Bleacher Report - Tennessee Volunteers Basketball

Tobias Harris: Latest Addition To the Tennessee Vols Basketball Family

Joel Barker — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:19:29 -0500

To say that Tobias Harris was a big catch for Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Vols would be a massive understatement. As a matter of fact, Harris is quite possibly Pearl's biggest catch yet.

Harris officially signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday night and announced his decision at the ESPN Zone in Manhattan on Thursday.

In just four seasons on the job in Knoxville, Bruce Pearl has raised the level of play and the level of expectations to unprecedented heights.

Tennessee is a football school. It's been known pretty well for basketball too, but that had much more to do with Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols more than anything the men ever did.

Of course that's expected, since Pat Summitt is the greatest coach in the history of the women's game, maybe in the history of basketball, period. Still, Bruce Pearl had quite a job on his hands.

Four years in, his program is on the verge of equaling the dynamic duo of Vols football and Lady Vols basketball. This signing almost assures that.

Not to say that a 5-star, top-rated prospect is a "cant-miss" player, but in basketball, the flops are much fewer and farther between than in football recruiting.

Tobias Harris will bring a big-bodied, physical presence to the wing that the Vols have never consistently had. At 6'8", 210 pounds, Harris is a versatile big man who can play any position on the court.

Harris chose Pearl and the Vols over Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, and Gary Williams. There were other high-profile coaches involved in his recruitment, but those four are about as big as it gets in college basketball.

Looking into the crystal ball for 2010-11 seems rather silly since '09-'10 is just getting underway, but let's take a look, shall we.

I fully expect Scotty Hopson to bolt for the NBA after this season. The way-too-early glimpses into his sophomore campaign reveal the player that we all thought would bolt after his freshman season.

Tyler Smith, Wayne Chism, and JP Prince will hopefully lead the Vols to some much higher heights this season before graduating. They will all be on NBA rosters next season.

Highly touted freshman Kenny Hall will be starting next season. He and Harris should fit well in that Vol frontcourt. As a matter of fact, having those two 6'8", 200-plus-pound forwards in the mix might become a force to be reckoned with.

In the backcourt the Vols will welcome guard Trae Golden, who just signed his letter of intent to play for Pearl as well. Throw in Melvin Goins, Jordan McRae, Cameron Tatum, and Renaldo Woolridge, and you see why Vols basketball fans have a lot to look forward to.

Back to the present.

I think the most telling fact of Harris and Golden's signings lies in their quotes immediately following their decision. Both said they "like the family atmosphere" in Knoxville.

Score another big compliment for Bruce Pearl and Co.

Harris felt so much like family that he decided to stop in Tuesday night on the way home from a visit to Georgia Tech. Harris and his father watched the Vols thrash UNC-Asheville from the upper deck of Thompson Boling Arena. He just couldn't stay away.

Pearl's recruits have never been to the level of Roy Williams, Coach K, or John Calipari, but Pearl hasn't coached at Kansas, UNC, Duke, or Memphis.

No, Pearl took over a basketball program that was third on its university's athletic totem pole and had experienced minimal success over the past two decades. The pedigree was not there.

There were no Dean Smiths or Adolph Rupps in Bruce Pearl's bloodline. Only a young, energetic coach with fire in his veins and a drive to succeed.

Pearl has made basketball in Knoxville a family environment and it's drawing in some of the nation's best to play there.

The coach who did not come from a big-time, coaching family tree has created his own family atmosphere in Knoxville.

In the world of college basketball, family is everything. Pearl's blood line doesn't run Tar Heel blue or contain the Rupp DNA, but he's establishing his own family in Knoxville just fine.

Tobias Harris wont be the last high-profile prospect to experience that.

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Tobias Harris' Decision: Where's He Gonna Go?

Caleb M. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:09:46 -0500

Tobias Harris. Anyone who actually follows college basketball knows the name. He's quite possibly the most sought after recruit in the nation.

Schools like Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Syracuse, Tennessee, and others have all been in the running, and Harris has expressed interest in all of them.

But today is decision time, and he's announcing his school of choice on ESPNU tonight.

There's more than a couple reasons why Harris is so sought after. He's versatile, his work ethic is amazing, and he can play multiple positions although listed as a power forward. Not to mention his 29 points a game...

Harris has been a top prospect since his sophomore year, and he has definitely lived up to expectation. He has great shooting ability, his rebounding is phenomenal, and he can play multiple positions at 6'8" and only 210 pounds.

Coaches call his competitiveness electrifying, and his work ethic above and beyond. So where will he go? The top three schools, or so it seems, is Syracuse, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech.

There's speculation that Tennessee's the winner. Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6'6" forward from Brooklyn, planned to announce his commit to the Vols when his press conference was cancelled at the last minute. We can only assume it's because they got Harris and retracted Pinkston's scholarship offer.

