NASHVILLE – Tuesday night’s game against Lipscomb meant a little bit more to Dee Oldham.
Playing only about 35 minutes away from his hometown of Lebanon, where he had a standout career at Wilson Central High School, the 6-foot-4 senior guard for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had 30 or more supporters in attendance.
They weren’t hard to find, either. One scan of the crowd quickly led to a group behind the UTC bench wearing teal blue shirts with the words “Keep Calm, I’m an Oldham 4 Life!” on the front.
It was Oldham who kept calm and had the best performance of his 13-game UTC career, with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (nine) in the Mocs’ 80-56 win over the Bison. He also set career highs in six other categories as UTC improved to 11-2.
“We want everybody to have a good game every game,” senior forward Duke Ethridge said. “We play for each other and we motivate each other, but we were very happy for Dee to have a good game in front of his hometown crowd.”
It’s well-documented that Oldham has had a tumultuous college basketball career.
Lightly recruited out of high school, he ended up at UT-Martin because he had to “get what he could get.” He said that Lipscomb – under a different coaching staff at the time – showed some interest in him, but never offered him a spot on the team.
He has had four different head coaches in his four seasons at two schools and wasn’t ruled eligible to play this year until two weeks before the regular season began, so UTC first-year coach Matt McCall was extremely happy to see Oldham perform well on Tuesday.
“One thing I’ll give Dee credit for, he’s been the same guy every day,” McCall said after the game. “He’s been focused on the team, never been wrapped up in his minutes and has been an unbelievable source of energy for our guys on the bench and in practice. Dee could start a lot of different places in this country, but he’s been totally focused on the team, and it paid off for him tonight in front of his family and in front of his friends.
“I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s an unbelievable kid – an unbelievable man – and he stays focused on the team, and that’s what you want.”
Oldham believed he had to approach Tuesday’s game with the mindset that Lipscomb was no different than any other opponent. It may sound like a cliché, but it obviously worked for him.
“It’s my family. They’ve seen me play for years, so I just had to be comfortable, play ball and let the game come to me,” Oldham said. “I wanted to play hard and wanted to make sure I controlled what I can. I can’t control the ball going in, but I can play hard.”
Some of those family members hadn’t seen him play since he transferred to UTC, making the good game even more special.
“I just had to bring energy and play hard,” he said. “When you play hard, a lot takes care of itself.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.