfast,” Odell concluded. “Would have been here faster if not for that.”

His father said simply: “You should have brought elk instead.”

Odell built igloos in the community before and after school, sometimes working 14 hours a day in the driving snow before and after school. During the summer, he swam back and forth from Russia to stay in shape, dodged bobsleds to work on his hand-eye coordination, and drank 100-proof pure-grain alcohol from Mason jars while fasting for days to get his 40 time under 4-flat.

Once, Odell broke his leg in eight different places during a game against the neighboring Grizzly County High Polar Bears, and rather than leave the game, he ripped off the leg, rushed (hopped) around the end from his safety position on the next play, sacked the quarterback and then beat him over the head with his broken leg. After the game, he had the leg sewn back on, and he played the next Friday night.

“All of this because I wanted to be a Vol, and I know what the standards are,” Odell said. “I’m going to request that they don’t give me a scholarship. I plan on killing an opponent with my bare hands to earn one. It’s going to happen, but it’s a matter of time to get on the field. With my bowstaff skills, ability to lift Datsuns with one arm and my propensity to pull hearts from fighting, rabid caribou, I figure I’ll go in as the second-best player on the team … right behind Eric Berry.”

“My goal is to be better than Berry, and I’m already better than the only other Alaskan to play for UT, former NFL player Shane Bonham. But I bet even Eric Berry never had an offer from Chadron State in Nebraska.”

***

You can read more on Odell, though he tones things down for the normal media, here.