Tennessee basketball seniors Yves Pons and John Fulkerson met with the media on Wednesday to preview the Vols senior day matchup with Florida.

Yves Pons

On his final game at Thompson-Boling Arena:
“It’s a big day in my life. My last game in TBA, and I’m excited to play Florida too. It’s been an amazing four years and I’m going to miss playing in TBA.”

On memories from playing at UT:
“It’s been an amazing four years since I’ve been here. I got everything I wanted and it was a great experience. I got much better in basketball and my skills, and I had the chance to meet amazing people. It’s amazing, I’m from another country so it’s a new culture and new language, so that was a fun experience.”

On what he is working on towards the postseason:
“The main thing that we’re focusing on is we’re here to compete, here to win, here together as a team to find a chemistry. We’re trying to win, trying to execute, trying to get back to the team that we know we can be and we’re trying to play the way we had at the beginning of the season.”

On how much he changed over four years:
“As a player I am much more confident and I know what I need to do on the court. I can shoot the ball way better than I used to and I have put every part of my game on another level since my freshman year.”

On memories from his first visit to campus:
“I had never seen anything like this before. Everything was bigger, it was kind of like a tv show I had been watching. When I first stepped on the campus, it was amazing because it didn’t feel real, and seeing the arena with 22,000 seats? I had only played in an arena with like 5,000, so it was just amazing to see.”

On the ups and downs of the past six weeks and how important it is to turn it around and this is Pons last go around:
“We still have a long way to go. We have to focus on the next game and treat the postseason like it’s a new season. We have to step it up and come together as a group and play our best basketball because it’s almost over. We have to give it everything we’ve got so we can achieve our goals.

On his demeanor:
“I’m not a real expressive guy. I observe and keep things to myself most of the time. I’m not just going to say it, I’m going to do it as well. I’m going to talk to the coaches and a few guys to figure it out and fix it.”

On how long it took to adjust to living in America since Pons is a native of France:
“It took almost a year and a half. In the middle of my sophomore year, it happened gradually, and since I came late and missed most of summer camp, and had to adjust to the language. The basketball here is different from European basketball so it took me a while to adjust.”

John Fulkerson

On his emotions going into Senior Day on Sunday:
“I think that my emotions are kind of sad that it could potentially be, maybe, my last home game at Tennessee. It’s definitely sad that it could be my last game, but it’s also a good time because it makes me look back at all the memories I’ve had here, all the relationships I’ve made and just my teammates, my coaches, the memories, the friendships, hanging out. It just makes me look back and think of all the times that I’ve done that and all the memories that I’ve made.”

On decision for next year and possibility of returning:
“Have I made a decision yet? Not yet. Am I thinking about returning? Of course. It’s hard to pass up this institution, this basketball program, these coaches, my teammates, the university. And so absolutely I’m thinking about returning. Have I made a decision yet? No. Am I open for suggestions? Yes. But right now, I’m just focused on getting better as a team and our current team right now. I’m not focused on me individually right now. It’s about us as a team, playing our best to beat Florida on Sunday.”

On memories of getting recruited by Tennessee and Coach Barnes, growing up as a Tennessee kid:
“Honestly, it was a really big deal when Coach Barnes and Coach Lanier, Rob Lanier, called me. And Coach Oliver (Desmond Oliver) recruited me as well. When they called me and told me that they were with the University of Tennessee, it was honestly like a dream come true, and it still feels as if I’m living a dream – that a kid from Kingsport gets to come and play for his state university, which has always been his dream. I’m very blessed to be in this position, but I can remember it like it was yesterday. I believe I was in Atlanta or Marietta, Alpharetta, somewhere around the Atlanta area playing in a tournament when I got that call and when they offered. I’ll never forget it and my AAU coach knew it was coming and we talked about it, and it was really hard not to commit on the spot because of what I’ve talked about, being from Tennessee, my love for Tennessee. But I really wanted to go through the recruiting process and weigh out my options, and that’s what I did. Obviously, I picked the best school, but I remember that recruiting process like it was yesterday for a long time.”

On decision to come back to Tennessee being influenced by feeling like there is more left to give after this season:
“That could definitely be one of the reasons, and we still have a lot of basketball left this season to play. The most important basketball is still left and we can have a great season. But, I would come back for many different reasons and would that be one of them? Yes. Would that be the main reason? I’m not sure. I’m still weighing out my options and seeing what the best is for me and talking to my family about it, praying a lot about it and just seeing what the best option is.”

