(05-02-2022 10:26 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  As far as recruiting goes, Tennessee has just 5 of its players from Tennessee and they are ranked #12 in the country. I think it all gets down to recruting good players from outside of the Memphis area. I wonder if our coaches have the travel and recruitment budget to do this effectively?

I don't think it's necessarily about the budget. I do have to keep in mind that women athletes are focusing more on academics than athletics when it comes to particular sports. There was a girl at McNairy Central throwing about 70 MPH as a pitcher. She was getting looked at by SEC schools (Ole Miss included) but no offers because she wanted to pitch and be a hitter. She ends up at Lipscomb.
But why is there a girl hitting 70 MPH on the radar gun down the road, not at Memphis?
There was another girl hit over .450+ batting average, with 225+ hits, 50+ doubles, 40+ home runs, and over 200 RBI's at a high school in West Tennessee. What's sad is, her teammate plays for Memphis and is not productive. So, why did we get her teammate and passed on her? That girl is at UT-Martin made all-first team last season.

This is currently her stats at UTM (what her stats would look if she was @UM)
She is hitting .340 AVG (would be 2nd at Memphis)
5 home runs (1st)
51 hits (2nd)
30 RBI's (1st)
7 doubles (T-1st)

Again, some females athletes may not want to play for Memphis due to academics and their career field and all that, which is fine. However, she had two athletes that could've been Tigers, but they aren't. They're excelling at other schools.

However, she deserves better than a $90,000 salary (if true).

I will also say we have a lot of girls that aren't very tall and stout. We have two girls that are 5'10 and a lot of girls that are 5'5-5'7ish. If you look at Tennessee's roster, there are some girls that are 6'0, but also a lot of girls that are in that 5'8-5'10.
There's one girl on Tennessee's roster that is 5'4. There are 8 girls on Memphis' roster that is 5'4 and shorter.