- Tennessee basketball players are warming up to Cuonzo Martin, as well. Cameron Tatum:
Scotty Hopson:His ultimate goal here, recruit quality guys, and when guys leave here they become grown men and quality men and always come back to the university and see him as the coach and be welcomed back,’’ Tatum said. "We all need to buy in to whatever he does and whatever he brings to the table.’’
"He’s definitely a straight-forward guy, a guy that’s going to keep it real,’’ Hopson said. "Guys are even talking about changing their numbers. It’s a new change, new face, guys seem happy right now, and I’m happy for them.’’
Kenny Hall:"It's good," rising junior post Kenny Hall said. "I'm glad we now know who our coach is and we've got a chance to establish a good relationship with him throughout the summer and get ready for the season."
None of that, of course, means that either Hopson or Harris are going to be back. They both have Martin's full support to test the NBA waters (although he wants them to dive in rather than dip their toes in), but will welcome them back if they learn that now is not the time. By the way, the reason Tobias Harris wasn't there for the press conference was because he'd gone home after learning his Monday class was canceled. He'll be back today. - As a high school player, Cuonzo Martin had to be creative to get to the basket. When he realized he could no longer slash to the basket in college, he built a three-point shot from scratch, going 0-7 in his first two years and finishing his career as Purdue's all-time leader with 179 of the long balls.
- Martin's compensation is $1.3M guaranteed plus bonuses over the next five years. The base is nearly ten times what he was making at Missouri State. Yay for paydays!
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No candidate interviewed for the head coaching position asked Mike Hamilton about his own job status. Huh. Draw your own conclusions.
- The TFP is reading a lot into the timing of the announcement of Martin's hiring, which has a ring of truth to it.
- Incoming UT DB Byron Moore has a three part series on dreams, which is worth the read. He's not your typical Juco.
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