NASHVILLE — His team’s Southeastern Conference tournament loss to Arkansas was less than 30 minutes old Friday night when Tennessee basketball coach Donnie Tyndall made the long walk from the hallway outside the Volunteers’ locker room inside Bridgestone Arena back to the court for his postgame radio show.
Though he would have liked for his first season as the coach of the Vols to include an NCAA tournament appearance, Tyndall could take some pride in getting this team to a 16-16 season, one that likely ended when a valiant comeback attempt from 20 points down came up short.
“There is, because the expectations, we’re picked 13th and finished 10th,” Tyndall told the Times Free Press. “We’re a team that a lot of people didn’t think could even get to double-figure wins, and we have a .500 season. There’s a lot of pride collectively, and there’s a lot of pride in how each player improved individually.
“I just think that we’re headed in the right direction and growing this program and building it, and the future’s very bright.”
There are reasons for Tyndall to believe that to be the case, but the reality is the future of him and Tennessee’s basketball program is incredibly murky due to the NCAA investigation into potential violations that occurred at Southern Mississippi, where Tyndall coached the last two years.
So much of the situation, from the timeline of when an outcome will be reached to what punishment, if any, Tyndall will receive and how Tennessee will react to it, is unclear. When it comes to the NCAA, its investigations and its punishments, rarely is a situation clear.
“We don’t know anything more today than we did when the announcement was made at Southern Miss, whenever that was, back in October,” Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said Thursday during an interview with Nashville radio station WGFX-FM.
“We don’t know anything more today. That’s the protocol. We understand that. We understand that they have to finish looking into everything that they need answers to before they would tell us where they are. We understand that that’s the situation.”
“They’ll let us know,” he said later in the interview, “when they’re ready to let us know.”
The topic came up with Tyndall while he spoke to a group of media outside Tennessee’s locker room Friday night.
Asked when he hoped to get closure on the situation, Tyndall replied, “Really have no idea on that.”
He insisted the uncertainty of his future was not a distraction for him and his team during the season.
Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall calls a play against Arkansas during their game in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2015, in Nashville.“I really can’t comment a whole lot other than to say what I’ve said,” he said. “I’ve cooperated 100 percent. We’ve controlled the things we can control, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Tyndall also dispelled the notion the NCAA situation is hampering Tennessee’s recruiting.
It was part of the reason the Vols lost a top-100 player, Chris Clarke, who committed to the Vols before flipping to Virginia Tech after the news initially broke, but Tennessee signed guard Shembari Phillips and forward Admiral Schofield, both three-star prospects, in the fall and landed 2016 forward Romello White, ranked 101st overall by Rivals.com, in January.
“It hasn’t affected us like we thought, and it’s been good,” Tyndall said. “We’re involved with some really good players for this spring period, and it hasn’t affected one guy in the ’16 class. I think we’ll be in good shape.”
Whether Tyndall is in good shape to remain Tennessee’s coach is uncertain. Some suggest the punishment will be severe, while others are expecting less. Punishment from the NCAA could range from recruiting restrictions or a suspension to a show-cause penalty, what former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl received nearly four years ago.
During his radio interview, Hart danced around a question regarding the line of punishment that would be the difference in Tennessee retaining Tyndall or making a change and reiterated that no NCAA problems came up when he vetted Tyndall during the hiring process.
“We need to see the facts, and until such time that we see facts, no, we haven’t had those types of conversations,” he said.
“Everybody gave us glowing reports in the arena of compliance, and there were no issues at the NCAA level, and we got nothing but very, very positive feedback from the people at Southern Miss.”
Hart also called the job Tyndall has done this season “outstanding” and credited him for “very professionally” handling the off-court distraction.
“He’s gone about his job of coaching our basketball team, and he’s done that with a tremendous amount of focus,” the AD said.
“I’ve said this publicly before: Since Donnie Tyndall’s been at the University of Tennessee, he’s proven himself to be an outstanding basketball coach, he’s proven himself to be more than receptive and accessible to our fan base (and) he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.
“I think he’s a very good fit for our program and our community.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.