LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The most memorable season in University of Tennessee men’s basketball history ended with both a bang and a whimper for Volunteers senior forward Admiral Schofield on Thursday night.
With the outcome of his final game already determined by Purdue in the NCAA tournament South Regional semifinal, Schofield threw down one final thunderous dunk with eight-tenths of a second to go in overtime, an angry bucket to make the final score 99-94 in favor of the Boilermakers.
Then he momentarily drifted away from his teammates, eventually pulling his white No. 5 jersey partially over his head in an attempt to more easily wipe away the tears forming in his eyes.
“You’re always numb when it happens to you,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said shortly after the loss. “But these guys (scholarship seniors Schofield and Kyle Alexander) definitely leave this program better than they found it.”
A 31-win season shouldn’t end this way, perhaps. But then those 31 wins against six defeats, this spot in the Sweet 16, this otherwise remarkable comeback to rally from a 18-point second-half deficit to force overtime, would never have come to pass without passion such as this from Schofield and his teammates.