University of Tennessee Athletics
Buzz Peterson Pre-Season Quotes
October 12, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Coach Peterson | Coach Peterson | McFadgon | Asumnu | Watson | Wingate | Crump | Bradshaw
Oct. 12, 2004
"It's almost amazing to stand up here and begin thinking about the fourth year already. It's gone by very fast.
"As I look at it, this team really excites me, in the fact, I guess, that we have 85 or 86 percent of the scoring and rebounding returning. You look at some individuals who have done well here during their careers, like C.J. Watson with assists, Scooter McFadgon scoring last year and Brandon Crump being less than 40 points from having 1,000 career points. We haven't had many at Tennessee over 6-10. We've had quite some accomplishments from some individuals.
"I have named three guys tri-captains: Watson, McFadgon and Crump. We have gone through different types of meetings on leadership. The talent is there.
"Coaches always want a little bit better, always want perfection, but a lot of it depends on internal leadership from these guys. You have to have them pushing their teammates to excel on and off the floor. That's why we spent time with those three guys in my office, trying to get the max out of them.
"I go back and talk about that last possession last season, where those three guys touched the ball. That's something we have to learn from, that somebody has to take charge and not be afraid of mistakes. Go out on a limb and take that chance to achieve and help your team win.
"I'm excited about the people we have back. Andre Patterson has really worked hard from his year and has matured a lot as a person, especially off the floor. I'm looking for big things from him. We're all eager to see what Jordan Howell's going to do. He's worked extremely hard. He's had an ankle injury that's bothered him some and kept him out of some of our workouts. Jordan has good shooting skills and plays extremely hard.
"Chris Lofton comes from Kentucky where he was `Mr. Basketball.' We've had three, I believe, Allan Houston, Jermaine Brown and now Chris. You'll remember that Chris came here and I'll never forget he was holding his stomach. I was thinking he was homesick. Maysville, Kentucky, is a very small town and I was very concerned about him being homesick.
"Next thing I know he's in the hospital with his appendix about to erupt. They did surgery and the next two or three days he never saw his dorm room. He's had a good pre-season and is one of our strongest guys in the weight room. He must have been a pretty good football player to have his jersey retired. We're very excited about him.
"Elliott DeVoe, coach DeVoe's son, has been out there with the guys as has JaJuan Smith from McMinn County. With those guys and the guys we have back, I'm really excited about getting started Saturday with practice.
"We get tested early. When I got the job, the Maui tournament was already set. I felt like in the fourth year things would be going the way we want them, we'd have a lot of people back and we would be able to meet this challenge. It's a very strong field, but that's what we anticipated and that's what we want these guys to go up against."
