University of Tennessee Athletics
2001-02 Tennessee Basketball Outlook
July 31, 2001
Over the course of the past four seasons several things could be counted on at Tennessee. The Vols won 20 or more games in each of those four seasons. UT advanced to the NCAA Tournament at the end of each of those campaigns. And, Tony Harris, Isiah Victor and Charles Hathaway were staples in the Volunteer lineup.
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| Buzz Peterson was named the Vols' head coach April 4. |
This year, new head coach Buzz Peterson inherits a team that has lost 60 percent of its starting lineup from the season before. Those three players contributed nearly 45 percent of UT's scoring and 33 percent of the squad's rebounding.
However, Peterson does have a strong nucleus of eight letterwinners returning for the 2001-02 campaign. Although only two starters (Vincent Yarbrough and Jon Higgins) return, the Vols are strong on experience. Last season 10 players averaged at least 11 minutes per games in leading Tennessee to a 22-11 record on the season and another appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Yarbrough led the Vols in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.4) last season, while Higgins was the most accurate three-point shooter (48.6 percent) in the Southeastern Conference. Also returning is the exciting Ron Slay, who was second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.3 rpg) while cementing his reputation as one of the best sixth men in the nation.
"It's a tremendous help to have so many experienced guys coming back,"said Peterson, who is 105-50 in five years as a head coach. "But, at the same time, Harris, Victor and Hathaway were three big key components to the whole picture last year. That hurts to lose the experience they have. Within time we can overcome what we lost but it is difficult to replace three talented guys like that."
One of the things Peterson and his coaching staff would like to work on is for Higgins and Slay to become bigger scoring threats for the Vols. Last season Higgins averaged just over four shots per game and ranked fifth on the team with 6.5 points per game. Slay came off the bench to contribute 12.9 points per game.
"Higgins and Slay are coming from a role where they were the fourth or fifth man on the team as far as scoring," Peterson said. "Now, they have to come on as one of the top one or two. They will need to be go to guys. We need them to step up."
Yarbrough, Higgins and Slay, although all-star candidates, are still going to have to compete for their playing time.
"I've told everyone that I am coming in here wide open and no one is a starter for me, you are going to have to earn it," said Peterson, who played on North Carolina's 1982 national championship team. "They are going to earn it during the summer and fall by their work habits. I'll be there watching who is working the hardest. Of course results will pay off, I'll know who has worked on what. That will be easy to see when we get back into fall."
When practices begin Oct. 13 Peterson will get to see his first significant action with the Vols. Until that time he is limited to having conducted four limited workouts during the spring. Those workouts received a positive response from the entire team.
| "I've told everyone that I am coming in here wide open and no one is a starter for me, you are going to have to earn it," Buzz Peterson |
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"I've seen a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement from the players," Peterson said. "Believe me that this isn't something that can happen overnight, it takes time. I believe in the old philosophy that we have to work with each other. We really have to gel with each other. I've told each player that we are in this thing together-- we're in this to win, to become better citizens, better basketball players, better coaches. If they give us 100 percent effort all of the time, good things will happen."
Peterson prefers to play an up-tempo style if that best suits the team's personnel but will try to find the right style to fit his teams. When practices begin this fall, he will be able to have a better feel for what to expect of this year's squad.
"The way I want to play the game, I would love to press and get up and down the floor but I don't know if that is the best style for the 2001-02 Tennessee basketball team," he said. "We'll just have to see. Once we get some practice under our belts I'll have to make some adjustments from there. Hopefully we'll get the best philosophy, the best way this team can play and we'll get it instilled pretty quickly."
For Peterson, coaching is not something that is limited to the basketball court. The 38-year-old Asheville, N.C., native believes coaching means becoming a part of each player's life.
"I am more hands on--I like to be very involved," he said. "I am not a coach that likes to sit behind a desk with all of the paperwork. I love to be with the student-athletes interacting with them whether it is on the court, in the weight room or wherever. Just trying to help them develop their game to become better. I love to be out on the floor or watching a videotape and studying the game."
Peterson will have his hands full with a non-conference schedule that includes games against Louisville, Syracuse, Wisconsin, SMU, Memphis and West Virginia. Additionally, the Vols will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, to play in the Great Alaska Shootout. The eight-team tournament will be played Nov. 21-24 in Anchorage's Sullivan Arena and includes: Alaska-Anchorage, Gonzaga, Indiana Marquette, Oregon State, St. John's and Texas.
