Lamont Paris’s first men’s basketball team at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be a young one.
Very young.
Senior Trayvond Massenburg has transferred to NCAA Division II member Texas-Permian Basin, while junior college transfer Joan Duran did not qualify for Division I eligibility and will not suit up for the Mocs this season.
Meanwhile, former walk-on Dylan Brewster was awarded a scholarship for the Mocs this season, giving the program 10 scholarship players for the year. Fairfield transfer Jerry Johnson is sitting out the year and will have two seasons remaining, starting in 2018-19.
The 6-foot-7 Massenburg was a late signee for the Mocs last season, arriving on campus in August. He appeared in 17 games last season, averaging 1.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, with his best game against Division I competition a four-rebound performance against Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Jacksonville State. He would have been the only senior on the UTC roster this year.
Duran, who prepped at Hamilton Heights, would have been the team’s most versatile player entering the season. The lone remaining signee from former coach Matt McCall’s staff, the 6-7 forward averaged 9.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists at Eastern Florida State Junior College, making nearly 38 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Brewster, a 6-2 junior guard, appeared in seven games in 2016-17. All of his shots came from 3-point range, and he made five of his 10 attempts. He had a season-best six points against Tennessee Wesleyan.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.