Opening statement …
“First of all, we are really excited to welcome our fans back and last year really was not the same. Our fan base is really one of the most powerful home court arenas in the country, and we are excited about that. I do think our fans will appreciate the hard work that this team plays with. They really work hard together. I think our leadership has been good from within the players. Again, Vol Nation is going to be very proud of this group of guys. They have worked hard since we started back in the summer and are looking forward to it.
“We have a few injury updates we need to talk about. John Fulkerson is going to miss the exhibition game. He broke his thumb a couple of weeks ago and is in a cast. We fully expect him to be ready for the opener, but he won’t play Saturday. Jonas Aidoo has been fighting an illness the last couple of weeks. Kennedy Chandler has also missed a little bit. He had some problems with his teeth being knocked back a little bit, but he will be back in practice today for the first time.
“Overall, we really have had a lot of fun coaching this group of guys. They work hard, they step into the challenges we put in front of them, and they know we have to get better in some areas, a lot of areas actually. The fact is this has been a good group, and as a coaching staff, we are excited to have a chance to coach them.”
On depth of roster and competition…
“We have had really good healthy competition from the beginning. We have gotten full numbers right now from where we started. From the addition of some guys, Zakai (Zeigler) coming in late and certainly with our 7-8 new players coming in and the older guys doing what we have asked them to do in terms of leadership. I think I have the best coaching staff in the country. They have bonded extremely well with the players. We obviously lost two from our staff a year ago, but the transition to the new staff has been great. I think it has helped with competition, where we spend the time that we spend with them daily as a coaching staff. It has been a really healthy competitive situation, and we are going to have to have that throughout the year. If we do what we like to do, we expect to go very deep into our bench. We can play at a pace that we have been working at and continue that pace. That will determine how much progress each player can make here on out.”
On team camaraderie/chemistry since COVID…
“Just a totally different deal with our program, and we have always spent a lot of time together. Our locker room is a second home for all of us, and we do so much there together. Last year, we didn’t get any of that. I feel for the players last year who did not get a real feel of what it was about and what it should be, but this year has been a lot of fun. It made us really truly appreciate what we had before to be quite frank. This group is a group of guys that after practice, when we are in the locker room/lounge, you do not want to leave because you enjoy that camaraderie. Maybe some of it has to do with how we missed it a year ago, but it is a totally different feeling from what we had last year.”
On if the consistency will be better with this team…
“If you go back and analyze what happened last year in college basketball, I think younger teams struggled. A lot of that had to do with COVID. Where I think our consistency will be better is from having a full year with these guys in terms of our normal routine that we do, starting in the spring and then into the summer. We didn’t have any of that really. No spring and only a partial summer. We had some guys that traveled with international basketball and played for their countries, so they were away. We deal with that every year normally. I give a lot of credit to our older guys because I do think they really tried to do a good job of addressing the way we ended our year with leadership coming from within. Our older guys have done a good job with that.”
On having some true point guards on the roster again and how long he anticipates Jonas Aidoo being out…
“It’s different in terms of depth. Santiago Vescovi is arguably the most improved player on out team. He does so many things. It’s fun to watch him play and practice. He’s gotten himself in elite shape, and in order to become an elite player, that is where it starts. With Kennedy Chandler coming in, he has come in and shown us what was expected and what we’ve seen him do over the years while recruiting him. We got very fortunate and blessed to get Zakai Zeigler at the end. Those three guys have really helped each other. That position is probably the most competitive on the floor every single day because of the fact that all three are high-level competitors. They are dedicated and determined to get the most out of their abilities. They have embraced each other and know they can help each other. There could be times this year where all three may be on the court at the same time because of the versatility that all three have.
“Jonas was making strides and going through the typical adjustments that most freshmen go through, understanding the wear and tear that it takes daily. It’s different for every freshman that comes in, but Jonas was really making strides before he got hit with illness. He hasn’t been with us for three weeks. He will have to work his way back. At this time of year, we scrimmaged with ourselves twice and did an outside scrimmage and we have also started with the day-to-day to get ready for games and added some things while he’s been out. He will work his way back in, and he has a really bright future ahead of him. His rim protection is something that really excited us. It seemed like every day he found a way to block shots. He has great hands. All things happen for a reason, so maybe it will be a blessing in disguise as we go forward. We are expecting him to come back eager and excited to get back in it.”
On having eight newcomers on the team…
“When I look at the eight newcomers, I don’t think they totally understand everything. I think the perimeter guys understand a little more than the post players. I think we have some perimeter guys who have been through it. The competition has been great, with them going after it every day. There’s a lot of play today where I don’t know if a lot of guys have ever even heard the term post defense. We have to get better with our post players. They do a really good job of understanding the coverage and ball-screen packages that we throw out there, but in terms of the rim protection that we are looking for and think they can give us as well as the interior defense, we have to get better there. Some of the younger guys struggle away from the ball. Most guys comprehend pretty quickly what you have to do guarding the basketball, but it’s the off-ball actions that they have probably never been exposed to as much as the competition level that we play against. Overall, the attitude has been good. Coach Mike Schwartz does a great job, along with our other coaches, of holding players accountable daily on the defensive end. To be the team that we have to be defensively, we need to improve our rebounding from a year ago. We have to be better there. Those are the details that younger guys have probably heard but never really understood that’s the difference between winning and losing basketball games.”
