Tobias Harris: Latest Addition To the Tennessee Vols Basketball Family

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.