One of Matt McCall’s biggest accomplishments in his first season as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball coach has been to create a family atmosphere, from the team managers to the players to the coaching staff that meets for family dinners.
On the court, no Moc has been named Southern Conference player of the week. The fact that the team has so many interchangeable parts and pieces it’s rare one player stands out above the others could be a factor in that lack of individual recognition. Nine UTC players average more than 5.7 points per game, though, showing McCall’s philosophies of “playing for each other” and “playing for the team.”
But after an 84-78 win at The Citadel on Jan. 2, a member of the family was singled out, and while the Mocs aren’t worried about it, they do remember.
Tre’ McLean, who led the Mocs in scoring, rebounding and steals in a triumphant return to his hometown of Charleston, S.C., was called “classless” by The Citadel head coach Duggar Baucom after a postgame exchange between McLean and a Bulldogs assistant coach that led to the two being restrained. Words had been exchanged numerous times throughout the game, with the assistant telling the 6-foot-5 guard/forward that he wasn’t “tough enough” to play at The Citadel.
After the game, Baucom agreed with that assessment. When asked to comment on McLean’s return to his hometown, Baucom provided this: “You don’t want me to say anything about him. The way he acted after the game, he’s classless. All I know is that he’s not tough enough to go to Citadel.”