"It's a very challenging schedule, but I like that. Some of these tough non-conference games early will help us with the conference season. The road games -- at Wisconsin, at Louisville, at Memphis and at SMU -- those will be some stiff challenges. We have Syracuse and West Virginia at home so there are no nights off. The Great Alaska Shootout also has a very tough field. Once we get into league play there are no easy nights. We will have to face several teams ranked in the Top 25 over the course of the season. I am looking forward to it."
Peterson is no stranger to coaching in the Southeastern Conference. He spent three seasons as the associate head coach at Vanderbilt and has also had coaching stops at other area schools.
"I think it helps having been an assistant at Vanderbilt and being close to the league, keeping in touch," Peterson said. "Some of the most valuable experience was playing Mississippi State, Alabama and Memphis in the NIT when we were at Tulsa. Those games really helped out by getting to experience those kind of settings.
"I've been to some of these places and there are some tough environments in the league. There are some difficult places to play, there is never a night off. You have to make sure you take care of your homecourt, win those games and hope to sneak a couple on the road."
| Backcourt |
The Tennessee backcourt is a matter of extremes for first year head coach Buzz Peterson. On one hand he must fill one of the most demanding positions on the court following the graduation of one of the most prolific point guards in Vol history. On the other hand, the two-guard position has a two-year starter who has solidified himself as one of the steadiest players in the Southeastern Conference returning.
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| Jon Higgins |
Tony Harris, who became just the third player in Southeastern Conference history to score 1,500 career points and distribute 500 career assists, completed his eligibility last year to leave the starting point guard position vacant.
John Higgins, who has started 64 games at the No. 2 guard for Tennessee, returns for his junior season. As a sophomore last year he led the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.88) and three-point field goal percentage (55.6 percent) against league opponents.
"The most important thing with the backcourt is who can take the point guard spot," Peterson said. "Thaydeus Holden will compete for that spot. I feel comfortable with our players on the wing but we need someone at the point guard position.
"The point is very important in our offense. In transition we need for those guys to understand what we want at different situations during the game. We will need that position to apply a lot of pressure and get things going. That's just where I think we will have to spend a lot of time coaching and practicing."
Holden, a 6-foot, 180-pound transfer from Seward County Community College, should compete for the starting job at point guard. Last year he earned first team all-conference honors in the prestigious Jayhawk Conference after he finished second in the league scoring race with 22.2 points per game. Holden doesn't enter the season lacking Division I experience though. The Silsbee, Texas, native began his career at Lamar University in 1999-2000 where he led the Cardinals to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1983.
"Thaydeus is an exciting player who can do a lot of things," Peterson said. "Not only is he an outstanding scorer who can play at either guard position, but he also adds a lot of quickness to the defensive end of the floor."
While Higgins has seen some action at point guard in his first two seasons, this year he is expected to see most of his action at his more natural position on the wing.
"I would really like to keep Jon and Jenis Grindstaff away from the point because they can shoot the ball extremely well. I would love to see them on the wing with Vincent Yarbrough, Del Baker and Derek Stribling. Those are very good athletes on the wing, I feel very comfortable about that but we need someone at the point guard position.
Higgins, a 6-foot-3 native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, set a school record last season by making 48.6 percent (53-of-109) of his three-point attempts while averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
"I thought Jon shot the ball very well in our workouts last spring," Peterson said. "His footwork was very good, he got his feet underneath him and he came off screens the proper way. He is a disciplined young man. He averaged about four shots per game, I would like to see if we could get that up a little bit, double it if we have to."
Grindstaff, a 6-foot-2 senior from Spruce Pine, N.C., averaged 3.1 points per game last year while still trying to recover from a knee injury suffered during the 1999-2000 season opener. Grindstaff, who had won a starting job at UT before injuring his knee, did show signs of returning to his old form but struggled to find consistency. At 12th-ranked Syracuse he scored 11 points and six rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
"Jenis is still recovering from his knee injury and has really had to work hard getting it stronger and getting it back to where it was," Peterson said. "I remember seeing him back when he was in high school and he is just a very smart, heady basketball player who can shoot the ball very well. Hopefully he can get that knee back stronger."
Another player making his way back from injury this season is senior Del Baker. After recovering from a broken right foot at the end of the 1999-2000 season the 6-foot-5 native of Cleveland, Tenn., was having a solid fall before breaking his left foot just two weeks before the start of the 2000-01 campaign. After taking a medical redshirt last year, Baker returns as one of the best defenders on the Tennessee team.
