Tennessee's big football weekend could prove key to the future of the men's basketball program as a pair of pivotal recruits are on campus.
Point guard Trae Golden from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga., and combo guard Chris Crawford from Sheffield High in Memphis have arrived in Knoxville and will attend today's football game against UCLA.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Golden is the No. 55 overall ranked player in the Rivals.com 150 rankings and is listed 12th among point guards.
Virginia, South Florida and Georgia have made scholarship offers to Golden, and the Vols are expected to do the same.
The Vols are in need of a point guard in their Class of 2010 after Josh Selby's de-commitment in July.
UT has five scholarships to offer in the Class of 2010 and have just one verbal commitment to date, shooting guard Jordan McRae out of Liberty County, Ga.
Crawford got scouts' attention in Las Vegas when his AAU team, the Memphis Magic, won the adidas Super 64. Crawford hit the winning shot in the title game.
The 6-4 Crawford is ranked 66th overall by Rivals and is the No. 16 shooting guard.
It's likely the Vols will sign three guards in the Class of 2010, and if Golden and Crawford come on board UT would be done in the backcourt.
Crawford is described as a "silky smooth shooter,'' and "clutch" beyond the arc by Rivals. Memphis, Mississippi State and Arkansas are showing interest in Crawford.
Tennessee finished last in the SEC in 3-point shooting (.315) last season.
Crawford said he's confident he could be a good fit in the Vols' system.
"I love it,'' he said. "And I can lock down on defense when they need me to.
"Playing early would be a big factor.''
Tennessee will lose senior point guard Bobby Maze, and there's always the chance that shooting guard Scotty Hopson could declare for the NBA draft if he has a strong sophomore season.
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Softball: Tennessee 2, Georgia 1
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 21
chargervol writes:
Scotty has a lot to prove before he starts thinking about going pro. It is not as if he torched the nets last year. I do believe he's a good player, but, still has developement past this year to achieve. With a good year this season, he will probably look a lot more credible after his junior year. Crawford seems like a nice player with a good attitude. Did he mention playing defense? Wow, that will be awesome. Jordan scored alot of points on turnovers by opposing team. Defense and rebounding is very important. GO VOLS!!!
Rockygrass writes:
Scotty isn't going anywhere. The spotlight will be on my man Tyler. Scotty will have to wait a year to earn the spotlight. What do ya say WictchDoctor?
Ironcity writes:
I love our team but why do you think they should be in the final four? If the stars align anythings possible but quite frankly this team had little chemistry last year and has a lot to prove. I thinks we fans need to keep expectations in line and let Bruce perform his magic. Love the excitement but lets keep the expectations in line.
lmvolfan writes:
I want Jelan Kendrick! Does anyone know if he's coming anytime soon?
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Joe Jackson was to have a news conference tonight. Anyone heard anything?
lmvolfan writes:
Memphis bound
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
too bad, but was expected. At least Ky didn't get him.
oldsmokey67 writes:
Catscratch i want a outside opinion.Do you think Bruce Pearl's divorce affected tennessee last season or was it the guard play.I have alway's said the guard play hurt us but i also think he was'nt as focused last year because of his divorce.What is your opinion.
givehim6 writes:
Futur Vols coming from everywhere, Kiffin and Pearl want you to be a VOL.
Slystone writes:
If Pearl can get Crawford to verbal he would break the ice on a long awaited Memphis recruit. I'll believe it when I see it. Pearl has a chance of getting Crawford though because Memphis already has it's back court sewed up. They are recruiting heavy on BIGS. Someone mentioned Jelan Kendrick. He played on that same AAU Memphis Magic team that won the Las Vegas Tourney. He was spotted on the Memphis campus for an unofficial recently.
Slystone writes:
Oldsmokey - although your question was directed at CAT,it's a good one worth chiming in on. I watched this team last year and believe the expectation level for Hopson was too high, Tyler Smith tried too hard at times, the back court was not like Lofton & Smith who provided "ice cold water runnin through your veins perimeter shooting and defense". It was a drop off and you could see it every game. This year I believe everyone is taking a wait and see approach. This team is deep in many positions, so on paper this team should be better than last years team. A Final Four Team? Not sure at this point. Pearl marital situation shouldn't have effected this team or his coaching ability. I don't think he's that great of a bench coach, but a great salesman and marketing guy of the game. Flip side Devoe was a great X & O coach, but had no clue how to recruit or market UT Basketball.
VOLFORLIFE writes:
Sly, as much as it pains me to agree with a Tiger fan, I think you're pretty much dead-on on all points. Good analysis.
GO VOLS!!!
JUGHEAD
pdhuff#552644 writes:
A beat-down of UCLA today would be a nice scenario for these potential future Vols.
It is time.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
good post; Smith and Lofton were scoring machines and unfazed by opposing competition..Maze and Hopson were decent but not even close talent wise..I got the chance to see them up close in Orlando and Tampa; The missing piece was Tylers struggle to hit his midrange jump shot.That is his strong point and in the past he was deadly from 12 to 15 feet but last year he was off and resorted to forcing well defended drives; if you recall he threw up some pretty impossible shots of the dribble that MJ himself couldn't make...I believe Prince to be the intangible guy that could make this years team great. He knows this is his last shot and he might have an all world season!!
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
I agree; I'll believe it when I see it; This is an important class for Bruce and so far it's been bleak; Kentucky;Memphis and Kansas are piling up 5 star players and we can't even get solid looks from the left over scraps..I love this program but future good news has been far and in between..If Iam wrong somebody please enlighten me because this is getting depressing!!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
If Scotty averages 18+ with a decent percentage, my guess is that he is gone. Even if his chances of being a high NBA draft choice are slim, foreign ball is becoming a much more viable option than it used to be. The money and level of competition are far better than they were even 10 years ago.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I haven't seen all the comments on this thread yet, but all anybody REALLY knows right now, IMHO, is that CBP would certainly LIKE for this year's team to play more like his first two. The guys all seem to be saying the right things, but skepticism is fairly high given the team's obvious shortcomings last year and the fact that most of the same guys are back.
golfballs03 writes:
so i guess selby is definitely out then?
tennrich1 writes:
UHHHHHHHH??????
CUSA_NEWS writes:
Guys, dont worry about Scotty leaving for the nba... you know Bruce's track record concerning sending players to the nba so Scotty will definately be back. (See Tyler)
CUSA_NEWS writes:
On a brighter note, Memphis cant sign all of the guards and players that are visiting UofM therefore there will be some nice players left over..
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