Tennessee Vols Fail To Make Post Season Basketball Tournament
The Tennessee Vols Men’s Basketball team failed to make the post season tournaments this season. It was not unexpected, but coming out of the month of January the Vols were actually in the hunt for an NCAA bid. The Vols had a high RPI and were sitting at 15-7 on January 31st.
No one in the country would have bet that the Vols would have won 15 games on the season much less by the 31st of January. But Donnie Tyndall’s Vols played hard enough on defense and were just good enough offensively to win. The Vols had a surprising win at home against the highly ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. That was the best win all season for Tennessee, and was the best game they played overall.
Tennessee had another classic win in that joke of a gym called Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. The Vols completed a hard fought comeback with a layup by Robert Hubbs III as time expired to tie the Commodores. Tennessee took momentum and beat Kevin Stallings Vanderbilt team in overtime.
Soon after that win Tennessee fell on hard times. They did not play bad, but couldn’t overcome their inevitable scoring lapses during games. It was typical for Tennessee to go 7-8 minutes without scoring a point for whatever reason this season. That took its toll in February as Tennessee played better SEC teams.
Tennessee lost 5 in a row after the Vanderbilt win. Their lone win from there out was an improbable win against an LSU team that is in the NCAA tournament with a 9 seed. Tennessee lost all momentum with the tournament committees during this time. The Vols were back to where they belonged according to pre-season prognostications.
The Vols had a spirited comeback and win against Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament. The Vols overcame a 16 point deficit to beat Vanderbilt by closing on a 20-2 run to end the game. Tennessee caught a rested Arkansas team next. Tennessee had split the Arkansas home and away series, but the Hogs jumped on Tennessee early. It was 7-0 before Tennessee got off of the bus. The Hogs led by 20 at the half.
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Josh Richardson and the Vols heated up and made a game out of it in the second half. They closed the gap to 4 and had a chance to get within 1 when a Kevin Punter 3 pointer bounced off of the rim late in the game. The Hogs held on down the stretch to move on and eventually lost to Kentucky in the finals.
So what happens now at Tennessee. The Vols lose their best player in Josh Richardson. Everyone else returns. That is good news, but Richardson will be sorely missed. The Vols only have one other player that can step up and be a consistent scorer. That is Robert Hubbs III. He had a good second half of the season, and can step into that role as a two guard.
Armani Moore will be back to lead the team as a Senior. Moore had a terrific season all in all as Tennessee had very limited inside presence. Moore played much bigger players all year and did well offensively and defensively against those guys.
Tariq Owens will have to grow and put on some weight. He is going to be good at some point in his Tennessee career. He does have skill and heart. Just needs to gain weight.
Baulkman and Punter are the same players. They are three point shooters. They are extremely streaky. They will have to be more consistent in order for Tennessee to get back in post season play. Derek Reese will also be back and will be a defensive stalwart, but will have to pick up his offensive game as well to become a threat inside.
The biggest issue will be at point guard. The Vols are looking at couple of Junior College players to fill some gaps. But next year Braxton Bonds will be available to play. Bonds was ruled ineligible this season after he came to Tennessee late. Bonds is a point guard out of Nashville’s Christ Presbyterian School, and a good one at that. He will be welcomed next season.
Another issue of course will be head coach Donnie Tyndall’s status. Tyndall was at the helm at Southern Miss as some improprieties arose in their program. The NCAA has been investigating extensively, and it is my opinion this is not going away. Tyndall is going to be in trouble. How much trouble is only known by the NCAA.
The worst that could come down would be the dreaded “show cause” clause from the NCAA. If this happens, Tennessee will assuredly have to fire Donnie. If it is a suspension he suffers, I feel as if the Vols will keep Tyndall. The Vols know they have a good coach in Tyndall. He showed his style and his ability to coach worked with a limited roster this season.
The biggest thing Donnie will have to prove if he hangs around will be his recruiting ability. We have not seen that so far with high schoolers. We know he can get Junior College kids, but it is hard to be a consistent team relying on that route. Tennessee needs stability. Bruce Pearl got Tennessee to the tourney consistently. That is where Tennessee needs to be year in and year out. The resources are there to get this done.
So it is wait and see for Vol Basketball fans. We will watch 5 other SEC teams vie for a National Championship this season. Last season we were in the Sweet 16 watching the Vols. This season we are in NCAA limbo awaiting Tyndall’s fate.