Since this is the college forum

I have to vent real quick. So tonight I go in to New York City for the Coaches vs Cancer college basketball tournament and got to see two great games. An underappreciated Syracuse team took care of business vs a good Cal team as transfer Wes Johnson was the truth, guard scoop Jackson played well, as did center Arinze Anuaku. The second game turned in to a better game then it looked to be at half time when UNC was drilling Ohio State..they ended up hanging on.

My complaint was with what happened before the game. I was at ESPN Zone with a friend, a Syracuse alum, who like me loves to follow Syracuse basketball. So we go there anticipating a big verbal commitment from the #7 rated player in the country, Tobias Harris. Harris, a local guy from just outside of NYC, figured to be a Syracuse shoe-in as he was heavily recruited by the Orange and convinced a couple of other Syracuse recruits, most notably Fab Melo to come play with him on their AAU team. My instincts were jittery on this one as Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville, West Virginia, and Georgia Tech were all in on this kid and those are some pretty solid programs, like Syracuse. I knew he had been in Knoxville the night before, but I concluded that if he was going to announce he was going to Tennesee he would have done so the night before, not in NYC, 7 blocks away from Madison Square Garden where Syracuse was due to tip off in an hour (at that point). Turns out, this kid in front of a fairly large gathering of Syracuse fans at ESPN Zone is silly enough to announce Tennessee as his choice.

Now Tennessee is an ok school and I can handle rejection well. Ive gotten used to it over the years, in dating and other areas of life. But of all those schools, why would you pick Tennessee in the middle of NYC? If he picks Kentucky or West Virginia you can argue there's tradition. If he picks Louisville you can argue Pitino recruits NYC (and the surrounding area) like few others and he wins. Even the other schools are better choices then Tennessee which is in the 4th or 5th best basketball conference and predicted no higher then 4th most places you look. They havent even put anyone meaningful in the pro's this decade. Ughhhh....Im frankly, puzzled, disappointed and disgusted.

 

Pearl is a decent coach but its a step down in competition. I guess what bothers me about it is that he announced it in nyc on a night Syracuse was playing seven blocks away. Why not just announce it in Tennessee....makes no sense.