Lamont Paris was at Wisconsin, Jamaal Walker was a sophomore in high school and Silvio De Sousa a senior the last time there was a legitimate buzz around the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s basketball program.
Sixth-year senior David Jean-Baptiste was a redshirt with the Mocs during that 2016-17 season, one that had a lot of excitement considering the program was coming off an NCAA tournament appearance and 29 wins.
So much has changed since then, from head coaches to players, but the expectation of being in weeks like this one has never changed – it’s just taken a while to get back to this point.
The 9-1 Mocs, the No. 8 mid-major team in the country according to CollegeInsider.com, travel for huge tests against Belmont and Murray State this week, two other top-10 teams in the nation. The Bruins (8-3) – who feature former Cleveland standout guard Jacobi Wood – are seventh with a win over fourth-ranked Iona, which had just defeated Alabama, while the 10th-ranked Racers (8-1) had wins over Middle Tennessee State – the Mocs’ lone opponent next week – and Memphis last week.
“It’s exciting. I mean, that’s what you play for, to be honest,” said Walker, who scored a career-high 19 points in a lopsided victory over NAIA Tennessee Wesleyan Sunday. “It’s to play teams like Belmont, Murray State and MTSU. It’s really like a statement game, and it’s what you ask for when you see the schedule come out.”