play Division 1 ball. When I responded that Chattanooga was very interested, he replied that it would be a mistake. No wonder the b'ball program is in the toilet! Hell, the kids is 20 minutes down the road. Put the full court press on him. It costs you nothing.


WIGGINS SEES STOCK SOAR

Rob Lewis
VolQuest.com Associate Editor

For the last year or so, conventional wisdom has said that the in-state '07 Class of basketball talent will be a thin crop . That may still be the case, at least in comparison with the bountiful talent present in the state in 2006, but with some strong play this spring, Greenville's Antwaine Wiggins is showing that it's not as 'down' of a year as some may have initially thought.


Wiggins (6-foot-6, 185 pounds) is a versatile wing-forward prospect who started turning the heads of college coaches with his performance at the prestigious Boo Williams Invitational in Hampton to start off the AAU season. He continued to impress this past weekend in Houston at the Kingwood Classic, playing with his Tennessee Travelers' squad.

Originally from Kinston, N.C., Wiggins is a player that has largely been flying under the radar as far as recruiting goes. The fact that he moved from one state to another and played only a limited AAU schedule prior to his junior season gave him a lower profile than he otherwise might have had, but that situation is starting to change. He was already holding a handful of Southern Conference offers, but his profile his rise.

"Things have really picked up this spring," Wiggins said of the flurry of recruiting activity around him since the start of April. "Miami and Charlotte have offered me and I've heard from Illinois, Florida and Kentucky since that first tournament in Virginia."

Those developments could make a lot of youngster's heads spin, but the even-keeled Wiggins is taking things in stride at the moment. Though getting used to seeing Kevin Stallings, Billy Donovan, Frank Haith and other college head coaches sitting courtside at your games (as they were in Houston this weekend) can take some getting used to.

"I know they're there," Wiggins said of the coaches in the stands, "but I try not to pay attention to it and just go out and play my game. It doesn't really make me nervous. It's a whole lot better than not having them come and see you play."

Wiggins is a long player with good athleticism, who can score in a variety of ways. It's easy to see that his game is still developing, but there's already plenty to like. He's got a nice stroke from behind the arc, but the best part of his game is probably his mid-range game. He can create space and opportunities with a couple of dribbles, and with his height and long arms, he's capable of rising up over most perimeter defenders and consistently hitting 15-foot jumpers.

He's one of those players who can contort his body and slip through cracks to find open areas, and that long frame and limbs make him a formidable defender.

With so much attention coming his way in such a short time this spring, it's safe to say that his stock could rise even more over the coming months. Right now, Tennessee isn't one of the schools making a hard push in his direction, but it's early, and that could certainly change.

In the meantime, Wiggins isn't in a tremendous hurry to make any firm decisions about his college future.

"I'm just enjoying it right now. I want to see what's out there and who all is really interested in me," Wiggins said. "I'm just going to be patient and see what sort of offers I get. I didn't really expect this kind of attention."

Wiggins averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds this past season in leading Greeneville to a surprise berth in the state tournament where they lost to eventual state champion Memphis Hamilton.

Well if likes of Miami, Ill, Fla, and UK are truely interested in him, why would he want to go to Chatt or ETSU anyway? Let's see what league would I rather play in.... the ACC, SEC, Big10, or the Southern/ASun....hmmm tough choices. If ETSU was in the CAA or A10 we might at least get him to sit down and listen.

at the time I was told this, the kid was just receiving mid-major attention. Hence, my point to him at the time was, "Go after this kid!" Had ETSU gotten on him hard from the outset you might have a chance, you never know. Why not put the full court press on him from the beginning. What do you lose? You are investing very little and have a chance to get a good player, MAYBE?

The real point, however, is that I feel this staff has very little ability to identify talent. At a point when a kid who two months later garners major attention from big time programs, was only considering a rival school, our staff didn't feel he was good enough. Poor talent identification can sink a coach quicker than an inability to coach half-court offense or design an effective inbounds play.

Just because you get interest doesn't mean you get offers. Heck, Brad Nuckles got interest from major D-1 programs...

You totally missed the point. The kid can play, has major college potential, is 20 minutes down the road, and this staff was uninterested. I'm saying this staff has a problem identifying talent!

Identifying talent is not the issue. Utilizing the talent....that's the issue. I think most would agree that talent is not the issue with this basketball team. For example, our last recruit, Dequan Twilley, was recruited by Purdue, UT, UTC and a host of others. An oustanding in-state recruit.

Again, I think our talent is there, it is just underachieving--through no fault of the players. Just my opininion

Agreed....I don't think we can complain (at this level) about the talent we have recruited and signed over the last few years.

I agree as well. The talent is there but it's obvious that the coaching isn't. The only thing I have hope for is that now that Smith is gone Bartow will have to try something different offensively rather than the offense he ran before which was "give Tim the ball and see what happens."

Ok, let's look at it... Yes, they got Twilley. He appears to be a good player. However, Thomas, Mitchell, Reed, Keaton, Williams, Taylor... these guys can't play. Mitchell was terrible! Thomas shows some ability, but if he couldn't crack the line-up last year for more PT, he can't be that good. The guards (Williams and Keaton) are wasted schollys in my mind. After seeing Williams in the Mich. State title game, I said he was the same player as Brandon Carter from THS from five years ago that went to Asheville. Taylor might be ok. However, if he is good enough, why do you go sign another PG in this class. They all but admitted a mistake there.

I have been unimpressed with this staff and their recruiting. Will Bailey presents a poor image for the university. Everytime I have seen him at an event, he presents a less than professional image and that has led to some of what we have on the roster.

Williams and Reed will be fine if they learn defense. Thomas needed muscle this year, the wear and tear on the season hurt him pretty bad, then they were playing him at the three while Rhoda was out which was a disaster...
Keaton left, Mitchell was a good player but couldn't listen, he would have flunked out of college anyway he wasn't very smart.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. I assume he left because he thought he was behind the other three guys. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schoolers, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a healthy Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. I assume he left because he thought he was behind the other three guys. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schoolers, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a healthy Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schools, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a health Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schools, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a health Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schools, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a health Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schools, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a health Rhoda and Swader all season.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that what the assistant said represented his true feelings. With the Internet available these days, anything a coach says can turn up on the Web in a matter of minutes. Therefore, I think it's quite possible that coaches either don't say much of consequence to fans or don't give their true feelings.

I disagree about the recruiting situation. For one, I think the young guards last year?Pigrim, Taylor, and D. Williams?all looked promising. And I think Keaton might have been a pretty fair player if he had stayed. Thomas was about what I expected, and Reed has the potential to step up as a pretty good player. With some players, it's hard to tell just how good they might be, because everything has been geared the past two seasons around Tim Smith. Think the Bucs will have a more balanced approach this year, which should help some guys shine.

Not sure what you've seen regarding Will Bailey. But I've known him since his days as a UAB player, and I've never seen him look or act unprofessionally.

This year's incoming class, all high schools, all sound like good guys/players, I think is very encouraging.

Hope you don't let the end of this past season sour you too much. With a healthy Rhoda, Bucs probably would have had 19-20 wins and made it to the championship game of tournament on home floor. Who knows what might have happened then.

And who knows how good they might have been if they'd had a healthy Rhoda and Swader all season.

Please. This team fed off bottom feeders in the A-Sun and Rhoda's presence would have done nothing to prevent Tim Smith from making the poor decisions he became famous for throughout his career.

Don't forget about Fartow.