On how big of an impact NIL has had in recruiting…
“It’s interesting. Some prospects have asked about it early, right off the bat. Others never mention it. What I do know is that as a coaching staff and as a University, we believe in it and we’re behind it. I think there have been some great opportunities here for our players that they’ve taken advantage of. I think that with our University, our community, our fanbase and the people here that it’s there for those guys that want to pursue it. What really has impressed me are the ones that talk to me about the big picture because that’s not the first thing we’re going to throw out there: name, image and likeness. It’s something that we talk about and as I said, some prospects more than others are interested in that possibly than what we look at as the big picture. I like to thing, and I’ve said this, that after their time with us here—we want it to be some of the best years of their life—but we see the big picture that when we leave here we want it to be bigger and better than they can ever imagine. I really respect our guys here because we’ve talked to them about it and every one of them has said to me they don’t want to do anything that would get in the way of them progressing with their development to get to where their goal is. Some of our guys have done well. They’ve been able to do it and it has not in any way, shape or form interfered with them continuing to do the things that we ask of them in our program. We deal with it. In recruiting, we’ll go and there are certain things that come up in recruiting when people throw out numbers and figures. We’re not going to do anything that we shouldn’t do in the recruiting process. If some of the things that I’ve heard in recruiting are true, I’ve told people I think the transfer portal is going to be bigger than ever. I think the transfer portal is big because I don’t think coaches are always truthful in recruiting. They promise minutes and promise things that they truly hope people forget about and I think the same thing is going to happen with this in some situations. People are going to throw out numbers that say, ‘You’re capable of doing this.’ People are going to come up short and that will be another reason that kids will look to leave places. We’re not going to promise anything but just know that we’re going to do everything like every university in the country does. I have had some talks with Danny (White) about it. We’re not being left behind and we’re not losing recruits because of the NIL. We’re not. Like I said, when we go out in recruiting, we’ve got certain things that we’re looking for. Early in the recruiting process, we kind of get a feel for what things are and what’s important. We can make our decisions from there.”
On what Josiah-Jordan James taking responsibility for Tennessee’s NCAA Tournament loss last season told him about Josiah and if he’s backed that up this offseason…
“He has. Last year at the end, with Fulky (John Fulkerson) getting hurt, we never seemed to get into a rhythm. We played a team that, obviously, was better than people thought and had a great run through the tournament. I actually told him not to be so hard on himself, but the fact is what he said is what every coaching staff would tell you: ‘Your best teams are when it does come from within and players are able to help each other.’ That means somethings talking to each other in a way that (keeps in mind) how that person would accept it. He’s earned that right. John Fulkerson has earned the right to do that. Those guys, including Santiago (Vescovi), do it because they work. They’ve put a lot of work into this program and they’ve earned it. The neat thing up to this point has been, and I expect it to continue is how our young guys have embraced them. It started in the spring. That was one of the biggest things that I spoke about was if you’re going to be a great teammate, you guys are going to have to look at each other at times and speak truth to each other. It’s going on right now. I’ve actually been impressed with Kennedy (Chandler) asking me almost daily—he actually called me right before I came over here—’How can I help my teammates?’ He asked me about specific guys who he could help. We all know we need everyone. We’ve not even gotten close to settling in on what we think will be our rotation. We’ve been through enough here and I can go back through my years here, starting in my first year with a guy like Kevin Punter Jr. getting hurt at the end of the year. Last year, Fulky going down when we felt like he was finally starting to get back to somewhat of a groove that we knew to expect from him. It’s a long year. That’s where we want each guy to continue to grow each day. Who knows what’s going to happen along the way? The fact is that almost daily somebody will say to me, ‘What can I do to help my teammates?’ Again, to be quite frank, that’s what we talked about at the end of last year. To see it working has been fun.”
On the veteran leadership guiding the team through the first month…
“It’s important. You mentioned our schedule, I can’t imagine anyone having a more difficult one early, but we always believed in it and think hopefully it’s going to get us ready. It’s not just what we do day to day, but the preparation that we do. We used our scrimmage last weekend against Davidson; we prepared like it was a game. It’s important that those guys, while we were in there going through that, the older guys ask questions. There were some things that they wanted to make clearer that I think they knew the answer but they weren’t sure the young guys did. I think they were willing to do that. We will do the same thing against Lenoir-Rhyne this weekend. We’ll go through it, we’ll prep, we’ll do it, and those older guys will talk about what we do when we leave the night before a game.
“This is important. We have to go upstairs, we have to get our work done, don’t let coach get upset where he keeps us out here longer than we need to because we don’t get it. We have to get this early, this is where we have to be focused because we have to get it. I like to be able get it in shorter times, and that goes back to the older guys telling those guys we have to get it. We can make it easier on ourselves, but we are all locked in the night before the game, the day of the game, the pregame meal from then on back. Once we get here, they stay here together from the time we go to our pregame meal they normally they don’t go back to their dorms so they are together, and they have an hour or so in there where they are on their own. Watching the older guys take them through it this past weekend was neat.
