VOLUNTEER MEN'S HOOPS FUTURE IS BIG ORANGE BRIGHT AND PEARLY WHITE
By John Mark Hancock
Monday, May 1, 2006
Copyrighted - All Rights Reserved 

KNOXVILLE - Now that this fairytale men's basketball season has come to a close for the Tennessee Volunteers, it's time to take stock of where the program is and where it is going. This was certainly a group of over-achievers, and by any measure, it has to be viewed as an outstanding team in UT hoops history. 

Coach Bruce Pearl took a team with less talent than it had last season and molded it into a group that was able to play above their abilities both individually and as a group. He rightfully was named National Coach of the Year for taking a team that had been picked next to last in its division to the SEC East Title, and to within one game of the school's second Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

Pearl's full-court pressing defense and up-tempo offense has never been run before with less than eight or nine players in the rotation. This group of Vol hoopsters basically made it work with only seven people playing any significant minutes. 

A great deal of help is on the way for the 2006-07 edition of the UT men's team. Pearl and his stellar staff have recruited the first Top 10 recruiting class in the history of the program. Very much needed is some beef inside, and that will be found in Duke Crews and Wayne Chism, to go along with guards Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb. The late addition of point guard Ramar Smith has some people mentioning this group in the same breath as Michigan's "Fab Five" of several years ago that won the National Championship, and it has caused this class to be ranked as high as #3 nationally.

Remember that you heard it here first that both Steven Pearl, the coach's oldest son, and Tony White, Jr., the son of former UT star guard Tony White, both All-State players and now at West and Bearden High Schools in Knoxville, respectively, with become Tennessee Vols. Expect both to walk on at UT, even though they will both get scholarship offers elsewhere. Steven has been working out on his own at UT already and attended most every Vol practice after his team was eliminated in the state high school playoffs. White, a runnerup for AAA Mr. Basketball in Tennessee, will go the prep school route first in Virginia to bulk up. 

Of course, this also means that Bruce Pearl will in all likelihood remain in Big Orange Country for the next several years. This will squelch all of the talk that he is going elsewhere and will establish a solid base for recruiting. He has never liked moving around as a coach and appears to be very happy and satisfied in Knoxville.

Look for the Big Orange to put together a long string of NCAA Tournament runs under Pearl. Once he gets a few recruiting classes under his belt and gets the talent he desires to run his system, UT will be a force to be contended with for many seasons to come.

UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton happily told the Tennessee Board of Trustees this past month that revenue from men's basketball was up nearly a million dollars over last season. There is still plenty of upside in the areas of concessions, especially souvenirs, as men's basketball apparel has been scarce up to now. A UT men's basketball highlights video and DVD was produced for the first time in decades. 

A new basketball practice facility to be built just west of UT's arena, along with the renovation of the north sideline upperdeck into luxury box suites, are just two of the exciting things that will be happening on campus. The program definitely has momentum and is on the move.

The Big Orange Tipoff Club, under the leadership of President Lloyd Richardson, former UT Lettermen's Club President and Captain of the 1972 Vols under legendary Coach Ray Mears, had an outstanding inaugural season, drawing overflow crowds to their gameday midweek luncheons at Calhoun's on the River in Downtown Knoxville, just across Neyland Drive from the campus. Expect that group to continue to grow and prosper as it brings in entertaining speakers and contributes to local charities. Plans are in the works to make the club the premier sports booster organization in the South. 

A book on the Ray Mears years in Big Orange Country, titled "Big Orange Memories", co-authored by yours truly and TriCitiesSports.com Publisher Ron Bliss, is set to roll off the press this year. That will certainly revitalize interest in honoring Coach Mears, who had a banner with his name on it permanently raised in the arena that he was responsible for building at the season finale game this year.   

