Fresh off claiming the National Invitation Tournament championship, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has already had a pretty busy offseason in terms of graduation and players both entering the transfer portal as well as adding pieces from it.
Dan Earl admittedly doesn't pay attention to the environment he's walking into after leaving the locker room and heading onto the court of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball games.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team probably exceeded expectations in the first season under head coach Deandra Schirmer, finishing with a 17-15 record that included a runner-up finish in the Southern Conference tournament as well as a victory in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Dan Earl came to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2022 as a head coach that — at least to a majority of UTC supporters — had more questions than answers.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior guard was an emotional mess in the moments after the Mocs had claimed the National Invitation Tournament championship with a dramatic 85-84 win over UC Irvine. It was in part because he'd missed two free throws with two seconds remaining that set up a potential game-winning attempt by the Anteaters, which luckily fell short.
In hindsight, Trey Bonham and Honor Huff have been around Dan Earl long enough to trust him.
Maybe the layup was too close for Garrison Keeslar.
When Frank Champion went down with an injury, there was question as to which of the four remaining University of Tennessee at Chattanooga big men would step up in his place.
Honor Huff saw the switch and sized up the Loyola-Chicago defender.
Asked recently how his body was feeling, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior forward Garrison Keeslar said, "Like I've played 36 games."
