University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball coach Shawn Poppie built last season, his first with the team, on culture.
It was enough for the Mocs to win a Southern Conference championship.
With both UTC basketball teams set to begin their respective seasons this week, there's still plenty of culture within the women's program. But with the infusion of so many new players, it may take a little bit of time to be fully cultivated.
The UTC women tip off at 11 a.m. Monday against NCAA Division II program King University, while the men will do battle at 7 that night with Division III's Covenant College from Lookout Mountain. Both games are at McKenzie Arena.
The seasons really get going Friday, when the women travel to face Austin Peay and the men are at Louisville.
In both cases, there's a lot of new: The women have seven new players, while the men have nine. So while there's been something built by Poppie and men's coach Dan Earl as far as foundation — last season was Earl's first in Chattanooga as well — there's a lot that still has to be taught.
"You almost have to reteach it, even to the ones that have done it because they're leading a different group," Poppie said of developing a culture. "I think it's probably been what so many assume — including me going into it — that would be stronger than what it is right now. But I still think we're still searching for what exactly our culture is."
The good thing for Poppie and the Mocs is they do have a starting point for that.
It begins with point guard Addie Porter, and Poppie also has SoCon tournament MVP Raven Thompson returning for her sophomore year. Five players in total are back, including key pieces such as the versatile Sigrun Olafsdottir and Karsen Murphy, and the Mocs also did well in the NCAA transfer portal, bringing in talented guards Jada Guinn (the Ohio Valley Conference tournament MVP from Tennessee Tech) and Joiya Maddox, who averaged 9.3 points per game at Florida Atlantic last season.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / UTC's Trey Bonham drives to the hoop as Myles Che defends during an Oct. 12. practice. Coach Dan Earl's Mocs tip off their 2023-24 schedule at 7 p.m. Monday against Covenant College at McKenzie Arena.The men, who reached the SoCon tournament final last season, aren't quite there yet.
They do have a culture, of sorts, with sophomore guard Honor Huff now eligible after sitting last season out due to SoCon rules that bar immediate eligibility for undergraduate transfers within the league. He knows Earl's style, his system, from their time together two seasons ago at Virginia Military Institute.
Earl also has forwards Sam Alexis, Demetrius Davis and Chattanooga native Randy Brady back, and all of them contributed on the court last season.
But just as with Poppie and the women's team, there's a lot that still has to be fused together for Earl's Mocs.
Who will get the starting spots? Who will get the big playing time off the bench? It usually takes about 10 games or so to figure those things out, which will be key for Mocs such as transfers Tyler Millin and Jan Zidek — two experienced, versatile players in their last year of eligibility — and freshmen guards Myles Che and Noah Melson.
Che played well in both of UTC's "secret" scrimmages, with one a win over a team that is a preseason favorite in its conference (Eastern Kentucky) and the other a victory against a program that made the NCAA tournament a year ago (Kennesaw State).
"I think we have competitive guys, which matters," Earl said. "I think our practices have been much more competitive this year than they were last year, and we have some talent.
"If we can put them all together and get everybody on the same page, I think we'll have a chance to go out and surprise some people."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.