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RANKING TENNESSEE'S 2006 FOOTBALL OPPONENTS
By John Mark Hancock
Copyrighted - All Rights Reserved
Thursday, April 27, 2006

Thank goodness Tennessee doesn't have to play the Auburn Tigers at home or on the road this season. They, along with the other Tigers in the league, LSU, will definitely be the class of the SEC West, and Vol fans hope they can get both of them knocked off before the SEC Title game if UT makes it that far.

There is absolutely no question that the top team on Tennessee's 2006 schedule, as it is most years lately, is Florida. Fortunately, they get the Gators at home. The Volunteers owe them since they played well enough to beat them in Gainesville last year. If UT can whip them, it stands an excellent chance of having a great season and making it to a BCS bowl for the first time since 1999. Anything is possible, I suppose.

Here is an educated assessment of the top opponents Tennessee faces in in 2006 in terms of their raw strength:

1. Florida - If Urban Meyer goes 2-0 over Phillip Fulmer, that will be a tragedy for UT's program.

2. LSU - Tigers will be out for revenge after UT beating them and knocking them out of national title contention with a team that wound up with a losing record. Les Miles will really have something to prove in Knoxville. It will be the biggest game of his career.

3. California - Toughest home opener in Fulmer's tenure and one of the toughest home openers in UT football history. Cal is every bit as good as Notre Dame was last year, and we all know how that one turned out.

4. Georgia- Vols dominated the Dawgs in Athens last time after getting waxed by Auburn the week before, but this will be their toughest road game of the year by far.

5. Alabama - They are included only due to the intense rivalry and the fact that they beat UT last year, but the Big Orange will handle them in Knoxville.

None of the other seven teams are really good enough on paper to stay with UT on the field. With improved coaching and more experience in general, the Vols ought to whip, in order as they come, Air Force, Marshall, Memphis, South Carolina, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky.

The Gamecocks and the Hawgs, of course, will be Top 50 teams nationally, but neither is Top 25 material. The problem is UT has to play both of them away from home, and anything can happen on the road in the SEC. The other five are very poor opponents. If Tennessee can't beat all of them easily, they are really in trouble.

Vanderbilt without Jay Cutler and Memphis without DeAngelo Williams simply aren't even on the radar screen nationally. Kentucky's talent isn't improved and no one believes Randy Sanders is going to save them. Marshall, which has no offense, and Air Force, which has no defense, are even worse.

Now, let's look at what is realistic, considering the way things will most likely develop:

UT will probably lose the opener to Cal and the SEC opener to Florida. The Vols traditionally start slowly and finish strong, and there is no reason to see this season as any exception. If they lose two out of the first three, however, there will be a sharp dropoff in attendance the rest of the year.

By the time they go to Georgia, they will, however, have a winning record, 3-2. Look for them to lose in Athens and then bounce back to beat Bama and the ghosts of Bear Bryant and Logan Young in Knoxville. That should be followed by another win in Columbia, as Fulmer will pay back Steve Spurrier for his evil upset win last season.

UT will then be 5-3 going into the LSU game. That one will be the key as to what happens the rest of the way. If the Vols can beat the Tigers and Fulmer can go 2-0 over Miles, they stand a great chance of running the table and finishing 9-3, getting a major bowl bid, and with a win there, go 10-3, a very respectable improvement over last year's unmitigated disaster.

If, however, they lose to LSU, they will most likely also lose at Arkansas, meaning that a 7-5 finish will yield them a very minor bowl bid. Will that be enough to save Fulmer's job if that scenario pans out? An embarrassing bowl loss would end the year at 7-6. UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton would have virtually no choice but to make a change in that case, and would have the vast majority of the Big Orange Nation behind him if he did.

Tennessee football thus is certainly at a crossroads. Everyone on The Hill seems to realize the urgency of the situation in terms of showing vast improvement over last year. The schedule isn't all that daunting, given the talent at hand. As always, the key will be in how well the coaches are able to get the most out of it.

