Jake Stephens may have to settle on being the best partial-season player in University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball history.
The 7-foot, 275-pound transfer from Virginia Military Institute missed the last 11 games of the regular season after breaking his thumb against Furman inside McKenzie Arena on Jan. 18. He was cleared to play for last weekend's Southern Conference tournament in Asheville, North Carolina, and led the Mocs to Monday night's championship game, where they fell to the Paladins 88-79.
In the quarterfinals, semifinals and title contest, Stephens played 103 of a possible 120 minutes, and his 24 career games with the Mocs contained robust averages of 22.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 blocked shots. Oh, and he made 40.8% of his 3-point attempts.
Stephens talked this week about his year in Chattanooga and what lies ahead:
Are you feeling it more mentally or physically after what you did in Asheville?
"Definitely mentally. We wanted to get that one pretty bad, and it's been a dream of mine since I came into the Southern Conference five years ago. That's not to say that I'm not feeling it physically, either."
Are you surprised you were able to log so many minutes after the long layoff?
"That was the plan. The minute they told me I could go, I wanted to be ready to play 30 to 40 minutes a game if I needed to. I just attacked it with my strength coach as far as the conditioning."
How thankful are you that you were essentially able to rewrite your narrative at UTC?
"It was awesome. It didn't finish the way we wanted, but just to be able to go out there and put on the jersey a few more times and represent the fan base was really all you could ask for. It was so much fun while it lasted. When I broke my thumb, they told me that it might be a season-ending injury, and I'm happy that I didn't hurt it at the tournament."
Were you close to playing late in the regular season?
"That was never really on the table. Either way, we knew we were going to have to make a run at the tournament."
What's next for you?
"I came home with my parents after the game, so I'm back in West Virginia for a week or so trying to figure out the next step. Finding an agent is going to be a big step, as well as getting plans for the NBA workouts and trying to get to the G League camp. I definitely want to keep playing. That's been my ultimate goal for forever."
How do you compare to other 7-footers, like a Walker Kessler who played at Auburn last year?
"He's just amazing, and he's doing in his first year in the NBA basically what he was doing in college. He's a crazy good shot-blocker, and if I could be half as good as him, I would be in a good position."
What area of your game do you need to work on most to have that NBA opportunity?
"I think it's just getting quicker, jumping higher and that kind of stuff. The exciting thing is that those are relatively easy things to work on. The biggest thing for me is just getting as athletic as I can."
What was the biggest culture shock in going from VMI to UTC?
"Easily the amount of free time you have. I went from a place that had my whole day scheduled for me to a place where I had a couple of online classes and a lot of the day to yourself. It made things a little easier."
What's the biggest difference between Lexington, Virginia, and Chattanooga?
"The sheer amount of restaurants that you have available."
What were a couple of your favorites?
"I always tell people that Edley's (Bar-B-Que) was a classic staple, and I also liked Taco Mamacita and any pizza place like Goodfellas or Lupi's. I love a good pizza."
If you sat down with a large from Goodfellas, how much of it could you polish off?
"If it's after a game, I could probably clean up the whole thing."
What's the toughest thing about going through life as a 7-footer?
"The car seems to be the biggest problem. I don't fit in too many."
Can you fit into a Honda Accord?
"It's not easy, and if I am driving, no one is sitting behind me. I need all the way to the back seat."
How often are you asked about your height?
"Multiple times a day. If I go anywhere that's not a gym, it's multiple times. I need to just get a sign printed up that I can wear."
What was your pregame music of choice to get you pumped?
"I didn't really have any. Sometimes I can find myself getting too excited, so I had to throw on a podcast or something."
Would you be OK with being known as the best partial-season player in Mocs history?
"I would appreciate that."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.