On what is being worked on in practice to do well individually and as a team, heading into the Conference and NCAA Tournaments:
“I think right now, we’re just playing as a team together right now, and I think that we have come together more than ever right now, as we should and because now we know how important each game is from now on. We’re just trying to get everybody to play their best, because as we’ve seen and you all have seen in a couple games this season, that when everybody is playing their best and playing their role, then we’re a very, very good team, and I feel like we could beat anybody in the country. We’ve just got to get everybody, including myself, to play their role and play the best they can.”

On what mistakes have been seen when watching back film, individual improvements and solutions going forward:
“I see a lot of things. I see double teams. I see me not being aggressive. I see me not making the right play. But that’s why we watch it, and I’ve seen a lot of stuff and I’ve tried to improve all season. If I could go back and play like I did last year, you better believe that I would, and I would play even better. I’ve been trying my best to play like that, and I think that I’ve still got that in me. And so, you know, you just got to keep working every day to try to get better and get your swagger back.”

On how he wants to be remembered as a player:
“I would want Tennessee fans—not as a basketball player but off the court, as somebody that had a positive impact on people, somebody that liked to have fun, someone that tried to lift people up, and somebody that gave their all for Tennessee. On the court, I want to be known as the ultimate teammate that was there for one another when times were good and bad. I want to be known as someone that played hard all the time, someone that hustled and had lots of energy. I would like to leave a great and lasting impact on Tennessee and hopefully, I can be known as somebody that came in and left it better than they found it. I just hope that I can leave with those things.”

On the factors that will help him decide his future:
“I believe turning pro and coming back are my only two options. I would not look into grad-transferring because I think I’m too loyal to the University of Tennessee, to Knoxville, to my state, to Coach Barnes and his staff, so if I’m going to play college basketball next year, it’s going to be at the University of Tennessee. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do because there are a lot of factors that go into it. I’m going to focus on this team right now and finish the season strong but after, I’m going to talk to a few people, think about it and pray about it, and weigh all the options.”

On some of his favorite moments as a Volunteer:
“When we beat Gonzaga in Phoenix a few years ago and I’ll never forget when we beat Georgia in Thompson-Boling Arena to clinch the SEC title. We’ve beat Kentucky here a lot which is always fun and the Florida game last year was a lot of fun as well. That would be a reason why I would come back next year if COVID comes down and we can have a full TBA again. Our freshmen and EJ haven’t felt what it’s like to play in a full TBA and you can’t simulate that in a video because it’s one of those things where you have to be there because you can’t recreate it. I’ve really missed all of the fans there this season because we have the best fans in the country and it’s not the same with having it 20 percent full. It plays a big role in home-court advantage, because those fans can really make a difference so hopefully, COVID doesn’t do much next year because those fans really make a difference.”

On what it’s like being around the Grant Williams era to the Jaden Springer era:
“Being around as long as I have been it’s been a great and fun time. It’s been a learning experience I would say because you were a part of the build watching Coach Barnes’ first recruiting class with me and five others. It’s been fun to watch our program turn around with guys like Kevin Punter, Armani Moore, Admiral Schofield, Kyle Alexander, Lamonte Turner and I know I’m missing some people. It’s cool to see the standard we’ve set for Tennessee Basketball.”

On if the team is doing ok emotionally at the moment:
“I think we’re doing great. I know that may be hard to hear, but in our mindset right now, we’re knowing that if and when we come together, we can be unstoppable. We’ve seen it a few times this season. We just have to play together as a team and play for each other. We know what that takes and how we can do it. I think we have got full confidence coming into this last part of the season that we can do exactly just that.”

On how much different he is compared to when he got to Tennessee:
“I don’t feel like I’m the same person. I feel like countless people here—and I could name 20 people here that have influenced me and helped me grow as a person. Whether that’s athletically with basketball, spiritually, emotionally, physically, I can name so many people here during my time here that have helped me out, molded me and helped me become a more mature, smarter, more intelligent and mentally stronger person than before I got here. I could thank a lot of people that have shaped me while I’ve been here at Tennessee—and I’ll tell those people who they are. It has been a fun time here for me and I’ve enjoyed it all and I definitely think I’ve become a better person while I’ve been here.”

