Tennessee Basketball: Penny Hardaway can’t even recruit his own city
Rick Barnes went into Memphis, where Penny Hardaway lives and coaches, and got a commitment from three top Memphis recruits.
Rick Barnes, the best recruiter in the state, southeast, and probably the entire world, got three new commits from a few top prospects out of Memphis.
The three commits could be a dominant trio for the Vols, and they hold the 16th, 23rd, and 36th ranks in America. Five-star Shooting Guard Jaden Springer, five-star Shooting Guard Keon Johnson, and four-star Small Forward Corey Walker joined the list of Vols for the 2020 class.
Springer is the newest commit, and he lifted the Vols to the fourth-best recruiting class in the nation and the second-best in the SEC so far for 2020, according to 247Sports.
"“Of course, especially after what they did last year with the team they had being No. 1 in the country for a good period of time,” Springer said after his official visit in early October. “I feel like that is big, and that is something they are definitely going to try to keep improving.”"
Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina are the only teams that sit in front of Tennessee in the recruiting rankings. All three of those teams have four commits compared to Tennessee’s three.
Springer is the top-ranked player in Tennessee, and seeing Rick Barnes nail down his commit is a great feeling knowing what Penny Hardaway is trying to do in Memphis.
Everyone in national media has been praising Hardaway and how he’s going to turn Memphis’ program around, and he’s going to control the state in recruiting. They’ve been saying Barnes can’t recruit at an elite level.
It looks like they’re going to be proved wrong again this year. Barnes is one of the best recruiters in the country and dominates in-state recruiting, including Memphis.
Barnes’ Vols come into the season unranked this year as no one expects them to do much, if anything, while Memphis earned a ranking in the AP’s Top 25.
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I don’t know what Memphis did to earn that ranking, but it’s fine. The Vols will just continue to sit back and watch as Memphis continues to be a mediocre basketball program even with their savior Penny Hardaway while the Vols continue to play at an elite level.