DALLAS - Now that Tennessee forward Admiral Schofield is a junior in college, he thinks his first name is pretty cool.
It's a name especially fitting for Schofield's role for the No. 3 seed Volunteers, who will play an NCAA tournament second-round game against No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago in Dallas on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. EDT.
Schofield's father, Anthony, is a retired senior chief in the U.S. Navy. In the Navy, admirals are the highest-ranking commanders, and Admiral Schofield has thrived as a leader for the Vols this season.
But there was a time when he wouldn't respond to his first name.
"To be honest with you, at first when I was younger, I didn't like it," Schofield said. "So my parents never called me by Admiral. Believe it or not, they called me by my middle name, Donovhan."
When "Donovhan" Schofield was in second grade, his parents received a call from his school. The young student was racking up absences. As the story goes, Schofield was at school; there was just a miscommunication.
"It's only because they would call Admiral in the classroom, and I wouldn't answer because at home my family and friends would call me Donovhan," Schofield said. "So my parents had to teach me my name, because I really didn't know my name was Admiral."
Basketball fans around the country are learning his name as Tennessee continues gaining national exposure as an NCAA tournament participant for the first time since 2014.
Schofield has averaged 19.7 points in the Vols' last seven games, which included 15 with 12 rebounds in their 73-47 first-round win over Wright State on Thursday.
In that seven-game span, the bruising and versatile 6-foot-5 forward was named Southeastern Conference co-player of the week twice and second-team All-SEC for his season-long performance.
Making the junior's breakout season all the more impressive is that he essentially changed positions during the offseason. After playing mostly in the post his freshman and sophomore seasons, Schofield put in hundreds of hours over the summer to improve his outside shooting and lateral quickness and become a hulking mismatch for opponents on the perimeter.
"This year I just changed my body and the way I approach the game," Schofield said. "And the game just really has slowed down for me, and it's really a testament to my teammates, really, because at first it was a struggle not rebounding the ball and not defending and the little things that it takes to be a good wing player in this league."
Asked to evaluate how Schofield's work ethic and versatility compare to other players he has coached, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes mentioned NBA veterans P.J. Tucker and LaMarcus Aldridge.
"It means a lot to him, but he is a guy that loves being in the gym and wants to get better," Barnes said. "And as he continues to grow and can learn to keep his emotions and everything under control, he can continue to get better as a player."
Typifying his rising profile, Schofield's locker at the American Airlines Center was the last to have reporters still hovering around it after Thursday's win. He was explaining how he was committed to play for then-Vols coach Donnie Tyndall until Tyndall was fired after the 2014-15 season, leaving Schofield uncertain about his college basketball future.
Schofield recalled watching Barnes' farewell news conference at Texas just two days before he was introduced as the new Tennessee coach.
"So I was watching that and thinking, 'Wow, that'd be awesome if we could get him to Tennessee.' The next thing you know, he signed with Tennessee."
Schofield's summer-team coach during high school, Dickey Simpkins, played for Barnes at Providence in the early 1990s, which cemented Schofield's good feeling about playing for Barnes at Tennessee.
"So (Simpkins) gave me the rundown," Schofield said. "Everything he told me about Rick Barnes has come to pass. He's the same guy. He's going to be honest with you; he's not going to lie to you. But he's going to be there for you."
Most of Schofield's teammates did not know his middle name is Donovhan until Schofield shared the story of his elementary school mishap on Wednesday.
"The goal now is to start calling him by his middle name," sophomore point guard Jordan Bone said.
But after disliking the name as a child, Schofield has no problem that the rest of the country is now getting to know him as Admiral, not Donovhan.
"Yeah, it's a pretty cool name," Schofield said. "I didn't really like it, though, when I was younger, but I've gotten used to it now."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.