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Another 5-star player from a Memphis private school has chosen one of the ACC heavyweights over Tennessee. This isn’t exactly the best topic for my first official Tennessee basketball post, but it is what it is.
Yes, my high school’s (ECS) archrival Briarcrest’s Leslie McDonald has verbally committed to North Carolina. It was no secret, at least on VolQuest, that McDonald was basically Bruce Pearl’s top recruiting target for the upcoming year, much like Elliot Williams of St. George’s was for last year’s class, although I’m not complaining about the class Bruce just signed. Williams of course chose Duke over the Vols.
Now, the simple truth is Tennessee can’t touch the tradition and prestige of Carolina and Duke (though I would argue we’re even with or better than Duke since Bruce came), but at the same time, that wasn’t a factor with Kentucky and Scotty Hopson. The private school’s both McDonald and Williams went to has made academics factors in their decisions, and once again, Carolina and Duke certainly have Tennessee in that regard too. And, of course, at least McDonald has made his decision now, so Bruce Pearl’s got PLENTY of time to find other guys to bring in. Yes, it’s tough, but it’s the way it is. Tennessee’s gonna be fine.
And actually, this year’s class isn’t exactly finished yet. Former Arizona commitment Emmanuel Negedu is coming in on his official visit later this week. This guy’s a top 50 player, and would fill in the void left by Duke Crews very very nicely. It’s between Indiana, Georgia Tech, Memphis State, and the Vols. He’s seen IU and Tech, and we’re up next, followed by Tiger High. True, Negedu has connections with assistant coach Josh Pastner from Arizona, but I mean it’s Memphis! If I had to say, I think Emmanuel’s a Vol, which should make losing McDonald go away temporarily, because the Vols are still gonna need to get a guard for the next year’s class, in addition to the already-in-the-fold Kenny Hall of Georgia.
Like I’ve said many many times before, I have full trust in Bruce’ leadership of the Tennessee program.
