Marques Johnson to Tennessee

[millerj9]

...from HoyaReport.com

""It was pretty much the situation they offer in terms of playing early," Johnson said. "I can come in there as a freshman and play a lot of minutes at the point.""

[millerj9]

link to article in today's Tennessean:

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050614/SPORTS0601/506140361/1035

"Johnson, who patterns his game after Jason Kidd, was also recruited by Purdue, N.C. State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He's played point guard the last three years on his Blessed IJN AAU team, but has also played the other perimeter spot in high school.

As a junior at Snider High, Johnson averaged 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He's rated as the country's 26th best point guard prospect in Rivals.com's latest ratings. Indiana Basketball News has him rated as the second-best rising senior prospect in the state behind 7-foot center Greg Oden, the nation's top prospect."

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

I have to think our other signees led him to believe that he might see reduced minutes. Can't say that I am too disappointed even though I am an Indiana native.

[SFHoya99]

I hope Marques knows what he is doing. I know he wasn't likely to come to GU once Rivers committed (seemed like PT was always his #1 priority), but Bruce Pearl has been at Tennessee for only a couple of months, but he has already "made his mark."

nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=7&screen=news&news_id=42012

Pearl has made big waves in recruiting, but not the ones that anyone expected. Neither Smith nor Gordon will play in Knoxville this fall, and the ensuing scramble for players has prompted the Vols coach to resort to tactics that are legal, but in many minds unethical.

The series of moves, which have left Smith sitting out, Matthew Dotson of Hickman County released, and Ryan Childress coming over from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, have many UT fans perplexed.

It started with the failed attempt to build a relationship with Smith, who led Giles County to a state championship as a sophomore. Pearl eventually kept Smith on scholarship despite Smith’s desire to be released, and as a result Smith will sit out two years while Pearl eats an unused scholarship.

The message sent: You sign with a school and not a coach.

The Vol coach then turned around and signed Childress after he was released from his scholarship at Pearl’s previous school, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Pearl had recruited Childress in the same manor that Peterson had Smith.

The message sent: You sign with a coach and not a school.

With that backdrop, Pearl hatched a heartless plan to rid himself of Dotson, whom he felt could not play at the SEC level. After stating that he would honor all the scholarships awarded by Peterson, Pearl sent several obvious signals that he had no desire to see Dotson in Orange. He had virtually no contact with Dotson until late May, when Dotson visited campus to make preparations to enter summer school. He registered for classes, played pickup with the players and met the coaches.

Less than a week later, the Hickman County star was told via cell phone by Pearl not to attend summer school, one day before class was to start. All of the other incoming Vol freshmen are enrolled in the current session.

Pearl proceeded to tell Dotson that he would never play in front of Childress, who has played exactly the same amount of college games as Dotson — zero. Dotson could no longer ignore the signs, and was left with no choice but to ask for his release.

His release coincided with the news that Dameon Mason, a transfer from Marquette who averaged 11.9 points per game last year, made an unofficial visit to Knoxville last weekend. So to clear a scholarship for the possibility of Mason, Pearl orchestrated the release of a player who desperately wanted to be a Vol instead of releasing Smith, who has no desire to play for him.

The message sent: We will do what we must do to win, no matter what.

I know what Pearl did and does is pretty common. But this (and his previous fracas with Illinois) makes me hope Johnson is perfectly happy in Knoxville, and is never recruited over. Just so he doesn't have to see that side of Pearl.

[RBHoya]

Johnson was a good prospect but once we landed Jeremiah I don't think he fit any longer. Good luck to him at Tennessee.