The half circle the players make around the midcourt circle is looking more like a three-quarters circle.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball program has 17 players in uniform for practice this season.
That’s the most players on the team this decade, but nowhere near the 21 players former The Citadel coach Ed Conroy had on one of his recent teams in Charleston.
“It’s almost like a football team,” UTC point guard Keegan Bell joked. “The good thing is that we have a lot of subs in practice so we don’t get tired or fatigued. We have 17 guys. That’s a lot and it’s a little different, but good different.”
The upside of a large roster is that none of the players should ever need to ask for a breather during two-hour practices.
The downside is that players may not get as many repetitions during each session because all 17 of them – even those who are ineligible this season, such as Drazen Slovaric (per NCAA transfer rules) – need their share of practice.
“It helps with a variety of different things, and I’m a shell-defense guy and we do a ton of those 4-on-4 drills,” coach John Shulman said. “So I put those walk-on guys on offense and get a ton out of the other guys on defense.”
Five of the 17 are nonscholarship players, including second-year contributors Sam Watson, Drew Baker and Dontay Hampton, who currently is the backup point guard.
Guards Micah Ballard from William Blount High School and Ryan Gentle from Franklin Road Academy are new walk-ons for this season.
“We try to make everybody else better and get them ready for the season,” Baker said. “I told Micah and Ryan that it’s hard to come in and know that it’s different than being the best player on your team in high school. I also told them to enjoy it because it’s what they love to do.
“With this many guys, you see that many different talents and skills.”
Watson proved last season that just because he doesn’t have a scholarship doesn’t mean he spends games in sweats at the end of the bench. He started 11 games last year.
“I came in and I was given an opportunity to play quicker than most walk-ons would,” Watson said. “I’m not sure that the new guys will have the same experience, because it’s rare.”