University of Tennessee Athletics
BALANCING ACT
December 15, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2006
By Austin Ward, UT Sports Information
It might best be described as a balancing act.
Marques Johnson is still learning how to juggle.
Classes and practice, papers and playbooks, life as a freshman at Tennessee isn't always easy -- especially during finals week.
"It's just hard to keep up with your basketball game this time of year," Johnson said. "The main thing is that we're still practicing, so you can kind of balance it out as much as you can with studying. You just have to sacrifice some of your free time, lounging around with your friends and things like that, because there's so much to do."
There are the exams, of course, but those will also be followed by another assessment on Saturday night at the Thompson-Boling testing facility when Western Kentucky -- yet another potential NCAA Tournament team -- comes to Knoxville to take on the Vols.
"It's just that time of year," Johnson said. "We're getting into the thick part of our schedule and playing some big-time teams, but after this week everybody will be a little more excited since we won't have to worry about exams.
"It's a very big time. It can stress you out and you get headaches all the time. It's just hard."
It's also all part of the learning process for the former Snider High School standout from Fort Wayne, Ind.
While Johnson hasn't played in any of the Vols' last four games, he showed flashes during the preseason and with a solid four-assist, zero-turnover performance in the season-opening win over Middle Tennessee of the dangerous threat he could become for UT.
"The hard thing for Marques is that he's the only freshman that's not in our regular rotation," coach Bruce Pearl said. "He was starting at point guard earlier in the season, but it's very hard to go from a position where you're hoping to run a team to where right now you're not playing.
"He's practicing well, and he's got to stay ready right now in case we have an injury or situation comes up. The point guards, Ramar Smith and Jordan Howell, are just playing better. Even without Marques doing anything wrong, the gap grows, so he's just got to stay positive, stay focused and stay ready."
And keep studying.
And working on his defense.
And going to class and practice.
"When Marques improves defensively and continues to grow physically, I think he's got a lot of the offensive firepower that you need to be a point guard,' Pearl said.
"I think first semester your freshman year is probably the toughest time. The stress of finals, we all experience it.
"But our guys also experience the stress of getting to the foul line, and there's great pressure on our guys to perform both in the classroom and on the court."