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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE THE BEST IN MEN'S BASKETBALL

By John Mark Hancock
Copyrighted - All Rights Reserved
Thursday, March 30, 2006

The Southeastern Conference has long been known as a football league. It has been acknowledged leader in women's basketball for decades. Now the nation is finding out that men's basketball is something the SEC should be recognized for just as much, too.

The NCAA Final Four in men's basketball contains two of the six SEC teams that were selected for this year's March Madness. The Florida Gators, who won the SEC Tournament, and the LSU Tigers, who won the SEC regular season championship, are both still alive in the semifinals, and could face each other for the National Championship this coming week.

There is no question that despite the doubters that the Southeastern Conference is the best in men's basketball. It could very well be an all-SEC NCAA Final for the men's basketball National Championship this weekend between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators, both of whom have been previous Final Four participants.

The men's tournament is also a glaring example of what might have been for the UT men's team. Had the #2 seed Vols been able to have beaten Wichita State, a #7 seed, in Greensboro, they would have only had to have beaten this year's Cinderella team, the #11 seed George Mason Patriots, to have advanced to the Regional Final. The #1 seed in that Washington, DC, Region, Connecticut, had been barely winning most of its games in the NCAA Tournament all along and became the last top seed to finally fall on Sunday. Tennessee's men's team might have made it to the Final Four for the first time in history.

One of the best indications of just how tough the Southeastern Conference is in men's basketball is the fact that there were different teams that won the regular season and tournament championships. Tennessee's men's team, for instance, won the SEC Eastern Division Championship by two full games over Florida, beating the Gators twice, both in Knoxville and Gainesville. Yet, the Vols were unable to win either the SEC regular season title overall or the tournament championship, despite the fact that Coach Bruce Pearl led the team to overachieve based upon the talent at hand.

Another indication of just how competitive the SEC has become in basketball is the fact that LSU's John Brady was named SEC Coach of the Year by ESPN, but Pearl was named SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press. Pearl has even been named National Coach of the Year by CBS and The Sporting News and is a nominee for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award, while Brady isn't even one of the nominees.

Moreover, South Carolina is defending its NIT Championship Title tonight in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Even though the Gamecocks weren't invited to the NCAA Tournament, they have proven that they probably should have been, and the fact that they may become only the second team in men's basketball history to win back-to-back NIT titles is another indication of just how strong SEC men's basketball has become.

There were as many as seven SEC teams that were ranked at one time or another during this season in the Top 25 nationally. Many were ranked in the Top 10. Tennessee achieved one of its highest rankings in men's basketball in history by cracking the Top 10 itself. The Volunteers were ranked as high as #2 nationally in the RPI, which is why they deserved and got their #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

 

GREENSBORO DOES IT RIGHT!

Sunday, March 19, 2006

By John Mark Hancock

Copyrighted - All Rights Reserved

GREENSBORO - I've been to a lot of basketball venues in the past 40 years, but the renovated Greensboro Coliseum may be the best one I've ever visited. The people who put on the NCAA First and Second Round Tournament games there over the weekend really have a model that most other places should emulate.

From the time I got to the imposing edifice near Downtown Greensboro, I was greeted with respect and courtesy. Everyone I encountered, from the parking attendants to the custodians to the gatekeepers to the ushers were all polite and friendly, unlike many places where they can be gruff and disrespectful of fans. They had kiosks and booths labeled "Guest Services" with cheerful people manning them.

The facility itself is one to be envious of. Its capacity is well over 22,000, and the seats in it are all great, no matter where you are. The concourses are wide and inviting, with varied concessions and a festive atmosphere, including memorabilia from past ACC Tournaments. You can readily see why that league has its conference tournament here regularly.

One great feature is the Tournament Club, which provides patrons with a catered buffet meal between games in the attached convention center. There are giant screen TV's to keep up with all of the action all over the place, including a huge billboard-size screen outside broadcasting the game to those who couldn't get tickets. There were tents serving refreshments in a carnival-like setting in which fans could picnic and party.

Tailgaters could be seen all over the arena grounds between sessions. The atmosphere was much like you see at UT football games. There was electricity in the air.

