There have been a lot of comparisons between Bruce and Barnes. These comparisons mostly center around coaching and recruiting. The general consensus, including me, is that Bruce can recruit better than Rick but Rick is a better on court coach.
A few thoughts:
1. These comparisons are isolated to Tennessee. 5 classes for Bruce vs 1 class for Rick.
2. We need to transition away from recruiting grades to on court productivity.
3. Bruce recruited well from a grade standpoint but he had either complete busts or on court productivity that didn't line up with their supposed recruiting grades.
A few examples off the top of my head. Please correct or disagree with me. We'll go chroniglogically.
2005 (partial)
1. Ryan Childress, 2 star. Good role player.
2006 (first full class)
1. Duke Crews (5 star). Good contributor but thrown off team.
2. Ramar Smith (5 star). Raw contributor, thrown off team.
3. Wayne Chism (4 star). Arguably Pearl's best recruit.
4. Marquez Johnson (3 star). Don't remember him?
5. Josh Tabb (2 star). Good player.
2007
1. Cameron Tatum (4 star). Good player but didn't translate to 4 star.
2. Brian Williams (3 star). Good role player.
2008
1. Scotty Hopson (5 star). I'm torn on him. You can argue reasoably on both sides. My opinion is he choked in the elite 8 game.
2. Renaldo Woolridge (4 star). Didn't provide 4 star productivity. I remember 1 game in particular over 3 years....Kansas.
3. Phillip Jurick (3 star). Who?
4. Bobby Maze (3 star). Great, great point guard. A solid get for him.
5. Daniel West (3 star). Who?
6. I cant find JP Prince on the rivals website but believe he was in this class. He was a solid, solid player. A great get for Bruce.
2009
1. Kenny Hall (4 star). Good role player. Didn't live up to 4 star.
2010.
1. Tobias Harris (5 star). One of his best recruits, however, correctly stayed 1 year.
2. Jordan McRae (4 star). Great player. He didn't do anything for Bruce's 1st year. He also burned his redshirt.
Rick Barnes
2015 (partial year, Donnie holdovers, but successfully signed them)
1. Shembari Phillips ( 3 star). He's going to be good contributor in my opinion who lines up with being a 3 star.
2. Admiral Schofield (3 star). If he fully buys in I believe he can play better than what his recruiting grade reflects.
3. Kyle Alexander (3 star). Jury is out. Raw player with 1-2 years of bball experience.
4. LaMonte Turner (3 star I believe). Redshirt year. Good contributor who has the ability to really score the ball. He's playing out of position in my opinion. A 1-2 tweener.
2016 (first full class)
1. John Fulkerson (3 star). He is going to be a solid player for us. Will play to recruiting grade.
2. Kwe Parker. (3 star). Very raw and shows flashes of immense ability. I think he'll live up to rating and has good chance to play above it. Bobby Maze esque.
3. Jordan Bone (3 star). Dude is going to be legit. He will play to 5 star rating.
4. Grant Williams (3 star). He is already playing above his 3 star rating I believe. He will play to 4 star rating.
5. Jalen Johnson (3 star). Redshirt.
Summary
Everyone makes the argument that Bruce Pearl recruited very well at Tennessee. I believe this is true. However, I think people make this argument more so based on recruiting ratings and not necessarily on court productivity.
3 star Barnes has killed it so far in picking up immediate, productive players who have the ability to play above their ratings. You may disagree with the way he has chosen to recruit (not knocking down highly rated players) but his first class will be proven to be more productive than Bruce Pearl's stellar rated first class. People like Grant Williams, Fulkerson, Bone ain't getting thrown off the team.
I look at all this and believe you can make a solid argument that Rick has already out recruited Bruce from an oncourt productivity standpoint. We have a small sample size from a time standpoint as his first class hasn't had the ability to possibly get thrown out of school.
I put a good amount of time in this post so I apologize in advance if I bump it a few times.
Interested in what @Rob Lewis @GaTechVol has to say.
A few thoughts:
1. These comparisons are isolated to Tennessee. 5 classes for Bruce vs 1 class for Rick.
2. We need to transition away from recruiting grades to on court productivity.
3. Bruce recruited well from a grade standpoint but he had either complete busts or on court productivity that didn't line up with their supposed recruiting grades.
A few examples off the top of my head. Please correct or disagree with me. We'll go chroniglogically.
2005 (partial)
1. Ryan Childress, 2 star. Good role player.
2006 (first full class)
1. Duke Crews (5 star). Good contributor but thrown off team.
2. Ramar Smith (5 star). Raw contributor, thrown off team.
3. Wayne Chism (4 star). Arguably Pearl's best recruit.
4. Marquez Johnson (3 star). Don't remember him?
5. Josh Tabb (2 star). Good player.
2007
1. Cameron Tatum (4 star). Good player but didn't translate to 4 star.
2. Brian Williams (3 star). Good role player.
2008
1. Scotty Hopson (5 star). I'm torn on him. You can argue reasoably on both sides. My opinion is he choked in the elite 8 game.
2. Renaldo Woolridge (4 star). Didn't provide 4 star productivity. I remember 1 game in particular over 3 years....Kansas.
3. Phillip Jurick (3 star). Who?
4. Bobby Maze (3 star). Great, great point guard. A solid get for him.
5. Daniel West (3 star). Who?
6. I cant find JP Prince on the rivals website but believe he was in this class. He was a solid, solid player. A great get for Bruce.
2009
1. Kenny Hall (4 star). Good role player. Didn't live up to 4 star.
2010.
1. Tobias Harris (5 star). One of his best recruits, however, correctly stayed 1 year.
2. Jordan McRae (4 star). Great player. He didn't do anything for Bruce's 1st year. He also burned his redshirt.
Rick Barnes
2015 (partial year, Donnie holdovers, but successfully signed them)
1. Shembari Phillips ( 3 star). He's going to be good contributor in my opinion who lines up with being a 3 star.
2. Admiral Schofield (3 star). If he fully buys in I believe he can play better than what his recruiting grade reflects.
3. Kyle Alexander (3 star). Jury is out. Raw player with 1-2 years of bball experience.
4. LaMonte Turner (3 star I believe). Redshirt year. Good contributor who has the ability to really score the ball. He's playing out of position in my opinion. A 1-2 tweener.
2016 (first full class)
1. John Fulkerson (3 star). He is going to be a solid player for us. Will play to recruiting grade.
2. Kwe Parker. (3 star). Very raw and shows flashes of immense ability. I think he'll live up to rating and has good chance to play above it. Bobby Maze esque.
3. Jordan Bone (3 star). Dude is going to be legit. He will play to 5 star rating.
4. Grant Williams (3 star). He is already playing above his 3 star rating I believe. He will play to 4 star rating.
5. Jalen Johnson (3 star). Redshirt.
Summary
Everyone makes the argument that Bruce Pearl recruited very well at Tennessee. I believe this is true. However, I think people make this argument more so based on recruiting ratings and not necessarily on court productivity.
3 star Barnes has killed it so far in picking up immediate, productive players who have the ability to play above their ratings. You may disagree with the way he has chosen to recruit (not knocking down highly rated players) but his first class will be proven to be more productive than Bruce Pearl's stellar rated first class. People like Grant Williams, Fulkerson, Bone ain't getting thrown off the team.
I look at all this and believe you can make a solid argument that Rick has already out recruited Bruce from an oncourt productivity standpoint. We have a small sample size from a time standpoint as his first class hasn't had the ability to possibly get thrown out of school.
I put a good amount of time in this post so I apologize in advance if I bump it a few times.
Interested in what @Rob Lewis @GaTechVol has to say.
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