(04-23-2020 12:48 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote: (04-23-2020 11:49 AM)Sleepy Wrote: Brent Babinot interviews TK. A rewind of the abrupt end of the season and an in depth discussion of the process for deciding who's coming back, players transferring out and recruiting a spring recruiting class from home under social isolation.
https://art19.com/shows/the-rocket-lifto...cd4c099a2a
I was listening for some news about Acunzo's rehab but nothing was mentioned here about that.
TK says he's never wanted a recruit more than he wanted Rollins and that he sees him as the future point guard. Sounds like Moss is a likely Redshirt TK calls him "the best athlete we've brought in here" probably an academic redshirt right now, with new rules there is a chance he will be eligible. Shumate (a 4 man who can shoot the 3 and create space for guys to create) will sit for a year "no matter what".
Since Acunzo's rehab is never mentioned, you can assume it's not good.
there wasn't much review of the returning roster, although most everyone else was mentioned. acunzo won't be playing until he actually can play and the team is willing to stick with him another year to see if he can get healthy. can't ball with a bad foot. if he plays next season it will be a bonus.
great discussion and candid talk from the coach. well worth the listen. long recap below:
coach was very honest and open about his processes and decisions. talked in depth on the recruits.
rollins- perhaps, biggest recruit of his life. will either start or compete for minutes with the starter. will mostly compete for minutes off the ball now but will eventually be mostly a point guard. said this year he will share minutes with littleson and saunders, play backup pg, and also may play pg with marreon who will shift to the 2. rollins is a big guard. forward sized length. quick, skilled, hard working, and appears to be healthy.
jamere hill very competitive and could be a good defender right away. likes his potential as a shooter and ability to take guys off the dribble whenever he wants.
raheim moss will be on the team but likely to academic redshirt. might get a waiver but his academic situation would probably make him a partial qualifier. good enough to play now. big physical guard. elite shot blocker from the guard position. best athlete coach has said he recruited-compared him to pearson and drummond. thinks he will end up being a fan favorite at UT. will eventually be able to play any position in the mac 1 through 4.
jonathon kumongum they recruited over the last month leading up to signing day. no travel and visits were allowed, conference and national tournaments weren't held. much of the recruiting was talking to his coaches at various levels over the years. hearing stories about him. always hearing that he was competitive and got better and pushed himself. has a reputation as a great teammate and wanted to come to ut to play with aj. to push aj and get better playing against him. can play forward with another big or play the center position with his 7-2 wingspan. coach sees komangum and aj as able to play both the 4/5 and maranka as strictly a 5.
shumate was recruited after the decision of 4 rocket backups to transfer out (which coach discusses in detail in another part-sounds like moore wanted a better path to minutes, they decided they swung and missed on the indiana shooter, smith could have stayed as a backup. coach said a lot of good things about smith but also that since smith wanted a to eventually be a featured player he realized he needed to move down a level. all the end of year and post season one on one meetings were condensed into a day and half. so, decisions were made much faster. the staff wanted a couple of the guys to play elsewhere and a couple others wanted a bigger role than the staff said was likely and chose to leave.)
back to shumate. coach played d2 as well and is excited about him. sees him a legit stretch 4. good percentage 3 point shooter. might not be as high a scorer at d1, but can get points and spread the floor and improve the offensive efficiency-admitted that was often a problem with this year's team. will definitely rs and look toward development and strength training and a future role like navigato.
jones they recruited earlier in the year but he didn't commit and both sides kinda moved on. when jones was still unsigned later the staff re-evaluated and remembered they really like him so they offered again and jones was like i was hoping you were still interested. pretty long 3 man who can shoot.
millner they known for awhile. recruited him hard out of hs but he signed elsewhere. recruited him again in juco and coach told a second chance at love story. basically, said he wants more skill and play making out of the 2, 3 and 4 positions and millner can play 3 or 4 because he has some game and is around willie's size and while not an elite rebounder like willie is also a tough player. can space the floor with both shooting and ballhandling. sounds like he might be a 6th/7th man candidate this year with a chance to start at some point at ut.