On the story of what the last year has been like:
“It’s been crazy to be honest. That whole situation was just something that we never thought would have happened. We were playing well at the end of the season last year. We were on our way to Nashville. We stopped in Cookeville to see the people who had been affected by the tornadoes. First of all, that was something that besides COVID—when we didn’t really know COVID was a thing yet—that made us so thankful for what you have and honestly it can be taken away like that. You could go to sleep tonight and wake up with none of your cars, house, your loved ones may not be there as well. So, that was really eye-opening for us, our coaches and my teammates, it made us realize that life is so much more than basketball and about other things. We realized that we’re so lucky and blessed to play this game and have the things we have. We talked to those people that had been affected and they went to sleep that night not knowing what was going to happen and they woke up and their house was torn down, their cars were down the street or across the field. Their churches were demolished and it was just really eye-opening and I just felt so bad for those people. They lost things and people that they loved and I’m still feeling for them.
“After that, we went to Nashville and the media coverage world-wide on COVID when we got there was starting to pick up. They were talking about it coming into the United States with cases starting to pick up. The night before we were supposed to play, the NBA postponed their season. We thought it was weird that with the NBA being above college basketball, that if they’re not playing, then why are we playing. We woke up, we were still on to play and so we got ready for the game, went to Bridgestone Arena, we were about to head out to the game and that’s when they called everything off.

“From then on, COVID really impacted a lot of people. A lot of people lost their lives due to COVID. Then, it made you consider even more that you don’t know what life is going to be. Then, we went home for six months, not being able to leave the house. A lot of people got laid off of their jobs, people were working from home and things like that. But, to see a positive and bright side of that for myself, I got to spend a lot of time with my family and my family means the world to me. To be able to spend that much time with them is something I haven’t done since I was 16, because I went to a boarding school. So, I loved spending time with my family. That was something positive.

“Then, restaurants were closing and the only places you could really go was the grocery store and the hospital. It’s definitely been a crazy last year that we’ve been a part of. Not even our grandmothers or great grandmothers have been a part of something like this. It’s really something no one has really ever seen before, but I think you still need to find the positive out of it and look at the good things in life. I think if you’re always looking at the bad things and having a negative mindset, you’re not going to get very far in life. I always try to look at the positive things and be happy about every situation.”

On being a public figure:
“I think you do adjust to it and I’ve kind of enjoyed it because I always put myself in Chris Lofton, Wayne Chisolm, those people’s shoes. Especially with taking pictures and signing autographs and talking to kids and fans, because when I was a kid growing up I really loved to watch that team play. I was a big fan of that team with Chris Lofton, Wayne Chisolm, Scottie Hopson, Tyler Smith; that whole team I loved watching them play. I put myself in their shoes and as a Tennessee kid growing up, if I saw one of them out in public or eating or after a game, I would have loved to get a picture with them or get their autograph and if I went up to them and asked for a picture and they said no, I would just be heartbroken because they were my idols at the time. I would have been heartbroken if they said they couldn’t sign something for me or take a picture with me. I put myself in their shoes and I try not to turn down a picture or autograph or anything because I know that I’m not going to be in this position forever and I want to use it to the best of my abilities in a good way and have a positive impact on people. Being a public figure and being someone that is recognizable out in public is a good thing because you have to watch what you do, what you say, because you can’t really do a whole lot without people noticing. I always act as if my mother is there because my mother has very high standards for me, so I think I do a pretty good job because I think about her when I’m making decisions. I think I’ve gotten used to being a public figure, and it definitely takes some getting used to because I was not that known before, but I guess a lot of people know you when you play basketball here.”

On how many hours he spent with Chad Newman the last five years:
“I think that I have probably broken the record for player in Tennessee Basketball history that has spent the most hours with Chad Newman, and being here five years, we have spent a lot of time together. Chad has been here for 55 years, I have been here for five. In his many years here, I probably doubled the guy who had the previous record for most hours with Chad. As much as you don’t want to see Chad because he is the Athletic Trainer, we have a great relationship and we have spent a lot of time together, basically my whole first year and a half. This is a side note but Chad makes really good spaghetti, I’ve tried it a couple times, because he knows I like it. I hope Chad is going to miss me as much as I’m going to miss him because I’m going to miss him.”

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel will put his Volunteers through 15 spring practices beginning later this month, and spring football will culminate with the Chevrolet Orange & White Game on Saturday, April 24 in Neyland Stadium.

Kickoff time and further details about the spring game in accordance with ongoing COVID-19 protocols will be announced in the coming weeks. Tennessee is scheduled to open spring ball on March 23 with practices covering a five-week span.

Heupel brings a fun, up-tempo offense with an attacking defensive philosophy to Knoxville after compiling a stellar 28-8 record as head coach at UCF from 2018-20. Under his watch, the Knights were the only team in the country to rank among the top five in the FBS in total offense in each of the last three years. UCF joined Alabama and Clemson as the only teams in the nation to average at least 42.2 points per game in each of the last three seasons.

Heupel’s offenses have also established success in the SEC. As Missouri’s offensive coordinator from 2016-17, his unit averaged 501.3 yards per game of total offense during that span, which was tops in the conference.

