Will Warren: Stokes is Incredible, and Other Take Aways
By Will
The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 68-61 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday afternoon and grabbed the #2 seed in the SEC Tournament. What does this mean for Tennessee going ahead and at what point should they be in the NCAA Tournament field?
Jarnell Stokes is 18 years old. 18. Years. Old. He graduated high school three months ago and put up a double-double on Saturday against future NBA draft picks. He dominated down low along with Jeronne Maymon and maybe played his best game as a Volunteer (either this or the LSU game last Wednesday, in my opinion). One can only imagine how outstanding Stokes can and will be next season with a full year of practice under his belt.
Rebounding! Again! A somewhat overlooked key to Tennessee’s fantastic play as of late is rebounding. The Vols have flat-out dominated taller teams on the boards and outrebounded Vanderbilt 39-27 on Saturday. Stokes grabbed 14 rebounds, Maymon 7, Trae Golden 5 (!)…you get the idea.
Don’t let your youth go to waste. The Vols certainly haven’t – you don’t beat a team starting four seniors and one junior with luck. Vols fans have watched this team, which has started two sophomores and a freshman during SEC play, grow up steadily over time. It’s been a joy to watch.
Bubble battles! This would’ve been a joke section even a week ago, when I steadfastly believed Tennessee had next-to-no shot at an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. Now, though, after watching other teams flail around and hurt themselves badly while the Vols have done nothing but win, they’re starting to get lots of consideration for a spot in the field of 68, and for good reason. The Vols have won eight of nine and you don’t win ten games in the SEC on accident. Plus, they own a sweep of Florida to go along with wins over Vanderbilt and UConn.
However… Tennessee can’t erase those losses to Austin Peay, Oakland, and College of Charleston, and during the recent winning streak they lost their only road game against a tournament team to Alabama. Even though Tennessee has played very well over the last month, their RPI (75) would be the highest to ever make the field as an at-large under the new formula, which was implemented in 2004. While Tennessee is being considered, they’re not in the field just yet. They need to win two games in the SEC Tournament to put themselves on the cutline (and even then, they aren’t assured an at-large spot). Things are finally looking up in Knoxville, though.
A personal note. I don’t delve into personal matters very often on here, but I feel this deserves writing. Friend of the AFT community and one of the best men I’ll ever meet, Scott Gianopoulos, lost his battle with bone cancer on Sunday night. I’d be hard-pressed to find someone who thoroughly represented a true man of Christ and someone who loved Tennessee athletics as much as he did. From everyone at All For Tennessee, we love and miss you, Scotty G.