Georgia Tech was his last visit, and that was last Monday. But instead of coming straight home, he decided to drive north and watch the Tennessee game in Knoxville. A sign? Perhaps.

Harris will have a major impact on whatever team he goes to.

Tennessee is most likely his choice. Stars Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism will be gone at forward. That leaves benchwarmers Emmanuel Negedu and Steven Pearl, as well as praised freshman Kenny Hall.

Next year the SEC could be tougher than ever. Vanderbilt is on the rise, as well as South Carolina and Mississippi State. And Kentucky cracked the top five this year. The addition of Tobias Harris will keep Tennessee at the top as well.

Georgia Tech is a solid top 15 team. But as far as forwards go, they have three top freshman, a stud senior (Zachery Peacock), and then a stud junior in Gani Lawal.

Both Peacock and Lawal will most likely be gone next year. That leaves three freshman. If Harris comes aboard, the Jackets will continue to fly high in the polls, and would fill a major hole for Georgia Tech next year, possibly putting them on top of the ACC.

Syracuse would really benefit from the addition of a stud forward. Rick Jackson is a returning starter and a junior who could more than likely be gone next year. As well as Arinze Onuaku who is a returning starter, and a senior.

That leaves Wesley Johnson who just transferred from Iowa State, average player Kris Josepth, and impact freshman James Southerland.

Next year it could very well be just Kris and James. But if they added Harris, that'd give Syracuse a huge boost, lifting them near the top of the Big East.

Watch ESPN tonight to keep up with the latest in college basketball recruiting, and to find out Tobias Harris' decision.

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Tobias Harris Picks Bruce Pearl, Tennessee Volunteers

Mark Fodor — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:42 -0500

Bruce Pearl has to be happy tonight, as his star recruiting prospect, five-star forward Tobias Harris of Dix Hills, N.Y., just announced his commitment to the University of Tennessee.

Harris, rated seventh overall by ESPNU and universally regarded as a top-10 prospect in the Class of 2010, rolled with the Vols in favor of competing offers from Big East powers Louisville, Syracuse and West Virginia, Maryland and Georgia Tech from the ACC, and UT arch-rival Kentucky in the SEC.

Over at ESPN, Matt Winklejohn has this great feature on Harris's growth as a player over the last several years.

The SEC was college basketball's punching bag last season, but between Kentucky's Calipari revival and Pearl's hard work at Tennessee, it's starting to look as if the conference may return to prominence sooner than expected.

Nabbing a major prospect like Harris is a coup for Pearl, Tennessee and the SEC as a whole.

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Tobias Harris Signs with Tennessee, Becomes Bruce Pearl's Biggest Catch

Joel Barker — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:58:24 -0500

High School phenom Tobias Harris has signed on to play basketball with the University of Tennessee Volunteers.

In what has been a highly anticipated announcement, the young man is quite possibly the biggest recruit that coach Bruce Pearl has landed in his five years as head coach at Tennessee.

Harris was the No. 7 rated recruit in the nation by ESPN and some publications have him as high as No. 5 overall. He is the No. 1 rated power forward in the country.

The 6'8, 210 pound forward chose Tennessee over offers from Maryland, Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech.

Since taking over the program, Bruce Pearl has quickly made Tennessee a destination for talented players from all across America. Last year's big signing of Scotty Hopson came with plenty of hype and the expectations appear to be coming to fruition in his sophomore season.

By following that signing with a high profile player like Harris, Tennessee becomes a major player for the nation's top recruits, a distinction Tennessee basketball has never had.

Harris made headlines in Knoxville just two nights ago, as he purchased his own ticket and sat in the upper deck for Tennessee's 124-49 thrashing of UNC-Asheville.

According to multiple recruiting services, Harris is the highest rated recruit in Tennessee basketball history to sign with the Vols.

To read more about Tobias Harris and the Vols basketball future, read this.

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Tobias Harris Commits To Tennessee

Dan Lyons — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:40:30 -0500

Just minutes ago, the nation's No. 7 basketball prospect in the 2010 class, forward Tobias Harris of Dix Hills, NY, committed to play for Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers.

The commitment, which was broadcast live on ESPNU from the New York City ESPN Zone, ended a long, highly publicized recruitment process for Harris.

The final seven schools in the race for the forward's services were Tennessee, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland.

The last few days of the Harris recruitment saw Tennessee and Syracuse emerge as leaders, with speculation to the Tennessee decision heating up after an impromptu visit to "Rocky Top" after visiting Georgia Tech earlier in the day, where the prospect witnessed the Vols' 124-49 dismantling of UNC Asheville.

Harris joins guards Jordan McRae and Trae Golden in Tennessee's 2010 class.

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