In addition, Tennessee’s Pro Day will be held on Thursday, March 25 as future NFL Vols showcase their skills in front of scouts. Due to the COVID-10 pandemic, no in-person NFL Combine was held in February. The 2021 NFL Draft is scheduled for April 29-May 1.

Season tickets for the 100th year of Neyland Stadium and the start of the Heupel era are on sale now at AllVols.com.  Season tickets start as low as $300, with the Vol Pass and payment plan options offered. Fans can experience the Neyland Stadium 3D map to select tickets based on preference. Fans with questions related to seats, views and options can utilize the live “CHAT” feature on AllVols.com.

-UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE,  Tenn. — Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper took questions from the media on Tuesday in a Zoom interview session that covered the Lady Vols’ upcoming trip to the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.

No. 14/16 UT (15-6, 9-4 SEC) finished third in the regular-season standings and takes its highest seed (No. 3) into the tourney since entering at No. 2 back in 2015. Harper’s squad will play at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday (SEC Network) at Bon Secours Wellness Arena vs. the winner of Thursday’s battle between No. 6 seed Arkansas (19-7, 9-6 SEC) and No. 11 seed Ole Miss (10-10, 4-10 SEC).

Tennessee is the all-time leader in SEC tourney titles, capturing 17 through the years.

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement:
“It’s this time of year. Everybody is excited. It doesn’t matter what you did; it doesn’t matter what you didn’t do leading up to now. I know it’s cliché, but every coach says it every year, ‘Record is 0-0, everybody has a fresh start.’ You get a new challenge in front of you. I fully expect this SEC Tournament to be competitive. Anything can happen. We’re hoping to take a team over there that is ready to play and compete at a high level.”

On what their preparation will look like this week:
“Their day off was Monday. We just lifted and did not do a lot on Tuesday. I think when you prepare for a tournament, you prepare to play for three games. We’re trying to prepare to play for three days. We’ll give them Tuesday off, that’ll help us with the rest of the week. Wednesday will be a really good practice for us. It will be a lot of Tennessee. We’ll work a lot on us. If there are some things that we can knock out that could prepare us for Ole Miss or Arkansas, we will do that. We’ll travel on Thursday and practice in Greenville. Because of the late tip, we will still practice without knowing who we are playing. That practice, we will still do a little bit more of us. Our walk-through on Friday will be scout heavy to make sure we are ready for whichever opponent we will play.”

On how her team will handle having the late game:
“They’ll probably handle it better than I will. It’s nearing my bedtime when we will be at the game. What we will do is try and shorten the day a little bit. Logistically, it’ll be a little tougher because of the scheduling of when your shoot-around is, but we will try to shorten the day and let them sleep in for a little bit if we can. We’ll try to work towards that on Thursday. We’re trying to trend in that direction. I think players want to play. I don’t know if it necessarily matters when you play on that Thursday or Friday. What matters is when you have a late game one night and an early game the next day. If you have a late game on Saturday and then an earlier game on Sunday, it makes a little bit of a difference. It’s tournament time. I think you just look forward to playing. The cool thing is if you have that late game, you get to watch a lot of basketball that day.”

On how it feels having her players on All-SEC teams:
“When you look at the list, what a talented list of all-conference players, both first and second team. I think our two definitely deserved to be on that. I think they did a terrific job this year and had the stats to back it up. I’m also really proud that Tamari Key was on the All-Defensive Team; that was very well deserved. I’m really excited for Marta (Suárez) to be on the freshman team. Unfortunately, her season doesn’t look like what we thought it was going to, based on her injury, but I think people noticed her a little bit.”

On how she plans to get her team prepared for the SEC Tournament:
“We are going to talk about taking care of business. Do your job, whatever that is. Whether that’s on the court or off the court, you have to do your job. We will really try to get into some execution things this week, making sure we are very clear on some of our schemes. We might even put some wrinkles in going into the tournament. Sometimes when you do that, it keeps the players’ minds fresh. So, we may do a little bit of that. At this point, as a coach, you want to walk into practice and see that they are ready. You want them to see what’s at stake. If they don’t, we may have to reel them back in and get their focus right. We cannot afford to have bad practices this week. So, if we start trending in that direction early in practice, we’ll slam the brakes on. We have to have good practices this week.”

On whether her expectations are to get to the championship game:
“Oh my, yes! And I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what city you are in. I don’t care who you’re playing; I don’t care who you’re not playing. If you’re advancing, then you’ve really done something, because there is so much parity this year. And a lot of times, it’s about match-ups as much as it is about seeding and talent. It’s about who do you match-up well (against), and you have got to figure it out. So, I think it’s definitely shaping up to be an exciting tournament.”

