Tennessee isn't dancing, but Tennesseans are

Tennessee didn't make it to the Big Dance. Yet a bunch of Tennesseans punched a ticket.

When the men's NCAA basketball tournament began last week, I counted 17 state players on rosters as distant as Providence and Gonzaga. As a Vol fan, you might wonder how many came close to playing for the state's flagship land-grant institution. And if not, why not.

One actually did. Virginia's Darius Thompson of Murfreesboro first tasted March Madness as a freshman at UT. Thompson played on a talented 2013-14 team that fell one possession short of the Elite Eight. Thompson and Jarnell Stokes were the only Tennesseans on the roster.

The three Vol rosters since haven't come close to matching that one. Or to making the bracket.

Given the coaching turmoil since Cuonzo Martin left after the 2014 Sweet 16 run, it's understandable why some of the state's top talent passed on the Vols and for more stable situations.

One who did was Jalen Lindsey, a four-star guard out of Nashville's CPA, who signed with Providence. He hit 46 percent of his 3-point shots this season and scored 17 in a First Four loss to Southern Cal.

Johnathan Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward from Memphis Southwind, had a Vol offer but chose Missouri. He transferred to Gonzaga and will start against West Virginia on Thursday night.

Another four-star Memphis Southwind product, guard Jajuan Johnson, picked Marquette. He scored 16 points in a first-round loss to South Carolina.

Lagerald Vick, yet another Memphis guard offered by UT, is in Kansas' rotation as a sophomore. Chris Chiozza, a point guard from Memphis White Station, plays for Florida.

Williams, Vick and Chiozza are still in the hunt. Their common denominator is being four-star recruits from Memphis who left the state. With Stokes being a recent exception, Tennessee rarely lands a top recruit from Memphis. It's a 400-mile battle.

But looking around the bracket there are intriguing non-Memphis stories.

Jaylen Barford of Jackson was a nice addition for Arkansas this season out of Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma. He had eight SEC offers but not one from UT. He scored 20 in the Hogs' first-round win over Seton Hall.

JeQuan Lewis, as a three-star guard out of Dickson County, generated only modest interest from the SEC. The VCU senior scored 30 points in a loss to Saint Mary's.

Reggie Upshaw was recruited as a tight end by some colleges coming out of Chattanooga Baylor. He ended up hooping at MTSU and averaged 15.5 points in two NCAA games.

A real sleeper, Jordon Varnado of Haywood County landed at Troy. He made All-Sun Belt as a sophomore and will forever have a March Madness memory of an 18-point, 10-rebound game against Duke.

Then there's Chris Flemmings of UNC-Wilmington. Although he grew up in North Carolina, he was born in Knoxville and at one time would have loved to walk on at UT. After junior college, he landed at Wilmington, was a two-time first-team All-Colonial pick and scored 18 in a first-round loss to Virginia.

There's no guarantee any one or two of the above would have elevated Tennessee into an NCAA tournament team. Maybe, maybe not.

History shows UT can't thrive on a strict diet of in-state recruits. None of the top eight Vols on the career scoring chart are home grown. Vincent Yarbrough, at No. 9, is the leading Tennessean.

Next year's roster will have three scholarship in-state players: Jordan Bone, John Fulkerson and Knoxville's Jordan Bowden.  And the three incoming recruits are from Delaware, Kansas City and Paris. That's Paris, France, not Paris, Tenn.

Having a local guy like Bowden is a good story, but if a recruit can get the Vols into the bracket, nobody will care where they found him.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.