Of course, for a Tennessee basketball fan, it was disappointing that their team wasn't able to win both games over the weekend and advance to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in school history. However, this was an outstanding team that overachieved, and it was good to see that in UT athletics. There was a large contingent of Vol fans who came out, many who were native Carolinians who are UT alumni.

The fact that there is an affinity between Tennesseans and North Carolinians, with Tennessee having been a part of North Carolina at one time and with many of the citizens of both states having kinfolks on both sides of the mountain, didn't hurt, either. The Great Smoky Mountains that separate the two states actually draw them closer together, as the Piedmont region of North Carolina where Greensboro is located is much like the East Tennessee foothills where Knoxville, the Capital of Big Orange Country, is found.

It was nice to spend some time at my condo high atop Beech Mountain, which at 5,500' elevation is the highest resort east of Denver, less than a couple of hours west of Greensboro, over the weekend, and to co-host "The Sports Page" on WXIT Radio 1200 AM in Boone/Blowing Rock with my old friend Jeff Fancher, a former UT basketball manager in the Ernie and Bernie Show hoops golden years in the 1970's. That show is now heard in a 12-county area of Western North Carolina, Upper East Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia, and is the premier sports talk show in the entire region. Jeff is now an NCAA basketball referee and is known as "Jeff the Ref" on the air, and it was nice to hear his prospective on this year's edition of "The Big Dance." 

I also got the opportunity to visit with Big Orange Tipoff Club Chaplain Rev. Dr. Arnold Lovell, Senior Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, and his family, who graciously hosted me during this tournament. Dr. Lovell is a rare treasure, a native of the Greensboro area, along with his wife, Emily, and they had a ball returning to their home state and to mix and mingle with the players' families at the team hotel. They are getting some much-needed rest at their own condo at Myrtle Beach for a few days.

Yours truly won't get to follow through on my plans to ride the Amtrak from the Carolinas to Washington, DC, to see the Volunteers face the Tar Heels, but the NCAA experience here is one that all basketball fans should experience for themselves. Something tells me that with Bruce Pearl being under contract as the Vol coach for several more seasons, there will be a lot of opportunities like this in years to come.

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NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Volunteers showed they were far from out of gas today as they made one of the most miraculous comebacks in Big Orange basketball history, overcoming a 16-point deficit to beat the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gym in Nashville, beating the home team 68-59. The 25-point turnaround left the VU faithful stunned as they silently filed out down the stretch.

After having been held to only 21 points in the first half, the Vols outscored Vandy 47-22 down the stretch to post a breathtaking win that left Commodore fans scratching their heads as they went home. UT's win over their bitter cross-state rival stuck a dagger into the heart of VU's attempt to become the 7th SEC team in the NCAA tournament.

Coach Bruce Pearl had his team conditioned and ready to wear down the homestanding team and left the floor victorious to the cheers of thousands of UT fans who came out in force to cheer on their team. The win stopped a slide in which the Vols had lost two straight games at home and three of their last four, and gave them new life and momentum going into the SEC Tournament that will be played across town in Nashville's Gaylord Arena next weekend.

It was a bright sunny day on the Vanderbilt campus. The Big Orange of Tennessee could be seen throughout Memorial Gym in every section of the antiquated facility, including Big Orange Tipoff Club Chairman Charlie Morgan and Public Relations Director Mark Hancock, wearing their signature crested Big Orange blazers, who made the trip along with hundreds of others from Knoxville and East Tennessee. The cheers were as loud when the Volunteers scored as they were when Vandy did so.

Coach Pearl was wearing his own Big Orange blazer again for the 4th time this season that was made famous by legendary Tennessee Head Coach Ray Mears four decades ago. Mears was honored with a banner permanently unfurled in UT's arena in his honor at the Kentucky game in Knoxville Wednesday night. Pearl was lustily booed by Vandy fans when he entered the gym, just as Mears was so many times in his career.

