It’s not just simply that University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman Donovann Toatley plays basketball with a chip on his shoulder.
The 5-foot-9 point guard plays as though there’s an actual person named Chip there – doubting him the whole time.
“All my life, when people see me, most think I play football or think I’m not even supposed to be on the basketball team,” he said recently. “I just use that as fuel to the fire. That makes me go out every day to show why I belong on this stage.
“I know what I can do and why I’m here, and I just use that as fuel to the fire, to make everybody know about Donovann Toatley.”
That fire sparked him to score 853 points as a senior at Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, averaging over 22 points per game with a season high of 39. He had 25 games with at least 20 points and three of 30 or more, leading the Crusaders to a 23-15 record.
A year earlier he led the team to the private school championship, earning most valuable player honors in the championship game with a 24-point performance.
But after his senior year he received only honorable mention for the All-Met team.
“I felt that was a disrespect to the work I put in day in and day out to have that type of season and not be recognized at the highest level,” he said. “I just felt like that was a smack in the face.”
That’s the fire that he hopes to bring to the UTC program this season. He has high hopes for what will be an ever-evolving team trying to fit nine new bodies into the regular rotation and a 10th – sophomore Ramon Vila – after the first semester.
Toatley believes the Mocs could be an NCAA tournament team at the end of the season if “everybody takes heed to what Coach (Lamont) Paris is saying” and develops the level of cohesion necessary.
The Mocs lost primary ball-handlers Rodney Chatman and Makale Foreman, who between them had 61 starts, averaged 23.5 points and had 195 assists. A lot of that responsibility will fall on Toatley and fellow true freshman Maurice Commander.
It’s an opportunity Toatley says he is ready for.
“I realized last year that although you may not get the recognition you deserve, you still put in the work each and every day,” he said. “You still go compete and do what you need to do in order to get better and progress in games and evolve, and no matter who sees it, you’ll get your opportunity sooner or later, and that’s all I’m waiting on.
“I know that the work I put in will show one of these days, and when the opportunity arises, I’ll seize the moment. I know I will.”
Meet the Mocs event
UTC will be hosting a Basketball Tip-Off event this evening at 6:30 at McKenzie Arena, which will give fans a chance to meet Paris and new women’s head coach Katie Burrows and their players. There will be game and skill stations managed by athletes covering knockout, free throws and dribbling, while artists can render their interpretations of the players with photo and autograph areas.
Fans who dress up in Halloween attire will receive candy at every station, and the top costume will earn a special prize.
“It will be a fantastic night for Mocs of all ages,” UTC vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton said. “Our external staff did a great job coming up with an evening that is interactive, fun and really allows people with varying interests a chance to express those while getting to know our student-athletes.
“We have an amazing collection of young ladies and men. It’s great to celebrate them and our fans together in one event.”
The UTC men have an exhibition Thursday at home against Division II Lee University before opening the season on the road at Charlotte on Nov. 6. That same day, the Mocs women host Lee.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.