Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall has a mostly new group of players to work with as he prepares to begin his first season leading the Vols basketball team.KNOXVILLE - The hours of summer pickup games and days of grueling conditioning sessions and weeks of competitive and spirited practices all led to this.
Expect a few minutes of jitters and nerves as Tennessee opens its basketball season.
There's a new coaching staff on the bench, returning players in newer roles and new players galore for the Volunteers heading into tonight's season opener against Virginia Commonwealth in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md., and it's likely going to lead to some stomach butterflies.
"I'm sure there will be quite a few," first-year coach Donnie Tyndall said as the Vols left Knoxville on Wednesday. "With eight newcomers, there will be a lot of nerves in that locker room prior to the game. We were nervous on our home floor in two exhibition games and struggled a little bit early.
"I'm hopeful that that's behind us a little bit, and that we'll go out and play relaxed and play the way I know we can."
Tennessee is opening against a non-cupcake for the second straight season. It lost at Xavier, which ended up in the NCAA tournament, to open the 2013-14 campaign.
This year it's VCU, ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press preseason poll and picked to win the Atlantic 10.
"It's exciting," said guard Kevin Punter, one of the Vols' nine newcomers. "We've all prepared for this since the summer time. Coach has been talking about this game since preseason workouts.
"We're ready for our first road trip with each other, just to grow as a team and become bigger and stronger brothers with one another. We're ready for it, and we can't wait for Friday night."
"That ranking stuff doesn't mean nothing when you're on the basketball court. When you're out there, that just goes out the window. You're just playing basketball."
The season begins with a backdrop of uncertainty regarding Tyndall's status with the NCAA, which is looking into alleged improper financial aid for players who were academically ineligible and thus not on scholarship while he was coaching at Southern Mississippi the past two seasons.
ESPN reported on Thursday that the NCAA will meet with Tyndall on Tuesday, two days before Tennessee plays Texas Southern in the Vols' home opener.
During an appearance on WNML radio in Knoxville on Wednesday, Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said he expected the NCAA to meet with Tyndall at some point and explained the vetting process involved in hiring Tyndall in April.
"I've always thought if you could find three candidates that you felt really good about -- in other words, if we get one of these three people, we're going to be in good shape -- then you really begin to vet those three candidates," Hart said.
"There were no red flags. We were very aware -- it was public knowledge -- of what had occurred at Morehead State. I was more interested in what had occurred since Morehead State. All the reports were very, very positive in that regard."
Also according to the ESPN report, Tyndall has obtained Indianapolis-based attorney Stu Brown for counsel.
Brown's bio page on the website of his firm, Ice Miller's Collegiate Sports Practice, states he assists clients "regarding NCAA rules compliance and infractions" and has represented "institutional and individual clients before the NCAA Committee on Infractions on numerous occasions."
CBS Sports reported that Wade O'Connor, who spent three seasons on Tyndall's staff at Morehead State and Southern Miss, is one of the NCAA's "primary sources" in the investigation, and an anonymous source in the report called O'Connor "a disgruntled former employee."
The ESPN and CBS Sports reports emerged on Thursday, while Tyndall and his team toured the U.S. Naval Academy campus ahead of tonight's doubleheader. Michigan State and Navy will play after Tennessee-VCU.
The day included stops at naval simulators, a helicopter and a tour of Memorial Hall, the museum commemorating Academy graduates lost in military operations.
Thursday's unique experience will give way to today's uneasiness for the new-look Vols.
"We just play hard," senior leader Josh Richardson said. "We might not be in the right place at the right time all the time, but guys are going to try their hardest to recover. We just play hard all the time."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com