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"I know I’m his parent, but I don’t see how 11 quarterbacks get picked, and the best quarterback physically is not picked,’’ Jeff Bray said.

Maybe, just maybe, throwing beer bottles off of a balcony at parked and moving cars had something to do with it, Pops. Being the best physically (if he really is) isn't enough when you are an immature, arrogant little juvenile deliquent. Who would want to put his NFL franchise's future in the hands of a spoiled brat like your son?

Precisely so. It will be an interesting year with Stokes and Maymon up front, McRae and the abundance of wing players, and hopefully improved guard play and a consistent Trae. If we get that consistent pg play, we will have a very good season, if not, Martin will be on the hot seat.

The reason is that we have always lacked a solid recruiting base. Even when we have teams like Ernie and Bernie (NY players), we are missing other, important pieces. With today's team, we are only lacking a point guard, etc. The competition is fierce in Atlanta, the Carolinas, Virginia, Memphis and Nashville, and E Tenn doesn't produce many good players. Martin has been doing a good job of recruiting in Tennessee so far, so there is hope.

Remember, folks, that although this is a very good pick-up, he will still be a freshman next year. I assume he will get some pt, but it will likely be as back up.learning curve. You cannot expect him to be a championship quality -or even above average quality - pg as a freshman.

I believe with Maymon playing we would have made the dance, and not on the bubble. After all, we were only one quality win away, and surely he would have made the diff in one of those losses. But we wouldn't have gone far in the big tourney, because our point guard play is so inconsistent.

Assuming no one goes NBA, and barring major injury, next year's team should be loaded with experience and talent. But its ultimate accomplishments will depend on the improvement of the point guard position. We should make the dance easily, but if point guard play doesn't improve a lot, we won't go far.

As for Martin, he has two campaigns with mixed results under his belt. Being his first year, the first campaign was positive. Losing Maymon spoiled his second season, no doubt. You had top like how both teams jelled late and made a run, but on the flip side, I am very disappointed in the no-shows in all of the league and NIT tourneys his teams have played in. I don't understand how the momentum they built going into the league tourneys simply ended like that, and I don't understand how they could then turn in terrible performances in NIT games on their own home court. It's a mystery that hopefully will be figured out for the best next season.

This was not a hunting tournament.

He's too thin for the NBA yet. They would push him around unmercifully. Besides, he's just starting to 'get it' on the court. Needs more time to establish his game and show that it is real, not just a flash in the pan.

Yes, through the years, Kentucky basketball has had to be cleaned repeatedly. Rinsing? Well, we hosed them pretty good the other day.

I disagree with JA's premise - that Jones only has three years max to put UT in the thick of the SEC race. Given how Fulmer flipped, how Lane left, and how Dooley dithered, we are about as low as an SEC program not named Kentucky can get. I don't think we have bottom of the barrel talent here. I think it is middle of the pack talent. The problem was Dooley couldn't coach them to middle of the pack seasons.

With his recruiting efforts, Jones stopped the downward spiral, averted disaster and steadied the ship, at least for the moment. There is no reason yet to believe we will have a losing season in 13. If Jones shows steady progress for three years, even if he isn't yet contending for the brass ring, he will survive and get the chance he needs to really build a program. He doesn't have to hit recruiting home runs with his first real class. Such thinking is unrealistic.

Given the abundance of legacy talent and Tennessee talent, Jones will have a chance to bring in a terrific class, but even if he doesn't do it quite this year, if he keeps making steady progress, we will be OK.

The most important thing we need in the short run is stability. If recruits and their families think Butch's tenure here is fragile, he will not be able to hit recruiting home runs. Period. What he must do in the short term is to put a better team on the field this season than Dooley's was last season. If he can't manage that this season then we should STILL stay behind him for at least another year or two. Like it or not, that is the time that may be required to turn something like this around, and we MUST give any coach who tries and works hard a reasonable chance, otherwise, the next time we have an opening the name coaches you want to come will be even less inclined to come.

In retrospect, we should have fired Dooley after his 11 team collapsed on him at Arkansas and Kentucky at the end of that season. At the time, I argued against firing him, wanting him to have another year for stability sake. But when I heard that High Schools coaches were dissing him for dissing them and the talented kids, that sealed it for me. (This important fact about his recruiting should have been made public long before the end of his third year. Hello, KNS?)

If this fan base unites and expresses optimism in the future, Butch could pull it off. If our fan base keeps sniping at him because he isn't Fulmer or isn't Gruden, then we will fail him. Give him every chance to succeed, and let him succeed or fail on his own performance, not on our failure to support him as much as we can.

