Orange alert: ‘Perfect storm’ blows into Rupp Arena on Saturday
In their high school recruiting classes, Kentucky’s starters were rated Nos. 12 (Ashton Hagans), 18 (Keldon Johnson), 19 (PJ Washington), 36 (Reid Travis) and 38 (Tyler Herro).
That adds up to 123.
Among Tennessee’s top eight players in scoring and minutes played, the player with the best recruiting rating is sophomore Yves Pons. He was rated No. 127 by 247Sports. He is the Vols’ eighth-leading scorer (3.0 ppg) and ranks seventh in playing time (15.1 mpg).
That captures the different approaches Kentucky and Tennessee took in building the teams that will compete in Saturday night’s highly-anticipated showdown in Rupp Arena.
Of course, Kentucky’s proven formula for success is one-and-done players.
By contrast, 247Sports rated each of Tennessee’s top seven players as three-star prospects. None were rated better than No. 171 (Jordan Bone). Four were outside the top 200 in his class: John Fulkerson (238), Admiral Schofield (251), Jordan Bowden (262) and Kyle Alexander (362). Pons was a four-star prospect.
Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said he used the same formula at Providence, Clemson and Texas earlier in his career.
For example, Texas beat out Boston University and Marist for Royal Ivey, who contributed to three Sweet 16 teams and the Longhorns’ first Final Four (in 2003) since 1947. He was taken in the second round of the 2004 NBA Draft.
At Providence, the rags-to-riches stories included Dickey Simpkins (21st pick in the 1994 NBA Draft), Michael Smith (35th pick that year) and Austin Croshere (12th pick in 1997).
Barnes credited associate coach Rob Lanier and assistant Michael Schwartz for finding the relatively unheralded players who could prosper at Tennessee.
“They have never allowed scouting services to determine who we’re going to recruit,” Barnes said. “Because some guys are rated very highly that are over-rated for whatever reason. And there are a lot of guys who were rated down who are a whole lot better than (the scouting services) think.”
Barnes suggested that fans of programs like Kentucky would have a hard time accepting unheralded recruits. “If John (Calipari) signs so-called three-star and four-star players, they would go crazy,” he said. “So some places you can’t do it.”
There’s no single way to succeed, Barnes said.
Tennessee’s leading scorer, Grant Williams (the Southeastern Conference player of the year last season) was rated No. 251 by 247Sports. He played second fiddle behind Duke-bound Harry Giles on his travel team.
“Under-sized and out of shape,” Barnes said of how Williams was judged. “Which he was out of shape. I’m not sure about under-sized.”
With a 6-foot-11 wingspan, Williams plays taller than his listed 6-7.
Schofield’s travel team coach was Simpkins, who played for Barnes at Providence. Schofield had been signed by the previous Tennessee staff, a commitment that Simpkins advised Barnes to solidify upon being hired by UT in the spring of 2015.
“As soon as I finished the press conference, he was the first player I contacted,” Barnes said of Schofield.
As for Bone, who plays the all-important point guard position, Lanier saw him while on a recruiting trip to watch another player.
“Look, I know this kid isn’t rated as high,” Barnes recalled Lanier saying. “But I’ll tell you what. Down the road, I think he’ll be better than any of them.”
Tennessee ranks first in the country in assists per game (19.9) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (479-272).
A youth sports coach recommended Bowden. Barnes recalled the player’s mother asking why Tennessee had not been involved in her son’s recruitment. Barnes told her that people said that Bowden was not good enough.
“Well, those people should be shot,” Barnes recalled the mother saying. That spurred UT coaches to take a look for themselves.
“As soon as we laid eyes on him we said, ‘Hey, we want this guy,’” Barnes said.
Unheralded prospects can mean delayed success. Barnes’ first two Tennessee teams had a combined 31-35 record.
Patience was rewarded last season when Tennessee was SEC co-champion.
As for this season, the Vols come to Rupp Arena ranked No. 1 and riding the longest active winning streak in Division I: 19 games.
According to a story by The Associated Press, Tennessee is only the second team since 2005 to reach No. 1 without the benefit of a top-100 recruit. The first was Buddy Hield-led Oklahoma in 2015-16.
Time has yielded a Tennessee team that usually features five players seemingly playing with one mind.
“Really a fun team to watch,” Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin said in early January. “There’s beauty in their team and the way they were built as a staff. I just think it’s a wonderful thing.”
Other SEC coaches have talked about UT’s chemistry and intelligent play, both born from experience.
“Tennessee is just so good,” Calipari said on Feb. 4. “They don’t beat themselves. They play efficiently on both sides.”
Barnes claimed no magic formula was at work. Happenstance plays a part.
“Sometimes, it’s like a perfect storm,” the Tennessee coach said. “It just comes together for you. These guys, I think, really bought into each other. That’s what I truly think. It’s something every coach tries to instill. But often times, it comes from the players.
“If we could make it happen, we’d make it happen all the time.”
Saturday
No. 1 Tennessee at No. 5 Kentucky
When: 8 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 2:36 PM.
