UTC guard Ronrico White (11) dribbles around Elon guard Luke Eddy (1) while UTC forward Lance Stokes (3) sets up a block during the UTC versus Elon basketball game at the McKenzie Arena on Thursday, January 23, 2014, in Chattanooga, Tenn. UTC won 84-62.FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE MOCS1. What are this team's strengths?As a group these Mocs are long, fast, deep and athletic. When they score, they are going to be able to set up pressure that could lead to turnovers and fastbreak points. They are two-deep at four positions, which will give coach Will Wade options to shuffle lineups effectively as he gets a feel for how a game is going. Lastly, they should be a better long-range shooting team; last year's Mocs were ninth in the Southern Conference in 3-point percentage (.332).2. Who could be a breakout player of the newcomers?Nobody really knew what the Mocs would be getting when 6-foot-7 forward Chuck Ester arrived on campus, but he was their second-leading scorer and leading rebounder in the Bahamas. Duke Ethridge, who will fight Ester for minutes at the 4 spot, has a chance to be special due to his freakish athletic abililty; word has it that he already has torn down a rim at the Chattem Practice Facility.3. Will this team actually be "Chaos"?Last season's Mocs were able to win games they weren't supposed to by grinding them out. They weren't always pretty but worked their way to 18 wins and the second seed in the SoCon tournament. This year, the Mocs will be deeper and faster. The 94-feet, full-court pressure mentality that is "Chaos" will be in full swing this year; the fight for minutes in practice has been chaotic already. That has led to better practices. At times last year, it was a foregone conclusion who was going to play regardless.4. How will the Mocs replace "Z"?Z. Mason's 18.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game won't be replaced by one person in particular, but by a collective unit. Justin Tuoyo will be able to have a similar impact on the defensive end, while there be a little more distribution of the shots and the scoring this season.5. How high should the expectations be?Is the NCAA tournament a possibility? Perhaps, but the seven newcomers will have to get game experience, which could lead to hiccups against an early-season schedule that includes November trips to Wisconsin and Butler and December home games against Georgia and UAB. If the team jells pre-Christmas, it has a chance to make some noise in March.
Today begins the home stretch for Ronrico White.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior guard and his teammates begin basketball practice this afternoon at Chattem Practice Facility. The team has been together since the summer and got a jump-start on the season with 10 practices before a five-day trip to the Bahamas the first week of August, a trip in which they won three games in three days.
But those games mean nothing in terms of wins and losses in the winter. League play involves a revamped Southern Conference with traditional power Davidson gone, along with Georgia Southern -- a thorn in the Mocs' side last season -- Appalachian State and Elon. In to take their places are longtime UTC rival East Tennessee State, Mercer and Virginia Military Institute.
The excitement is evident. Especially for White, whose only fellow seniors are forwards Martynas Bareika and Lance Stokes.
"It's my last first practice, and I'm looking forward to making this year better than last," White said. "I've spent this summer learning my teammates -- where they like to score and what I can do to make the game easier for them."
All-conference forward Casey Jones, a junior, tries to curb the excitement about day one but knows the team has the chance to be pretty special.
"Every year it increases," he said. "I'm more excited about this year than I am last. I know that next year I'm going to be in Rico's spot as a senior, so we're trying to have the right approach because we have high expectations for this season."
The Mocs also will practice Saturday. They'll take Sunday off and get back in the gym on Monday.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.