Mocs resume basketball rivalry with ETSU

Sophomore Ricky Taylor grabbed lunch in the cafeteria at the University Center on Monday.

A little old lady pulled him aside.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Taylor said she asked. "We don't like ETSU, you know."

Startled at first, Taylor quickly remembered whom he and his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball teammates will be facing tonight at 7 in McKenzie Arena -- an old rival.

"Coach (John) Shulman gave us a little history," Taylor said. "ETSU and Chattanooga couldn't stand each other -- they hated each other -- and he talked about how big of a game it is.

"I told one of my church members that we're playing ETSU, and their eyes got big, so that was evidence for me that this is something big."

The rivalry between ETSU and UTC has simmered on the court from heated and hated to friendly yet fierce since its heyday in the early 1990s. It's cooled somewhat since the Bucs departed the Southern Conference after the 2005 season.

"These guys don't quite understand, and East Tennessee kids don't understand because they don't remember Keith Nelson, Mister (Keith) Jennings, Tim Brooks, Marty Story, Brandon Born, Shane Neal," Shulman said, mentioning players from both programs. "But our fans do. Coaches do. And their fans do. So that's why it's a great rivalry."

It's also a personal game for Shulman, who spent 29 years of his life in Johnson City and six years on the ETSU coaching staff under Alan LeForce.

"When my parents got divorced, I lived with my mom a half-mile from campus," said Shulman, who married ETSU women's basketball star Amy Engle, the 1996 SoCon player of the year. "To win the North Division at ETSU (in 2005), I exorcised all demons at that time.

"I don't have anything to prove, but it's still personal because I spent 29 years there."

Shulman began talking about this game in the locker room after UTC dismantled Virginia Intermont 107-62 on Friday.

"Being here for the last three years, I've seen it from the bench," UTC center Jeremy Saffore said. "Now I'm ready to experience it on the floor. I've seen tough, hard-nosed players that go after you on the court, both on offense and defense."

The programs have met 73 times since the 1961-62 season, which for UTC is more than any other opponent. The Mocs lead the series 41-32, including an 82-70 win in Johnson City last year.

Both current coaches expect the series to continue for at least the next few years, either with home-and-home series or with Tennessee Tech involved.

"We're pretty close to organizing a deal with ETSU and Tennessee Tech and doing a three-way deal for the next few years," Shulman said. "We would go to Tech and ETSU would come here, for example, so everybody gets a home game and road game. They're games we need to play."

ETSU coach Murray Bartow concurred.

"I'm not sure what we're going to do, but I think playing Chattanooga is a real good series for us," Bartow said. "It's one of the big games our fans look forward to, and we want to extend the series."

And at least one lady in the University Center emphatically wants UTC to win the next installment.