Tennessee grants releases of freshmen Darius Thompson and A.J. Davis
By Joe Nardone
Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Donnie Tyndall has been the Tennessee Volunteers head basketball coach for approximately seven seconds. Okay, maybe longer than that, but he has already had to deal with the business side of college sports. His first encounter being the granted releases of freshmen (soon to be sophomores) Darius Thompson and A.J. Davis, both of whom saw legit playing time for the Vols last season.
As Tyndall points out, just because they have asked for their release does not mean the door is closed for their return.
Tyndall: Darius and AJ have asked for their releases to explore their options. We want guys that want to be here. We hope they will return.
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) May 5, 2014
He also add the following, which is a bit weird:
Tyndall: It's about the student-athlete, it's fair to them to not release them. At USM, we had 4 returning players and went on to win 27 gms
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) May 5, 2014
It’s fair to them to “not release them”? I be confused. Which, you know, is not hard.
Regardless, if the Vols were to lose both of these guys it would clearly be a pretty significant blow.
It is worth noting, while Davis saw his minutes decline while the season went on, Darius Thompson was the team’s only returning point guard. If both do leave, though, it would give Tennessee six open scholarships for the 2014-15 season.