Bruce Pearl will admit he's surprised at how quickly he's been able to get Tennessee back to national prominence, but his real shock will come if the Vols can stay towards the top.

``We just wanted to put ourselves in a position to be relevant," Pearl said. ``No doubt it happened faster than we thought, but it was ready."

``It's easier to do what we've done than keep it going," he added. "The hard part comes now."

Pearl never thought he'd go up against the likes of Mike Krzyzewski in a recruiting battle. Especially heading into his third season in Knoxville.

But that's exactly what the Tennessee head coach is dealing with in his pursuit to land local standout Elliott Williams, one of the top uncommitted players in the senior class. He's also going up against another elite program, Kentucky, to try and land Chris Singleton.

``I'm going against Top 10 programs," Pearl said. "I'm not a top 10 coach. I'm rising."

Pearl is right, but he's second only to Roy Williams in getting to 300 wins.

The Vols have a legitimate chance to get to the Final Four this season with senior guards Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith - and key addition Tyler Smith on the wing. The big men, Wayne Chism and Duke Crews - have a year under their belt.

However, Pearl realizes he loses more than 200 trifectas after this season with the graduation of Lofton, Smith and Jordan Howell. That's why Williams, Singleton and guys like Kim English are so important.

``We need shooters," Pearl said.

BACKCOURT EXPERIENCE

I'm not sure anyone will have more experience in the backcourt than Florida State's Leonard Hamilton.

The trio of Jason Rich, Toney Douglas and Isaiah Swann have more than 250 games under their belt. However, the one thing that Hamilton and his staff have noticed this offseason is that they are finally comfortable enough with their own games that they have begun to show more leadership.

``They are maturing and you can see it in their body language and their interaction," Hamilton said.

The key will be how quickly the young frontcourt guys - specifically freshmen Solomon Alabi and Julian Vaughn - adjust to the college game.

``They're eager to learn and have outstanding potential," Hamilton said. "They're going to be fine."

Fine may not be enough if the Seminoles are to finally make a splash in the ACC and nationally. Hamilton's team has been on the outside of the NCAA tournament each of the last two years (barely).

Look for Hamilton to go with a rotation up front of four players - Alabi, Vaughn, junior Uche Echefu and sophomore Ryan Reid.

``Before January someone will break away from the pack," he said. "In the meantime we'll go with those two positions by committee."

RANDOM NOTES: Terrence Jennings, a well-traveled Sacramento native who recently de-committed from Maryland, left Mount Zion (N.C.) and is expected to land at Notre Dame Prep, according to sources close to the situation. The same sources told FOXSports.com that Louisville is in the mix to land the 6-foot-9 big man. ... Don't be surprised if the most well-attend workout in September comes Sunday afternoon at St. Mark's (Mass.). That's the home of skilled 6-foot-9 junior Erik Murphy (the son of former NBA player and BC standout Jay Murphy). It won't be out of the question to expect Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Billy Donovan, Dave Leitao, Tom Crean, John Beilein, Jim Calhoun, Al Skinner and Paul Hewitt all to be in attendance since Murphy was hurt and didn't play in July and hasn't worked out for anyone yet in September. St. Mark's also has one of the fastest rising sophomores in 6-foot-8 Nate Lubick.