Coach Matt McCall regularly walks into the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball practice facility or McKenzie Arena and sees senior point guard Greg Pryor shooting and working hard on his skills.
It’s no surprise that Pryor has earned the results he’s had in the early going of his final collegiate season.
His scoring average has jumped from 5.5 points per game as a freshman to the 13.3 he’s put together three games into this season. Once a 32-percent shooter from the field and an 18-percent shooter from 3-point range, Pryor currently is at 54 percent and 56 percent in those categories. He’s hit three 3-point baskets in each game.
“I go into every game, every preparation, like it’s my last,” Pryor said after Wednesday’s win over Hiwassee. “I wouldn’t say there’s an added focus this season, but I know there’s a lot of young people that’s looking up to me right now. They need to learn the system and learn our culture, so it’s more of learning how to teach and learn at the same time.”
The Mocs added six players to the roster this season, one of those being Makinde London. The talented 6-foot-11 sophomore said it didn’t take long for him to realize that there aren’t many players who work harder than Pryor, and that his work ethic rubs off on the other Mocs.
“His competitiveness is a great aspect that might be overlooked because he’s not so verbal, but his competitiveness to never lose and never quit is just tremendous on his part,” London said. “It gives our team a certain edge to rally up when things might seem a little flat, but it starts with the head of the snake, and that’s a great player to have on the front end.”
Pryor said his primary focus this summer was putting up “a lot of shots.” That and trying to work on his body some, as he played through the Southern Conference tournament last season with a rolled ankle. That didn’t stop him from becoming the tournament most valuable player, as he made play after play after play through wins over Samford, Western Carolina and East Tennessee State.
“I know there’s some good players that have come through our program, obviously some guys fortunate enough to go on to the NBA,” McCall said, “but I think it’d be hard to find a better point guard in the history of our program than Greg Pryor – just from a winning standpoint to everything he brings to the table, the professionalism he handles himself with every single day.
“I’ve only got 30 or so games left with him, and I’m going to enjoy every single day I get to coach that kid, because he’s one in a million.”
Now, healthy body and all, Pryor and the Mocs (2-1) will face Central Arkansas in the semifinals of the Maui Mainland tournament in West Point, N.Y. The winner of that game at 8:30 tonight will play against Arkansas State or Army in the championship game Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tonight’s losers will square off at noon Sunday.
“We prepare for this,” Pryor said. “We work hard in practice and prepare for adversity, because we’re going to see a lot on the road. It’s going to be good for our team to play against good teams and prepare for the good teams in the conference.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.