One could say Chuck Ester got his groove back.
It went missing at some point last season, but the 6-foot-7 forward for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga seems to have found it with plenty of time remaining on the Mocs’ 2015-16 schedule.
He’s been a key member of a team full of key players who have helped UTC to a 6-2 record, its best eight-game start since the 2002-03 season. Ester has averaged 7.0 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
Last season, turnovers and bad play led to Ester being pulled from games quickly, which led him to become even more frustrated and lack confidence as the schedule wore on. He was no longer a solid ball-handler, no longer able to make shots.
Under first-year coach Matt McCall, the former Florida assistant who took over last spring after former UTC coach Will Wade became the head coach at VCU, Ester has bounced back.