Armed with a new contract and a revamped roster, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris hit the practice center with a noticeable skip in his step Tuesday afternoon.
The Mocs officially began practice for the 2019-20 season, and though the timing still seems a bit odd for Paris, he couldn’t contain his excitement.
“It’s getting earlier and earlier and the temperature doesn’t seem like it’s basketball season,” he said. “It’s great to officially be here, though. I know these guys are ready to get to work, and so am I.”
UTC lost 10 of its last 12 games last season to finish 12-20, then had to deal with the transfers of two of its leading scorers, Kevin Easley and Donnovan Toatley. Paris and his staff filled those holes with Vanderbilt graduate transfer Matt Ryan, a 6-foot-7 wing, and West Virginia sophomore transfer Trey Doomes, an athletic 6-3 guard who will be eligible right away.
“We added a lot of new pieces that are going to help us out, especially in the maturity aspect of things,” said 6-4 senior Jonathan Scott, who started every game last season. “We added a lot of older guys who know what they are doing.
“We had a lot of youth last year, and it showed. We would lose our minds if we ever got down. Our lack of maturity really showed, and now older guys will be able to step up and settle everything down so we can win those tight games.”
The Mocs also added five freshmen to mix in with returning reserves A.J. Caldwell, Justin Brown, Maurice Commander and Rod Johnson, in addition to guard Alex Tostado, who will be eligible after sitting out last season following a transfer from Maryland.
With so many new players, the optimism surrounding the start of practice might seem odd, but Paris insists it’s legitimate. A summer tour of the Bahamas, which included three exhibition games (all wins), gave the team an even earlier start of trying to build the type of chemistry that seemed to be missing a year ago.
“When you consider we’ve got so many guys who have never played a college basketball game together, you never would know that right now,” Paris said. “I do know they enjoy spending time together, and building that chemistry is very important (to them) and to me.
“Maybe outside of overall talent, it’s the most important thing for a successful basketball team. I’ve seen some really good signs so far. The true test will be when we start playing games and some guys have more success than others and some guys’ roles are smaller than they thought. How does the team respond in those situations? That will be a key, but so far I’ve seen some really good things from this group in that regard.”
They won’t have to worry about that for awhile, though. The Mocs will have an exhibition game against Covenant College on Oct. 26, then open the season at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 5. The home opener is Nov. 9 vs. Tennessee State.
The UTC women and second-year head coach Katie Burrows begin practice Thursday.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.