"I look for big things out of Del," Peterson said. "I have been very pleased with his work ethic. He can really defend you because he is long and he is quick. I would like to see him work on some of his offensive skills to really become a threat for us on the offense end."
Newcomer Derek Stribling should add a lot of versatility to the Tennessee backcourt. The 6-foot-6 Tallahassee, Fla., native played both guard positions and small forward as a prep. He averaged 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists while earning first team all-state honors.
"Derek should have a bright future for us," Peterson said. "He is an athletic young player who will probably play on the wing."
| Frontcourt |
While the Vols suffer more losses (two) on the frontline, it also figures to be one of the strongest and deepest areas for Tennessee.
The graduation of power forward Isiah Victor and Charles Hathaway leaves two big holes to fill but behind them are several players who have been gathering experience over the last two seasons.
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| Vincent Yarbrough |
Victor, a second team NABC All-District 7 selection, finished his career 17th on Tennessee's career scoring lists with 1,304 career points. Hathaway, who was an established shot blocker, completed his eligibility with one of his best seasons as a Vol by averaging 5.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. His 133 career blocked shots rank sixth all-time at Tennessee.
The lone returning starter on the front line is small forward Vincent Yarbrough.
After leading the Vols in scoring (13.9 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg), steals (1.7 spg) and minutes (31.7 mpg) last year, Yarbrough opted to skip the NBA Draft and return for his senior season.
"Vincent is a talented young man and athletic," Peterson said. "He has a gift with his leaping ability, but there are some things he can work on. He has all the tools, but he can really help himself by coming back. I'm glad he is coming back because it also puts an emphasis on academics."
Yarbrough enters his final collegiate season ranked among the top 10 in four categories in the Tennessee record books and became the 35th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark last year. Also a threat on the boards, Yarbrough has gathered 628 career rebounds, including 212 on the offensive end of the court.
"Vincent is very talented with his offensive rebounding skills," Peterson said. "He just has a great knack for offensive rebounding. I think that is why it is so hard to shut him down night after night because he is going to get two or three taps like during a game."
Considered one of the best sixth men in the nation over the last two seasons, Ron Slay will make a push to join the starting lineup at the power forward position.
Coming off the bench last season, the 6-foot-8 Slay was a consensus third team All-SEC selection after ranking second on the team in scoring with 12.9 points and third in rebounding with 5.3 boards per game. The Nashville, Tenn., native was the first Vol off the bench in 21 of Tennessee's 33 games last season and averaged nearly 23 minutes per game.
"Ron Slay has so much enthusiasm that I just love to be around him," Peterson said. "I've had other coaches tell me that he is the kind of player that they would love to have on their ball club. They like the way he comes to play every day."
One of the most athletic players in the Southeastern Conference is 6-foot-10 junior forward Marcus Haislip. Despite averaging just 13 minutes per game last year, the Lewisburg, Tenn., native led the Vols and ranked second in the SEC with 51 blocks per game.
"Marcus Haislip is extremely gifted," Peterson said. "He is a outstanding leaper, has a quick first step and can shoot the three-pointer. He has a lot of things he can do, we just need to work with him so he can showcase these talents."
Sophomore Andy Ikeakor and junior Zach Turner provided added depth for the Vols off the bench last season. Ikeakor, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound banger from Houston, Texas, provided a strong inside presence when called upon, while Turner, a 6-foot-7 walk-on from Charlotte, N.C., was a consummate team player.
A trio of newcomers should help bolster the lineup. Brandon Crump, a 6-10 center from Klein, Texas, who sat out the 2000-01 campaign as a redshirt, along with Elgrace Wilborn, a 6-foot-8 forward from Springfield, Ohio, and Michael Collings, a 6-foot-6 forward from Commerce, Ga., should compete for playing time this season.
Crump, who averaged 15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks as a senior at Klein High School, established himself as a strong shot blocker in practices with the team last season.
"I think Brandon Crump has a lot of potential," Peterson said. "The down side is that he hasn't been out on the floor yet. But, once he gets the confidence, he'll be fine. One of the things I love about him is that he is such a disciplined young man."
Wilborn averaged 11.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 6.6 blocks as a senior at Springfield South High School last year. In high school he earned a reputation as one of the hardest working players in the nation.
"Hopefully, Elgrace Wilborn can come in and give us some help inside on the post also. He was a great shot blocker in high school who we need to help us out there."
Collins, who is attending Tennessee on a football scholarship, will join the basketball squad as a walk-on following football season.