“I think the neatest thing is the younger guys are willing to ask them. They want to play, there’s no doubt they want to play, but they are asking those guys what does it mean. Everything is down to a detail, pregame warmup, how we do it, how we dress, everything we do. So it’s not just practice, but it’s getting them to understand how they can get themselves ready and try to make them understand what they need to be focusing on before the game. They have all been through it. I ask our guys what they have to do to get ready to play right now. Most of them can’t give you an answer other than do your job, and you say what is your job? Some can’t even answer that. It’s a never-ending process that you are going through with them because roles can change, situations can change. When you have older guys that we need right now to help seven new guys, it’s imperative that they do step up and take that on.”
On the dynamic of distributing minutes with returning and new players…
“The first thing I think you have to let them understand as far as minutes is that there are only 200 in a game. If you sit down with each player, which we do often and say, “Hey let’s sit down and let’s take each player and write down how many minutes each player should get”. Every year we do that, and it’s amazing, we need about 16 overtimes to get everybody’s minutes in. They think everybody is going to play 25 minutes a game. They truly don’t understand the value of minutes, but that’s nothing to feel bad about because most of the guys that we have have played all the minutes they’ve ever wanted to play their entire career. I think the first thing you have to let them know is how valuable those minutes are, those 200 minutes in a regulation game.
“I think players understand who should be playing more than anybody, I do, I think they know that. I think they see it and it’s easy because of the film studies we do and the different things we go through. Do they all want to play as they have their whole career? There is absolutely no question. And we would be disappointed if they didn’t want to do that. But at the pace and level that we want to play, for young guys learning to do that for two minutes is difficult. To where if you are seeking high level, if you’re seeking great execution to get them to understand that you’re going to be in a lot of close games, maybe decided by one, two, three, four possessions, it’s really important that they understand that every second you’re out there, there is some accountability going on and the focus to do that. But in practice every day and spending time with our guys every day we’re constantly talking about what they have to do to get the minutes that they want to play and I think as the season goes on it plays out with consistency.
“I think that’s when you get down from a coaching standpoint that’s what you’re looking for day in and day out. Who can we count on, do we know what that guy is going to give us every single night knowing that we’ve got younger guys that don’t know what it’s like to get ready to play. I don’t care who’s on your schedule, we believe that whoever we’re playing we’re going to do our work to get prep, but we want to do what we do. We want to play at a level where we don’t come back in and say “Why didn’t you do this” or “What were you thinking on this play”, “Why were you here when you were supposed to be on the other side of the court,” in terms of execution. That’s probably the hardest thing for younger guys to grasp is the details that go into being successful. But with that said as long as guys give us the effort, they do everything that we ask them to do in practice, we’re going to find a way if they’ll stay with it. Like I said, the year is a long year and we wouldn’t want guys that didn’t want to play a lot. But the first recognition is understanding how valuable those minutes are.”
On Tony Vitello and the job he has done with Tennessee’s baseball program…
“I think Tony is phenomenal. I love his fire, I love it because I can think back to when I was his age. Tony is in the best baseball league in America building a program against great baseball programs. I remember when I left Providence and went to Clemson I got a call from coach Thompson, a great coach at Georgetown, and all he said to me was “If you want to be good, you’re going to have to be willing to take on city hall. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I figured it out and I think Tony is willing to let everybody know that he’s in this thing to win and win big. The excitement that he brought to Vol Nation in the spring, it was what we needed. With what we had gone through throughout the season and to see all those people out on the street wanting to be in the stadium and then getting to the College World Series, it’s phenomenal the job he’s done up to this point. Tony I’m sure would say like me that he feels he has the best staff in the country. I’m excited for him, I’m excited for his future, I’m excited for what he’s trying to do here and the way he does it. I think his team has truly taken on his personality and I think there’s great days ahead for our baseball program.”
On getting back to fans into Thompson-Boling Arena…
“I’ve said many times to a lot of people that our fanbase here is as good as there is in the country. I think you talk to coaches in any sport they would pretty much feel the same way. But to see what’s going on here at the University is exciting. Great leadership, from Randy Boyd to Donde Plowman and what Danny White has done with his staff. There is no question that what Josh Heupel has done is phenomenal. You look at the way we’ve improved as a team. I love the fact that being around Josh, he’s a confident guy that has focus on what he’s doing, has put a great staff around him. Chris Woodruff has become a terrific friend of mine and knowing what he did last year getting to the Final Four. I go down the line, we’re going to talk softball, any program, I don’t want to leave anybody out. I’m just so proud of our university. Our athletic department going through tough times and I can tell you there is no better leadership at any University in the country than what’s going on here right now. I think just a great future ahead for us in so many different areas, not just as an athletic department but as a university the way it’s growing. Just hearing how the Haslam School of Business is exploding, how we need a new business school because it’s just exploding as a university. Watching downtown Knoxville grow, watching everything around campus grow. It’s a great time to be a Tennessee Volunteer.”
-UT Athletics
