Ryan "Eagle Eye" Walsh takes on Division I Basketball

[jksander]

[SIZE="3"][font="Georgia"]

MAY 01, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Volunteers' Basketball Staff Finally Set In Stone[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

Days after naming Khalid Little as the latest head coach to attempt bringing Tennessee back to basketball prominence, the Volunteers' athletic department has announced the list of assistants who will be working with Little in the upcoming season. The star of the bunch would have to be 26-year-old Ryan Walsh, who has already made waves as a scout in the Division II ranks. A graduate of the University of Southern Indiana, Walsh has been a prominent reason why the Screaming Eagles have dominated the Division II level to such a point that they've been granted DI provisional status starting this year. Walsh, meanwhile, will be taking over as the 2nd Assistant coach for the Volunteers, earning $41,000 per year for the next two seasons. Here's hoping he brings his "Eagle Eye" to scouting opposing teams, which could give our team a real edge come tourney time.
[/font][/SIZE]

[jksander]

[SIZE="3"][font="Georgia"]

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Tennessee Non-Conference Schedule A Diabetic's Nightmare[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

Hard to know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but Khalid Little will benefit this year from one of the sugariest "cake" schedules we've seen in a good while. Other than the usual matchup against #11 Memphis in the year's rivalry game on December 13th (that one's on the road and should be a tough one) the rest of the non-conference slate is full of matchups against the likes of Drake, Florida International, Wagner and Utah Valley State. I know most of these games were set in stone a year ago, but it's hard for me to believe the program couldn't get a few more prestige games for the fall. With #1 Florida and #4 Kentucky on the conference slate twice each, and our team going into the season unranked, you've got to wonder if we'll be playing teams capable of boosting us to the level where we can show up against these SEC juggernauts. We will get a shot at the Las Vegas Winter Jam, but even then that tournament's hardly known for drawing the nation's biggest names.

Expectations are high for the program this year. A trip to the NCAA Tournament is considered a top priority, and we're expected to be competitive enough to challenge the top names for the conference tourney title. Beyond that, anything less than 20 wins would be a disappointment. So Coach Little better hope that his team's weak non-conference schedule gets him enough wins, since the lack of early prestige games could hurt them down the stretch if they fail to deliver in the conference itself.
[/font][/SIZE]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Villanova No Match For Volunteers In Tennessee Home Opener[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

The Tennessee men's basketball team got out to a stunning 16-0 lead on Villanova to start this game, and our boys never looked back! Tennessee led by ten at the half, coasting from there to beat the Wildcats by a solid 78-59 margin! The team looked really good in this one. I, for one, am glad to see basketball finally getting underway this season, as I have a feeling this could be a good year for Tennessee. It was definitely a great night for Jose Bland, our starting guard, who had 25 points 10 rebounds an assist a block and a steal in the first game of his Junior season. Hopefully he can keep putting up those numbers! He'll become a fan favorite for sure …
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Drake Hangs Around, Tennessee Still Takes Care Of Business [/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

It wasn't the finest performance, but we got it done, surviving a scare from Drake on the road to win this one 64-57. Up 35-32 at the half, we struggled to stay that way in the early moments of the second half, letting Drake tie the game on numerous occasions, even losing our lead late in the half, down 50-52 with about eight minutes to play. Thankfully we fought back and maintained our undefeated record. But tougher games remain ahead. We'll need to keep this momentum going and hopefully play smarter defense if we're going to avoid losing to lesser opponents. Martin Grizzard, our starting Senior Center, put up 13 points 12 rebounds in this game to lead the team.
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Freshly Ranked, Tennessee Destroys Florida International[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

The Associated Press has us now as the 25th best team in the nation, and we played quite well against Florida International on the road, building a 35-25 lead late in the first half, dominating much of the remainder of the game with relative ease. The Jaguars tried to keep it close, but they were no match as we won this one 80-75 despite their comeback down the stretch, improving to 5-0 on the season. Jose Bland led the way with 34 points six rebounds and a steal, while Pete Walton and Antuan Omara each contributed double-figures scoring and a half-dozen rebounds between them. After last week's dominating wins over Utah Valley (83-56) and Missouri (61-51), Tennessee's really starting to look solid under its first year head coach.[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