"They booed me when I came out to start the game," Pearl said. "That's great! Coach Mears has got to be so proud that we won and that they hate me already. That's wonderful! I wear the blazer in honor of the rivalry between UT and Vandy. Don't you know these Vanderbilt people are really upset seeing it now?"

As the game's star, Chris Lofton said after the game, "This was a great confidence booster for our team. Regardless of how much this team is down, we're never going to give up and stop fighting the fight and taking it to the other team."

Frank Lofton of Maysville, Kentucky, Chris' Dad, was seeing his third away game of this season, having been to the Alabama and Kentucky games in Tuscaloosa and Lexington, before making the 5 1/2 hour trek to Nashville. In an exclusive interview with me outside the locker room, Frank said. " What impressed me the most was how we got after it on defense, started making steals, and never gave up. We took the lead at 46-45, and then they went back up on us, but we never gave up and kept on fighting, and came out with another win, which is big going into the SEC Tournament.

"Chris has come so far in the development of his game since he has come to UT. It's been huge how much overall he has improved," said Lofton. "I credit that to hard work, and a lot of people don't like to hear this, but you have to give God a lot of credit, too."

Vanderbilt jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, with their leading scorer, sophomore guard Shan Foster scoring half of VU's points on two 3-pointers, as Tennessee was unsuccessful in trying to work the ball into the paint to center Major Wingate. Tennessee went to work on defense and it became a struggle for either to team to score for the balance of the first half.

Just following the last media timeout of the half, Vandy only led 23-17, and the Vols missed several scoring opportunities that would have narrowed the margin even more. The Commodores went stone cold from the field for a large portion of the first half. However, the Vols shot only 28% in the first stanza and were only 1-of-9 from the 3-point arc.

Tennessee fell further behind as the second half started, by as much as 16 points, but was able to trim Vandy's margin down to 39-33 with 13 minutes to go in the game. Coach Bruce Pearl showed increasing frustration with the officiating, as crew chief Tony Greene, who was also the SEC official in charge in Knoxville Wednesday night in the loss to Kentucky, repeatedly made calls in the Commodores' favor.

Only one foul was called on Vanderbilt in the first 8 minutes of the second half. In the game at Knoxville, 23 fouls were called on Vandy, but the Vols barely made it to the free throw line in this one for the entire game.

UT battled back to make it 44-39 after a steal by C.J. Watson, who took it all the way to the basket, then Andre Patterson made another steal that was converted into a 3-point basket from the corner by JaJuan Smith, making it a 2-point game at 44-42 with 9 minutes to go in the game. That was followed by a bucket by Chris Lofton to knot the score at 44-44, the first time the Vols had been even with the Commodores since the outset.

Tennessee then took the lead for the first time at 46-45 with 7:30 to go with another basket which Lofton drove all the way to the hole. Four minutes later another driving basket by Lofton after he stole the ball tied the score again at 54-54.

At that point, during the last media timeout of the game, Pearl went all the way out to halfcourt and sent Dane Bradshaw all the way to the other end of the floor to speak to the officiating crew. Vandy was given a timeout while juggling the ball as they went out of bounds, to the consternation of Pearl, who again went all the way to halfcourt to protest.

Bradshaw hit his first 3-pointer of the game coming out of that timeout, giving UT its biggest lead at 59-55, but that was only the beginning, as the Vols outscored Vandy 12-3 to close out the game. Lofton hit a key 3-pointer, his 19th point of the game in leading UT, to put the Vols up 62-57 with a minute to go, followed by Moore's airball from behind the arc, giving Tennessee the ball and a 5-point lead, the largest they had enjoyed.

C.J. Watson put the Volunteers up 64-57 with 2 free throws and after another Vandy miss, Lofton followed with 2 more free tosses to make it a 66-57 game. Vanderbilt promptly threw the ball away out of bounds, leading to a final UT bucket that put them up 68-57, their biggest margin of the day just before the end of the game.