Tennessee basketball has been in disarray for quite some time after former coach Bruce Pearl was forced to vacate the job in disgrace following a scandal. Tennessee athletic directior Dave Hart hired Cuonzo Martin to fill that job and hopes were high. The Vols had reached the field of 64 every year that Pearl was head coach. Tennessee basketball was arguably in its best stretch in the history of the program. Coach Martin came in but didn't quite meet those standards.
The Vols failed to make the postseason his first two seasons, but made it his third season. After winning the play-in game, Tennessee made a run to the Sweet 16 where they barely lost to Michigan. It was a very good season which featured the last seasons for stars Jarnell Stokes, Jordan McCrae, and Jeronne Maymon. It will also be the last season that Coach Martin is a Vol. Reports had him possibly considering the Marquette job earlier in the off-season, but he took his name out of the running later. Seemingly out of nowhere, Coach Martin has reportedly taken the head coaching job at Cal.
This comes as a shock to most Vols fans. It came out of nowhere. Remember though that many of the Tennessee basketball faithful were calling for coach Martin to be fired earlier in the year, after it seemed the team was badly underperforming. The saying "Bring Bruce Back" began trending as a push for the former Vols coach to rejoin the program was started. A petition gathered over 100,000 signatures. A late push saw his Vols reach the playoffs, and ultimately the Sweet 16, and it seemed everyone was happy again. Apparently that was not the case for Coach Martin. He did not notify the Vols or any of his players prior to this announcement. This leaves Tennessee without a head coach and desperately trying to find a replacement in what otherwise seemed to be a turnaround in the program. With the recent success of the Vols, a new coach should not be hard to find, but this is another set back for the Vols. With junior Jarnell Stokes to enter the draft, the Vols now lose both of their top rebounders and their top scorer from this year in addition to the head coach. It would seem it's time to rebuild once again on Rocky Top.