I wouldn't worry about Chievous yet. Although a red-shirt, he is still a freshman and has some time to get it right as he learns more. I can't judge latent basketball talent, but I think its foolish to give up on him so early in his career, as some on this site have done. As for Edwards, his entree was always supposed to be offense. He only has this year and next to contribute. Apparently, it isn't easy to give Martin what he wants on defense, so Edwards stay here will be fruitless unless he works real hard between now and next season. It's up to him to have the light go on sometime, or else.......

As for recruiting them, hey, we've been down this road so many times.......Martin had nothing to sell to his first class, and needed some experience on the wing for his second class. He has never had the upper hand in recruiting, so he has to take some chances and hope they work out. And all of this is because the last coach was an absolute idiot and left this program in a shambles. After what he did here, he doesn't deserve another chance at our school. Period.

Disagree. We have some talent, we just don't have experienced talent. And we don't have a good, dependable, talented point guard. Same thing as last year. As for the coach, you don't have enough information to come to your conclusion. He's in his second year. Wait until he's not depending on Pearl's recruits, who are now the upperclassmen on his team, before you come to your conclusions about him.

1st Paragraph: So what? It will be his first year. No one but you will expect more in his first season.
a) Stunned? After he interviewed with Colorado?
b) Who exactly didn't he talk to?
c) You're right, it is strange. But, so what? I took him to mean that he has always wanted to coach a traditional power in a terrific conference, whether it be UT or UM.
d) Much ado about nothing. Jones can't be as manipulative as you suggest and not be smart enough to know he will have to recruit outside of Tennessee.
e.1) Jones isn't responsible for anything that Kelly does. Irrelevant information.
e.2) Maybe. But I remember Fulmer constantly telling us what he thought we wanted to hear. Don't confuse deliberate, purposeful optimism with malice. BTW, Fulmer would know all about NOT mentally tough players, wouldn't he? And don't ALL head coach/recruiters tell recruits what they want to hear?

Your last comment re: the Oregon game, is a cheap shot.

You are apparently one of the leaders of the Legion of the Miserable. We can each look at Jones and hope. Or we can each give up hope now. Despite folks like you, I'll do the former until, just like Dooley, it becomes obvious that a change must be made. At this time, there is no point in sniping at Jones.

The worst coach in our history was Bill Battle. He got here with the shelves absolutely stocked with NC calibre players, and after a few years ran the whole program into the mud.

Analogy? I was making a point, not an analogy. My point is that our program was declining rapidly in Pearl's last couple of years, including his recruiting. Martin has had to coach Pearl's last classes and recruit against that perception and against the shame, embarrasment, and NCAA sanctions that Pearl brought to the program. With that perspective, Martin has done well, bringing Richardson, Stokes, and Reese into the fold, and Hubbs for next season. His recruits who have not panned out well yet are only freshmen now or sophomores, like Yemi, with good potential. Martin has had both a coaching and a recruiting handicap for his one and a half years on the job, and that handicap is called Bruce Pearl.

Yeah, like Richardson, for example. Martin's first recruits are in their sophomore years. Pearl's recruits are juniors and seniors this year. How well are Hall, McBee, Golden, and McRae doing? As juniors and seniors, shouldn't they be expected to carry the leadership roles and be the best, most experienced players? Martin's recruits haven't had enough time to be judged yet. But Pearls have.

Beat by nearly 20 at home? And by Ole Miss? Pitiful. Hard to defend Martin with this kind of performance. How can they be that bad? This coach needs to talk to the fan base and tell us what the hall is going on.

Right on, flatrock, right on.

What a GREAT post.

But that's what your wife said about you.

Let's see your school's record vs. Kentucky, pal. Bet UT's is better.

Just one look at the picture tells you why we need him so much.

IMHO, Justin is not ready for the NFL. Not physically for sure, don't know him so can't comment on his emotional and mental makeup.

And, for the record, I'd like to see him wear the Orange one more year. If Bray stays, he would have a superb year, maybe even if Bray does not.

But what do I know?

I join all Volunteers in wishing Justin the best in his future, wherever that may take him, and thank him for wearing the Orange.

Because Adams has no inside sources at UT. Have you ever read a column of his where he reveals something that no one else has? Where he has insights based on information no one else has? Many of his columns are a rehash of old news in a strange new light (like this column) and the rest are just simply a restatement of old news or a statement of an obvious opinion position. Notice that very little factual digging - especially for information no other sportswriter knows, is evident in his columns.

Agreed. There is a big fall off from Maymon to Hall. It's a different team entirely. Opponents can sag on Stokes all day long. With Maymon in there, they would sag on both of them until we show them we can hit an outside shot. But with them having to worry about two effective big men, there will be open outside shots that are not there without Maymon in the game. So he will help the outside game and the inside game.

Take your overcoat and mittens, Tyler. Cold up there.