Signees major factors

The Tennessee women's basketball program recently added two perimeter players to its 2006-07 recruiting class, but there was a counterpoint to Pat Summitt's decision to ink two junior college players.

At nearly the same time paperwork for Shannon Bobbitt and Alberta Auguste was arriving on Summitt's desk, the veteran coach was officially bidding farewell to two current players -- sophomore Sybil Dosty and freshman Lindsey Moss.

So much for the effort to shore up depth in a program that last season sorely needed it in the NCAA Tournament.

While the departure of Moss and Dosty may make Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood's decision to leave the program in December look like the start of a negative trend, it's actually coincidental.

Wiley-Gatewood was unhappy with the program and her role in it. Dosty and Moss simply saw the handwriting on the wall when Summitt decided to break with tradition and use the late signing period to bring junior college players on board.

As a freshman, Moss didn't get much playing time and the addition of Bobbitt and Auguste to a signing class that already includes Heritage point guard Cait McMahan and guard/forward Nicci Moats will make competition fierce for minutes on the perimeter, especially with starters Alexis Hornbuckle and Sidney Spencer returning.

Dosty's playing time was also scant, and the 6-foot-3 center's skills didn't show noticeable improvement this season, so it seems unlikely she would have increased her chances for minutes when Candace Parker is no longer needed on the perimeter next season.

Whether Bobbitt and Auguste will have an immediate impact remains to be seen. Both were junior college All-Americans, but Summitt has not had a JUCO player in the program in 29 years. The assimilation will have to be quick and the learning curve short. Adjustment for some high school players takes longer than these two have in remaining eligibility. So Summitt is taking something of a chance but one that apparently seemed necessary given the improved level of national competition this past season.

Another factor is that it's been nearly a decade since the Lady Vols won an NCAA championship. For a program and a coach who are defined by that measure, the signing of Bobbitt and Auguste indicates Summitt believes breaking with precedent may be necessary to return to that level. A corollary reduction in bench strength was undoubtedly unforeseen.

Bobbitt, the national junior college Player of the Year at point guard, and Auguste, a 5-11 wing who averaged 23 points per game at Central Florida Community College, were supposed to be insurance for Tennessee. With the loss of Dosty and Moss and the predilection to injury of players these days, they now will be major factors in how well the Lady Vols do next season.