Prepared to play in his first NCAA tournament in his second season at St. Bonaventure, Josh Ayeni tore an ACL during an Atlantic 10 semifinal and wasn’t able to participate as the Bonnies received an at-large bid and won a First Four game against UCLA in 2018.
Malachi Smith was part of the Wright State team that won the Horizon League’s regular-season title in 2019 before losing in the championship game and having to settle for a National Invitation Tournament appearance.
For so many on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga roster, the Scenic City wasn’t the initial destination for their college basketball journeys.
Of the nine players averaging at least four points per game this season (not counting Jamaal Walker, who is out for the season due to blood clots), seven of them joined the program via transfer at some point, with senior David Jean-Baptiste and sophomore Grant Ledford the exceptions in that group. Throw in sophomore Tada Stricklen, who has played in 21 contests and proven to be a valuable on-ball defender, and that number grows to eight out of 10.
“This season has been a matter of trusting each other,” said forward Silvio De Sousa, who started his collegiate career at Kansas. “It’s all about trust and love, and mainly the things we do off the court, because if we’re not close off the court, we won’t do anything in basketball. You have to have that connection; you have to have that trust.
“We’ve spent time together every single day. It’s what has made us so special on the court, enjoying that togetherness.”
Each of those players came with a goal, and each fit right in with the vision of UTC coach Lamont Paris. Now in his fifth season leading the Mocs, Paris has never been shy about bringing in transfers – he’s had at least one every season at UTC – and his goal has been to bring a title to Chattanooga.
Paris has met that objective with the Mocs sweeping the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament titles this season to secure the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2016. And while he has found transfers to be a successful way to build a roster, he’ll also tell you more goes into it than convincing players who have played well elsewhere to join his program.
“The biggest part of it is the quality of the person that you have in the room, so I think that was the first step to having success with that,” Paris said. “But even with a great group of guys that can still go sideways, because sometimes when you’re trying to mesh that many different personalities, that many different expectations, we brought in some older guys that probably thought they would play more, or they’re playing but they would score more or shoot more or do whatever.
“It just comes from a lot of work, a lot of time spent. You’re extremely honest with everyone about what their role is, about where we can be and how they can help us get there. I think you constantly have to be talking about that stuff, and you do that combined with the right character guys, I think it’s easier for people to accept potentially something that they would rather be in a different situation. Things start to blend together a little bit more that way.”
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC’s Malachi Smith dribbles around the pick set by Josh Ayeni during a SoCon game against Mercer on Feb. 5 at McKenzie Arena.The players’ winding basketball paths met in Chattanooga.
Ayeni started 40 games in two seasons with the Bonnies and most of last season, his first with the Mocs after previously transferring to South Alabama, where he sat out one year and played one injury-shortened season. Darius Banks scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons at James Madison University. Avery Diggs had proven to be a valuable piece at multiple places, most recently the University of Central Florida, before joining the Mocs. Smith was an all-freshman selection for the Horizon League in his lone season at Wright State, then sat out the 2019-20 season after transferring.
The Mocs (27-7) are the South Region’s No. 13 seed and will face fourth-seeded Illinois (22-9) at 6:50 p.m. Friday in Pittssburgh, with TNT televising the matchup. In UTC’s return to March Madness, De Sousa and KC Hankton – who spent two seasons at Saint Louis – are the only players with experience in the 68-team tourney. De Sousa has been part of a Final Four run, in fact, and grabbed 10 rebounds in 26 minutes in a regional final victory over Duke in 2018.
No matter where they came from, no matter what role they’re playing for the Mocs, each player had to sacrifice a bit since arriving in Chattanooga – all for the greater good.
“It’s like if you go back home and a whole bunch of randoms want to play five-on-five pickup. You don’t know each other or you guys don’t have the same chemistry, but if you want to win, you’re going to play like you want to win,” Smith said. “If your mentality is winning, that’s going to happen.
“So when other transfers got here, me and David told them, ‘We’re here to win. We’re not settling for anything less.’ We don’t care what your last school did – whatever your role needs to be here, whatever you’ve got to do to contribute here, that’s what we need so we can all make the tournament.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC’s Josh Ayeni (21) passes the ball before going out of bounds during a SoCon game against VMI on Feb. 19 at McKenzie Arena.