BigOrangeBasketball.comTennessee Basketball

Not only did Tennessee sign the most highly ranked player ever on Wednesday with the commitment of Tobias Harris, but Bruce Pearl, in his fifth season at UT, has now pushed the national recruiting door open for the program.

Indeed, the Harris announcement yesterday signified a couple of important developments for Tennessee basketball.

If Tennessee is ever going to be able to elevate itself beyond a  Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament, it will need more days like Thursday when a consensus top 10 player nationally commits to the Vols.  If you want to compete with the North Carolina’s, UCLA’s, Duke’s and Texas’s of the world, you have to be able to sign these type of players.

Secondly, yesterday’s announcement sends a message to other high-profile prospects that Tennessee is a player in the big-time recruiting game…that Tennessee is a program on the rise.

Harris’ signing legitimizes what’s happening with Tennessee to a lot of other big-time players.

When the dust settles on the 2009-10 high school hoops season, Harris will undoubtedly be named a McDonald’s All-American, the second (Scotty Hopson) signed by Pearl in three years.  That is signficant.

One can only hope that the Vols can ride this recruiting momentum through the spring with a highly successful season this year. If the Vols can maintain a top 15 ranking and remain near the top of the SEC this year, don’t be surprised if another couple of  national recruits come Tennessee’s way in the spring.

I definitely think JayVaughn Pinkston is still in play, and don’t be surprised if Josh Selby has an about face.

Here’s hoping for more days like yesterday for the Vols.  Let them eat cake!