On how much previous games matter and does it make a difference in a tournament type of setting:
“Well, I think it makes a difference for the coaching staff to kind of game-plan and have an idea of what worked the first time and what didn’t work. And sometimes, if it worked the first time, you have to realize that the other team is going to change, and it may not work this time. So really, it’s a chess game, right? You have to be two, sometimes three, steps ahead of your opponent. You know, in terms of the team, I would be just fine if the players didn’t remember anything about the first game or two that you played, because I think you get to the tournament and, you know, it’s different. Everybody’s going to throw out all the stops to win, and if they didn’t beat you the first time, they’re going to give you something different. And I think it matters, but at the same time, when you get to tournament play, they’re going to throw everything at you.”

On how the SEC Tournament prepares them for the big picture of the NCAA Tournament and how competitive it is:
“I’ve thought about that quite a bit. It’s so tough; it’s so challenging. Not only are these some of the best teams in the conference, they’re some of the best teams in the country, and they know you inside and out. I mean, they get it. I think and I hope that the SEC Tournament and the competitiveness and the talent that we have there really prepares all of the teams going to the NCAA Tournament. I really hope that we’re setting each other up for success. Carrying that level of play into the NCAA Tournament could really make for a great showing for the SEC. And we should, we have so many talented teams this year. We really do. And a lot of them can make some noise in the NCAA Tournament, regardless of the outcome of the SEC Tournament. So, we’ll definitely… I think it’ll be good for us to be in that tournament environment and hopefully handle ourselves well and be able to take that over to the NCAA Tournament.”

On how she thinks Ole Miss and Arkansas have changed over the last few weeks and on the difficulty of trying to prepare for two teams at once:
“We have been worried about ourselves (lately). We have kind of put blinders on and worried about what we are doing. This last week has been about Tennessee, Missouri and Auburn. But we paid attention. I was able to watch the Alabama/Arkansas game, or the majority of it. So, we see how these teams are playing. We are trying to keep up with Ole Miss coming off a great win. Obviously, we do not have an advantage over those teams in terms of our scouts. We won’t prepare for both of those teams on Thursday. That is not what we will do, so we will wait and do our preparation on Friday, which will be the same time that our opponent will do their preparation in terms of the scout. But there are not a lot of questions about who each team is, and our staff will have scouting prepared for both going over. I am sure our team will brush up on both of them, and we will be able to watch that game, and that will be really good for us. So, I think that there is a little bit of being behind, because you don’t know in terms of your team. We can’t do walk-throughs until Friday, but we have a late game on Friday, and we will have time to get that in.”

On whether she will be able to do a walk-through and scout at the arena on Friday and her memories of playing in the SEC Tournament:
“Our arena shoot-around is that morning at 8:30 or 9:00, which really stretches your day out if you take that Friday morning. We will go off-site to do our walk-through and scouting prep, so we will be at a different gym for that. For me, some of my vivid memories were some of the tournaments that were played in Chattanooga at The Roundhouse, and how predominantly orange it was is a big memory for me. How much fun and competitive those tournaments were, and then I remember going down to Columbus and playing great. We played terrific that year down in the SEC Tournament, and had some big wins against some really good basketball teams. Fun times. But you know, it was the precursor to the NCAA Tournament, which was what we were really striving for.”

On her memory of learning the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled and how that helps her be thankful for basketball now:
“You know, we talk about that every now and then. We talk about how grateful we are to get to play because obviously, we saw how quickly it could be taken away. When I think back to last year, the biggest part for me was the lack of closure that we had not having the NCAA Tournament. When we played our final game, we had the anticipation that we were going to be playing more basketball. So, it was just awkward, really. And then it was so fast – everything happened so quickly, and it really never felt like last year ended. It just felt like last year kind of blended into the summer. That’s really what it felt like for me, and I am looking forward to taking this team not only to the SEC Tournament but to the NCAA Tournament and giving them a chance and seeing what we can do.”

On what she thinks about playing on Friday when their opponent has had a day head start with already having played a game in that arena:
“I have always thought that a team that played the day before has a little bit of an advantage to start the game. I have always thought that. They have already played, and they have gotten the first-game jitters out, so to speak. They are brushed up, they should be ready to go. But I also think that you do not want to play four games in four days. So, I think you have to be able to get over that, and you have to be able to settle in quickly. You know it doesn’t always happen that way. You really have to be able to settle in and figure out what they are doing very quickly in that game”

-UT Athletics

Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes met with the media on Tuesday afternoon via Zoom to discuss the Vols regular season finale against Florida.

