Tennessee: Vols get lift from Prince

KNOXVILLE — Two injured shoulders and two injured ankles haven’t dampened J.P. Prince’s spirits.

Several weeks in a hospital following a medically induced coma two years ago has helped the University of Tennessee junior basketball player find perspective the past several months, when more typical aches and pains have prevented him from playing at full speed.

Minutes after returning from a three-game absence Monday night, this time after a lower-leg injury, Prince laughingly dismissed questions about his state of mind.

“I’ve been through a lot worse than this,” the quirky 6-foot-7 left-hander said. “I’ve been in a hospital bed, and this is nothing compared to that.

“My dad says, ‘Are you injured, or are you hurt? If you’re hurt, just go out there and play.’ So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl has to pause while recalling Prince’s list of ailments the past two seasons. Teammates jokingly moan, groan and limp sometimes when he’s around. Fans in Thompson-Boling Arena gasp every time he hits the floor.

“You never know what’s it going to be,” Prince said earlier this season. “But it seems like it’s always something.”

Prince delayed shoulder surgery last season to finish the team’s run to a second consecutive NCAA Sweet 16, but the spring surgery cost him most of the Vols’ summer conditioning program. He recovered in time for part a preseason practice, where he promptly suffered a similar though lesser injury to the other shoulder.

He then turned his ankle and sprained his foot in a Nov. 21 victory at Mississippi State, but he fought back to play three games in four days the next week.

Lastly — at least to this point — Prince then stepped off the elevated court one day before UT’s Dec. 13 loss at Temple and sprained his other ankle.

“J.P. has courageously fought through injuries,” Pearl said. “If he’s not back at 100 percent, it’s really just not that ankle that’s not back. It’s the cumulative effect of what his body’s gone through.”

And he was affected in Monday’s game.

“He was 75 percent ready and 50 percent effective compared to the way he can play,” Pearl assessed, “but it was good to have him back.”

Prince played 14 minutes in UT’s 89-62 win over Louisiana-Lafayette, collecting eight points on 4-for-6 shooting. He was rusty, but his slick style emerged a few times — like midway through the second half, when he sneaked around the backside, stripped the ball from a Ragin’ Cajun and glided downcourt for a transition slam to give the Vols a 64-35 lead.

“I took two weeks off and didn’t run or really even touch a basketball, because they didn’t want me putting any stress on my ankles,” Prince said. “When we got back after (Christmas) break, that was my first time really running up and down the court a little bit.

“So yeah, I was rusty. I hadn’t been out there with my teammates in a little while, and Coach Pearl didn’t want to push it too hard, because he knew I didn’t have my full athleticism or that quick burst that I usually have. But it was nice to get some minutes out there and get warm.”

Prince’s setbacks might prevent him from recapturing the form that earned him the honor of Southeastern Conference sixth man of the year last season.

But as Pearl said, Prince “wasn’t 100 percent then, either.”

“Even at 75 percent, I know mentally I can outsmart opponents on the court by making backdoor cuts, knowing where to leak out on the break and be effective and all of that,” Prince said. “My defense wasn’t where I wanted it to be (Monday), or even my overall performance, I wasn’t really happy with it, but I’m just trying to get back and be even more ready for Kansas.

“I just don’t want to let my teammates down any more. The loss at Temple, I see that kind of as my fault, because I got hurt the night before the game, and you don’t really plan for that.”

Vols junior guard Josh Tabb, a close friend of Prince who gives him as much guff as anyone, said the team was relieved to have the lean lefty back before Saturday’s game against the defending national champion Jayhawks.

“I know it’s been rough on him,” Tabb said. “But he’s kept positive about it, and he’s been getting treatment like three of four times every day trying to get back.

“J.P. is long. He can defend. He can score. He can do a lot for this team, so it’s just really good to have him back on the court with us.”