KNOXVILLE – Admiral Schofield made the most of the first start of his college basketball career.
Tennessee may need the freshman to replicate that production a couple more times in the starting five with one of its most reliable scorers still sidelined.
Schofield built off a 12-point game off the bench against Nebraska at the end of November with a 16-point, seven-rebound game in the loss at Butler on Saturday, and the forward figures to make his second straight start against Florida Atlantic tonight. Robert Hubbs III is still unavailable as he recovers from a knee scope.
“Every day’s a competition, so everyone’s competing for minutes, everyone’s competing for a spot,” Schofield told the Vol Network radio broadcast following the 94-86 defeat in Indianapolis.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to play a lot more or start, but I knew that with my work ethic if I could keep doing what I was doing in practice and improving, I would have a chance to get out there on the floor a little bit more.”
The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder from Illinois didn’t even play against George Washington the night before his outburst against the Cornhuskers in Brooklyn, but he’s flashed some inside-out offensive skills in the two games since then.
He hit three 3-pointers in the two games, and first-year Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said he views Schofield as one of the team’s more effective inside scorers.
Despite the promise he’s shown recently, Schofield still has his freshman moments, and he admitted he had some “mishaps” against Butler.
“He’s somebody that we know that he loves this game and he wants to be good, but in the first half he gave up three 3s where he did not play off the scouting report,” Barnes told the Vol Network. “That’s where he’s got to lock into it.
“You look at what he does offensively, we think he can go inside and score. We really do. We think he and Hubbs are our two best inside guys (who) can really go in there and get something going.
“But where he has to continue to get better is defensively, and what he needs more than anything is to really absorb our scouting report, because as young guys are trying to learn to play defense, we’re trying to give them a cheat sheet, and he’s got to use it.”
When Schofield arrived on campus in the summer, he looked more like a tight end than a small forward. He moved well for his size, though. In high school, Schofield played quarterback and handled relays and the high jump for the track team.
He’s dropped nearly 30 pounds since arriving in Knoxville, and the weight loss actually helped him increase his wingspan by four or five inches.
“When I first got here, Coach really pushed me to lose weight,” Schofield said. “That was the biggest thing for him, so when I got here, my mindset was losing weight, and it’s helped me out here on the floor.
“After that, it’s been getting better skillfully, working out every day and trying to get better with post moves, my jump shot, slowing down, understanding the offense. I’ve still got a long way to go, but Coach is really helping me out. These last couple of weeks and this last month, I’ve really gotten a lot of confidence in practice, and I’ve been having good practices.”
Schofield has one of the most interesting backgrounds on a team featuring a fluent-in-French theater major from Canada, another Canadian and a guy from The Bronx in New York City. His older brother O’Brien is an NFL defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons and played on Seattle’s Super Bowl-winning team. His young brother is named General. Their father is a retired senior chief with the United States Navy.
Admiral actually was born in London.
He signed with Tennessee to play for Donnie Tyndall, but he’s making an early impact for Barnes.
“Ever since I was young, my dad always told me hard work beats talent,” Schofield said. “He always told me that I need to keep pushing and keep pushing and be better than the guys that are better than me. There’s always going to be someone better than you, but if you work harder than them, it outweighs everything.
“I’ve always kept that in mind, and I apply that to what I do at Tennessee.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.