On if he is happy to have the week off, and if he thinks it is something that will benefit them:
“I think it’s probably good for us right now. We still have some guys that need to get healed up a little bit. They’ve been in here the last couple days trying to work with Chad and G on those type of things. So, from that standpoint it’s been good for us.”

On at what point does he say Fulky is what he is at this stage of the season:
“Well, I still believe in John Fulkerson, I do. I know that he’s still trying to put the work in to do what he needs to do, and he’s still a big part of this. I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime in this business. I’ve seen guys struggle, then all at once the light clicks back on. I’ve seen guys rolling, and then the light goes off. I just don’t think you can quit on people that put everything they’ve had into the program. I just believe in him, and that doesn’t mean we won’t have some adjustments that we have to make here or there, but you do that every game, and that goes on in every single game. I just know that Fulky is trying to do what he can to get it going, and I believe that he can do it. So, that’s how I feel about it.”

On how much he has looked at the game tape from the previous game against Florida, and how much of the issues in that game does he still see in his team now:
“Well, I go back—in that game we were very careless with the ball. We turned the ball over a lot, and we did have some shots that we practiced that we didn’t make. We lost the ball in a lot of different ways that you can’t. We actually cut the score down, then all at once we missed a layup and turned it over twice in the backcourt. The momentum goes from where we were getting some momentum back the other way, but I would still go back to turnovers. I think when we do a decent job of taking care of the ball, and as long as we shoot shots we practice and shots that will come in the flow of the offense. Have there been nights where we missed open shots? We have. That’s part of the game, but the biggest thing is we have to be better defensively and take care of the ball better.”

On how beneficial he thinks the week off will help them defensively, and getting a week for the team to get their legs back under them:
“Well, I think we have to get back in to locking in our coverage. I think the communication has to get better, and you don’t want to be talking about communication this time of year, but the fact of the matter is, we are. We’ve just got to get settled in, and understand that all five guys know exactly what we’re doing every time out, and to have the mental discipline to go out and execute whatever defense we might be in.”

On how healthy Josiah Jordan-James is:
“He’s not. We’re hoping this week is a good week for him. Josiah’s the kind of player that needs the reps and the work. He hasn’t had a good week of practice in about two weeks. I think this week will be key for him. I think his wrist is starting to feel better but he would tell you the same thing as me, he needs reps. He needs to get out and get it going again. He’s a guy that will tell you that he needs to be in the gym where he can be productive. He wasn’t able to do that for almost two weeks.”

On how many adjustments a team can make in a week:
“You’ve just got to do what you’re doing and do it better. You’re always tweaking some things here and there, but the bottom line is whatever your base package is, it’s been good to us in so many different ways, but we’ve just got to do it better. We’ve got to pass it better. We’ve got to cut harder, cut better, be ready to screen better. It’s all of the fundamentals that go into it. Could we run a whole new offense and do all of that? That’s not the answer to where we are right now. It’s just a matter of executing and doing the things that we know we’re capable of doing because we’ve done it. We’ve just got to do it. We need to get seven or eight guys playing at a very high level.”

On the possibility of mixing Keon Johnson into the post play:
“We’ve played that lineup before. We’ve played him at the four sometimes this year. To say we’re going to put him there exclusively, I don’t think we would do that. When he’s out there, we post our guards. We have a package where we’re trying to get them in the post as much as we can. All we’re trying to do with our guys is to put them in the best area where we feel that they’re most effective and where they feel most comfortable. We’ve had various lineups. We’ve had it before where he’s had to go down there, play and do that. Can he do it? He can. Do I think we’re going to do it for the entire game? We won’t.”

On how he and the players feel about Senior day:
“Well, it will be much different. I do know our fans appreciate what John and Yves have given us over their time here. I know if it were a typical year when we would have people in here, I think they’d really be able to show that appreciation. Those guys have worked hard. Believe me, they have tried to give everything they have for the program and have continued to do that. EJ, he won’t go through it. That’s his decision. We left it up to all of them and how they want to handle it. I think it’s the right thing certainly for Fulky and Yves. They all have decisions at the end of the year that they have to make. At that point in time, they will make it. One thing I wish is that Grant Williams could’ve had a Senior night. Guys that have been through it and meant a lot to the program, sometimes it doesn’t happen for them. When I thought about these guys the other day, my thought was how do you recognize guys that come in and give you everything they have, but they have a decision to make and they choose to leave early. I do know our fans appreciate what Yves and John have done, they’ve been a part of good stuff here and they’ve been thrust into some tough situations too. Character wise, I don’t think you could have asked for two better people to be honored for the way those guys deserved to be honored.”