DECEMBER 2, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Despite Rout of Wagner, Volunteers Lose National Ranking[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

Wagner never stood a chance; despite a first half which made the game seem closer than it was, we took full control in the second half and won the game 78-61, a decidedly crushing defeat for the Seahawks, who fell to 0-5 on the season. Despite our RPI now residing in the top 20, their sordid record clearly took its toll on our strength of schedule, and the AP decided to not rank us this week. Jose Bland led the way with 23 points four rebounds three assists and a block, while Pete Walton added 18 points four boards and a pair of assists. With a home game agianst Boston U and a road trip to Illinois-Chicago this week, there's little expectation that we won't go into December 13th's rivalry game against Memphis undefeated. That one is setting up to be a showcase game for both teams, and should indicate whether we're overrated or ready for the SEC big contenders.
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

DECEMBER 10, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Volunteers' Perfect Season Goes Up In Flames At UIC[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

After a 64-53 defensive victory against Boston University, we all here were hoping for a similarly dominant performance against Illinois-Chicago today on the road. Unfortunately the Volunteers trailed early and struggled to right the ship after going into halftime down 29-39. The final result was a 62-71 loss against the Flames of UIC, and we'll therefore be going into the rivalry match against Memphis with the taste of our first loss still in our mouths, even as the 9-2 Tigers ride a current seven-game win streak. And we're on their court. Talk about intimidation!

Jose Bland managed 17 points eight boards and an assist, while Antuan Omara added 18 points seven rebounds and a block. But our defense fell apart down the stretch as the team seemed unprepared for Marque Buchanan, who took Tennessee to school in the second half, putting up 18 points four rebounds and five assists, most of those coming in the second half. Chalk it up to one of the few prominent failures so far in regards to the team's scout, Ryan Walsh – guess he fell asleep at the wheel on that one. Better luck next time, boys!
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

DECEMBER 13, 2011

[SIZE="4"]#8 Memphis' Fire Too Much For Volunteers To Put Out[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

We got out to a great start against #8 Memphis, building a 13-4 lead on the Tigers with only five minutes expired from the first half! But Memphis took back the lead 31-30 with 5:32 to go in the first half, and the game became a shootout, with us trailing 44-48 at the half. We certainly gave them our all, however, and no one would accuse our Volunteers of putting on a sub-par performance; the second hafl was electrifying to watch as we battled from behind, attempting to take down one of the top teams in the nation. But Memphis controlled things down the stretch and won this one 82-71 as we fell to 7-2 heading into the Las Vegas Winter Jam tournament. Jose Bland led the team with 27 points four rebounds and an assist, while Antuan Omara added 14 points 10 rebounds and a block.
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]

DECEMBER 30, 2011

[SIZE="4"]Gators Devour Volunteers In SEC Opener[/SIZE]
by NATHAN ELLIS, Knoxville News Sentinel Sports Blogger

A 9-3 start to the season has been quite solid for the Volunteers this year, but they don't get any breathing room in the SEC regardless of record. Their first opponent: undefeated (and #3) Florida, with their 11-0 record and sterling reputation for destroying all comers. The one consolation for Tennessee is that it was over quickly; the Gators had a 20-5 lead on UT with 14:16 to go in the first half and the rest, at that pace, was purely academic. The final score had Florida up on our Volunteers 77-53. Antuan Omara led the team with 12 points eight rebounds two assists, while Jose Bland was held to nine points three rebounds three assists and two blocks as Tennessee fell to 9-4 (0-1).
[/SIZE][/font]

[jksander]

[font="Georgia"][SIZE="3"]I'm not going to post about every single game, but I do want to have there be some basis to this diary before I have Walsh take a DI job ... I hope these article posts aren't overly boring to anyone. And yes, I have been playing out all the games, which is the only way to test myself as a scout. Trust me, y'all, scouting is HARD ... [/SIZE][/font]