Dante Harvey hobbled in and out of huddles with a bulky brace on his right knee. Chris Early moved with ease, but had a protective cast on his right hand.
So when University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach John Shulman needed a substitute to play power forward, he turned to a walk-on.
Freshman Sam Watson from Farragut High School entered for Ridge McKeither.
Watson and fellow walk-ons Drew Baker and Dontay Hampton will play more than most walk-ons on any team in the country during November while four forwards try to heal.
"They're going to have to play -- absolutely have to," Shulman said Saturday night after the Mocs dispatched Tennessee Wesleyan 103-60 in an exhibition.
"They don't have a choice," Shulman said. "We don't have a choice. They have to play."
There's no treating them with kid gloves or leaving most of the practice for the starters and scholarship reserves.
These guys need their repetitions too. Practice is important for them. They need to know the plays, Shulman's intricate defenses and be able to execute against the likes of East Tennessee State, Richmond and Missouri in the coming weeks.
"We do the same things all of the bigs do and we go hard at each other," said Watson who had seven points and six rebounds in 19 minutes against the Bulldogs. "I didn't expect to have this big of a role early on. Hopefully I can give good minutes and help us win games."
The three walk-ons played well on Saturday considering it was their debut as college athletes, but there's also plenty of room for improvement.
Hampton played better than the other point guards in Shulman's opinion, which may allow him to play Jasper Williams more as a two-guard or small forward in certain situations.
Hampton, a redshirt freshman from CSAS, had four assists, one turnover, one steal and two points in 16 minutes.
"He ran his team, he didn't turn it over, and I liked what he did out there," Shulman said. "He was better than our No. 1 point guard (Keegan Bell)."
Baker grabbed five rebounds and scored three points in his 11 minutes. He began the year as manager but impressed the coaching staff when he played dummy roles during workouts.
"They could make a movie about Drew going from manager to player to playing a role," Shulman said. "He looked scared half to death. But that's a pretty good game for young Drew."
The Mocs will need more of them in the coming weeks.
David Uchiyama is a sports writer at the Chattanooga Times Free Press who began his tenure here in May 2001. His primary beats are UTC athletics — specifically men’s basketball and athletic department administration — and golf, which includes coverage from the PGA Tour to youth events. He also covers other high school sports, outdoor adventures, and contributes to other sections of the newspaper when necessary. David grew up in Salinas, Calif., and began working ...
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