On which guys are stepping up to show leadership on the team:
“I think anytime you’re up and down, you look around the country and it happens everywhere. We all know this is a different year. Yeah, it’s tough. Being inconsistent is really, really tough. This is a year where we haven’t had a chance for the team to bond and connect the way we used to be able to. When that happens, I’ve always said the best led teams, are the player led teams. Josiah has certainly had a voice, even Fulky. They aren’t the most vocal guys, that’s not their personality. One thing you don’t want as a coach, you don’t want guys to try and be something that they are not. There are different styles of leadership. I was impressed with Keon the other night. For the first time, he got vocal. To me, that’s great. It doesn’t matter what year you are. This time of year, is where the real competitors come out and go. That’s why I still think we have a group of guys that want to win.”

On how he balances coaching guys hard and giving them confidence:
“We’re around them every day, we know them. We know them in ways that nobody else does. You try a little bit of everything. Sometimes you try to encourage them, sometimes when they need to be jolted. I’ve always believed the most important thing is to be honest and let them know it’s a battle for everybody, they’re not the only ones to go through it. Everybody struggles. I’ve seen it happen in all different sports. When you’re in sports long enough, you realize how quickly it can turn, either good or bad. The fact is, it just goes back you’ve got to put your work in every day and have to be diligent in understanding the fundamentals. It really comes down to understanding your role. In terms of coaches helping guys get through that, I think they can. I think more than anything, guys that I’ve had that have struggled, they are the ones who worked their way out of it. We have a great coaching staff. We’ve got our hands on these guys all the time to try to get them going. When you’re with these guys every single day, you can tell when they feel they have the confidence and when they don’t. If you feel like they’re doing everything they can do, yeah you encourage them. But if you feel like they aren’t doing everything they can and try to be positive with them, it’s not going to work. We all know what makes it work in sport. The way you get out of slumps, you work your way out of them, both mentally and physically.”

On his conversations with Fulkerson about going through senior day/next season and where he is in his decision making process:
“Again, I said earlier, that’s stuff that we talked about later on. I mean, they have options. Fulky’s got options. I mean, he could come back here, he could transfer to another school, he could choose to go the professional route. But I don’t think he’s thinking about that right now. I think John Fulkerson is so locked in because, like all of us, he wants to help us win. That’s all he cares about. Again, people have called me saying, ‘Well he hasn’t had the kind of year we thought he might have.’ Well, he knows that too. But he’s never made it about himself. If you sat down and talked to him and have a deep conversation with him, I don’t care if it would be me or anybody else, he’s going to say ‘Coach, all I want to do is win and whatever I can do to help this team win, that’s what I want to do.’ And that’s where I think his thought process is, that’s where I’d like to think everybody’s thought process is.”

On how tough this has been on Fulkerson:
“What I’d ask you is, how tough do you think it’s been on him? Because you guys know him. You know how much he cares. You know how much he loves this university. You know how much he loves his teammates. You know that it’s never, ever been about him ever. And, when you have high expectations and don’t live up to them as an individual or as a team, there’s disappointments. But, it’s not over until it’s over. And that’s why—again some people act like we’re going to write him out of the script. He is not going to be written out of the script, he’s not. Because he’s been too loyal, he’s worked too hard, and don’t think people aren’t watching when we handle this whole deal with a senior. I’ve been through it with seniors. I’ve been through it with really good players who’ve struggled. But one thing you don’t do—you always talk about never quitting, never giving up and I don’t think you can ever quit or ever give up on a player, ever. Especially when you have one that has been as loyal as John has been and has been as good a teammate as you could ever be around. But, you asked the question and deep down inside, you know it bothers him. He has to deal with it, he has to deal with you guys asking it, he has to deal with everybody talking about it. But I can tell you this: I don’t know if anybody’s handled it any better, because he’s had a tough time. But it’s not because of his want to or his willingness. You know, he’s dealt with some injury. His hand was hurt, really hurt, but he kept playing. He dealt with that early in the year. He got sick, he dealt with that. And so, he’s dealt with a lot. It hasn’t been a smooth year from a physical standpoint for John. But I can tell you, we’re not ever going to quit on him because he’s never going to quit on us.”

