Admiral Schofield looks like a linebacker on the basketball court; in Friday night’s 88-53 season-opening win over Presbyterian, he played like one, barreling with reckless abandon over, around and through Blue Hose.
John Fulkerson’s slam dunks (and even missed tomahawk) were thrown down with a little more anger. Ahead by what seemed like 100 in the first half, coach Rick Barnes blazed a hole through the official in a fiery conversation.
Get ready for the season, Tennessee fans. It may be a fun one.
Though you can’t read too much into a win like this one over a horrible team that went 5-27 a year ago and may actually be worse this season, there are plenty of reasons for excitement. Perhaps the biggest is the fact that UT was picked 13th out of 14 SEC teams in the preseason picks.
That couldn’t have sat well. At all.
“We definitely play hard and with a chip on our shoulder,” Fulkerson said, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel‘s Dan Fleser, “but not because of where we’re picked. We want to set a standard.”
If this Tennessee team is No. 13 out of 14 league institutions, I’ll fit into size 32 blue jeans. If that’s the case, Grant Williams is 6’10”. If UT is that bad, I’ll eat the team’s sneakers. That’s just crazy.
The Vols have everything you could want in what looks like the first year Barnes’ vision of Tennessee’s program is taking shape. This team is big, long, lanky and athletic. Though UT won’t be mistaken for Kentucky out there, they can go 6’11”, 6’10”, 6’9″, 6’7″ if they want. Kyle Alexander has added bulk, and Williams has worked on his athleticism. Fulkerson is healthy and playing hard, fast and relentlessly when he’s on the court. The Vols can go big and physical, and freshmen Derrick Walker and Zach Kent played some important minutes in the post.
They also can go quick and guard-oriented. Jordan Bowden was feeling it Friday night, getting in a nice groove shooting. The Vols have other shooters, too, and that was without Lamonte Turner playing a huge role and taking just two shots. Jordan Bone only had nine, and you know those two kids will play bigger offensive occupations for UT this season. Chris Darrington is a smooth player who will score once he gets his ankle right, and James Daniel — the Howard University transfer who led the nation with more than 27 points per game two years ago — took a single shot.
Finally, the Vols have two dependable big swingmen who look dependable. Everybody knows what to expect from Williams, who is 6’7″, but plays more like 6’9″. The super sophomore is a second-team All-SEC player, and he had a quiet 14 points and seven rebounds against the Blue Hose.
Then there’s Schofield. Early last season, he was noticeably absent. Perhaps he got in Barnes’ doghouse, but he wasn’t the player everybody expected he’d become after an impressive freshman season. As the season progressed, he turned into one of the best sixth men in the SEC and wound up the team’s third-leading scorer in SEC play.
On Friday, he looked like the unequivocal team leader who could become the best scorer. Williams is the best all-around player, but it’s obvious Schofield worked on his shot in the offseason. Given his size and athleticism, he can play on both ends of the court. Against Presbyterian, he poured in 22 points in 20 minutes.
The Vols will have plenty of ups and downs this year; they’ve got too much youth not to. But they are talented and can match up well with whatever lineup they play against this season. If they can find a couple of consistent perimeter scorers (Bowden looked like he’d be one, for one night at least) it could be a big year.
This team may not make the NCAA tournament, but it’s a whole lot closer to that than the 13th-ranked team in the SEC, I’ll guarantee that. Just sit back, support this team and watch them grow.
Where they wind up may surprise us all.
88-53 Presbyterian Blue Hose