On what Florida is doing well at the moment after winning three straight games:
“They’re a different team than we played down there because the big fella is back. But they’re still the team—you know Mike does a terrific job. He’s going to run his sets, they’re going to end up with a lot of ball screens. That’s where they end up with the different things they run. Playing some zone, they’re going to show some pressure, they’re going to fall back and show a little 3-2 zone at times. You know, I go back and I’ve got a lot of respect for Mike and the way he runs his program. You go back and you watch the game, I mean, Jaden didn’t play in our game there. And they were down two good players and the other guys came in and did a great job. But, you can still take some things from it. And the biggest thing—I think I started out talking about it, the biggest thing—is we need to take care of the ball. We’ve got to take care of the ball and we’ve got to make some shots, there’s no doubt about that. But still when you score 49 points, I’m not sure what else you can say other than you’re not going to win a lot of games scoring 49 points.”

On how the coaching staff is still trying to create a chip on this team’s shoulder:
“You know, I don’t know about creating a chip on the guy’s shoulders. My deal is, I want to get guys playing at the highest level they can be playing. Individually, there are different ploys that you can try to get into motivating, and sometimes the coach and people talk to you guys, and you guys ask these types of questions—I am from the old school where you are going to get out of it what you put into it, and if we can get ourselves back to practicing at the level that I know we are capable of, we can get back to competing at the level that I know we can. The question is, why do we have those, because again we have guys that work. There are not many days here that our guys do not put the time in and effort in that we want, and it still gets back to the consistency, and it gets back to what can we count on every single night, and that is what we haven’t figured out. Think about it, we felt like we were rolling after the Kentucky game, and then Jaden goes down. We went to Florida, and I think we were 10-1 at the point in time. That was when we were starting to play Keon and Jaden all at once, Jaden is out of the game, and he goes through a period where he doesn’t play. We haven’t been able to create it and even though we have some older guys, we still are playing some younger guys that are understanding some things for the first time and the difficulty of how it is going to be every night. Going through every game is going to be different, but that is why I am excited about these guys, and we have told them that. Everything we want is still in front of us except for a regular-season championship, and we have a chance like anybody else if we can get it going the way that we want to and get it back almost like it is a new start for us. I look around college basketball and I see teams that are rolling and then they lose three in a row. That isn’t making excuses, that is just the kind of year that a lot of teams have had. We had it, and to be where they are right now with some of the things that we have dealt with—some that you guys know about and some that you don’t, and in some ways—I am proud of these guys because we have two young guys that have had to learn on the job with a lot less preseason and have two seniors with a guy that I know cares dearly has had a really tough year. But yet, I can only tell you that they are pulling for each other. I know that they know we believe in them. And the biggest thing maybe is that we have to get them believing in themselves again and if that is what it is, I don’t know. I just know there is a really fine line between winning and losing, and the way you do that is that you prepare yourself from a basketball fundamental standpoint to go out and give it your best effort do what your game plan is, and then you accept what the outcome is.

On this being the first time this season that Tennessee basketball has not appeared in the AP poll and who that affects the team:
“You know I think you guys would probably be surprised with how little college players sometimes watch college basketball. Are they aware of that? Yes, I think at some point and time, but the fact of the matter is, you think about it, we have been ranked all year up until last week which there are a lot of teams that would love to be able to say that. Now you ask me about rankings, where do I want to be ranked? I want to be ranked there at the end. That is the most important thing to me. I realize that rankings can get you good seeds and all that but still, I have coached teams that were playing well right now and didn’t end up so well, and teams that weren’t playing well and they ended up well. So, that is part of the whole season of your whole body of work. And I just like the fact that now I think about it; we have been ranked all year and now that we are not and it is a big story, I think that shows you how far our program has come. Do we expect to be one of the best teams in the country year-in and year-out? Absolutely. Do we have the same goals as everybody talks about the blue bloods? Absolutely. And there is no difference. I mean we have the same goals, and like those teams, we are still in a position where we can chase those goals.”

On Victor Bailey Jr.’s room for improvement on the defensive end:
“I think the biggest thing with VJ—because again, he’s committed, he wants to work at it, and he would be the first one to tell you that he knows he has a lot to learn about the game. What he has to do when he is not making shots is realize that he can affect the game in another way. He can’t let a missed shot or something on the offensive end put him in a state of mind where he is just standing around. Where he is not paying attention, where he is not taking care of detail. VJ Bailey shouldn’t get blown by, the way he has at times, and to me, that is when you have to have a short memory. Missing shots is a part of this game. Defensive lapses shouldn’t be a part of this game. There is no reason for that, and that is just a matter of being mentally locked in, and I will tell you that I think that is the biggest area that he has to improve on. He has improved a lot since he has been here, but that has got to be where he has to really get better when he is not making shots he has to affect the game in other ways.”

-UT Athletics