Tennessee's Admiral Schofield (5) and Kyle Alexander (11) celebrate after the Vols won 61-59 Tuesday night at Kentucky. Tennessee has won nine of 10 games entering today's matchup at Alabama.KNOXVILLE - One day three years ago, Kyle Alexander punched in the address for a restaurant on his cell phone - Admiral Schofield remembers it being Knoxville's "Wing Stop" - and the two freshman Tennessee basketball teammates set out on a journey through an unfamiliar city.
This in itself could be regarded as a victory for the sociable Schofield.
He and Alexander were paired as roommates in the first season of the Rick Barnes coaching era at Tennessee, but the symbiosis of the duo's relationship seemed improbable at first.
"When I first met Kyle, he didn't say a word to me," Schofield said. "I asked Kyle to get some food my freshman year, and he just looked at me. I was like, 'You're going to have to talk to me sometime. We're going to be teammates.'"
Finally, Alexander agreed to come along one day. With the help of his phone's GPS function, the two left campus on a mutual mission to find food.
"I'm like, 'Man, we've been driving for a minute, Kyle.' He was like, 'We're about 16 kilometers away,' and I look down at the phone and I'm like, 'Bro, first of all, you put in the wrong address, and second of all, why is this in kilometers and meters?' He was like, 'Well, we use the metric system.'"
Alexander was a shy, lanky Canadian who used the metric system and was recruited by Barnes. Schofield was a commanding, gregarious Chicagoan who was built like a tank and recruited by Donnie Tyndall.
But the unlikely pairing worked.
It has worked so well that Tennessee's only two scholarship seniors remain roommates as they prepare to lead the No. 6 Volunteers into a new season Wednesday night when Tennessee hosts Tusculum in an exhibition game at 7.
"It's just been fun growing with him," Schofield said.
Whether counted in yards or meters, the two clearly have come a long way. Both are legitimate professional prospects who helped dig Tennessee from the pits of the Southeastern Conference and carried the program to the peak of college basketball.
Tennessee forward Kyle Alexander (11) and forward Admiral Schofield (5) react to a play during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 78-69. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)To learn more about Alexander's and Schofield's journey, the Times Free Press spoke with Tennessee assistant coaches Rob Lanier and Desmond Oliver:
TFP: Did you guys lay out a plan for Admiral to evolve his body and game in the way that he has?
Lanier: "I would give him the credit for that. The reality is that, fortunately - or unfortunately - our roster wasn't very deep when he was a freshman. So he got the opportunity to get his feet wet. And he was still trying to figure out how he fit in to all of this. At some point last year, the light really came on and he really took ownership of his role inside the team. He's taken it and ran with it. We only expect him to get better this year."
TFP: Can you identify a game or a moment when you saw that light come on?
Lanier: "It was a practice, actually. It was nothing special but there was a moment in practice that I think things had come to a head for him. He finally kind of let go and started to trust us. He's the one guy left in the program that we did not recruit. And I think for a long time, it was difficult for him to say, 'I'm one of their guys, too.' I think a lot of times when new coaches take on a program, there's always this talk about 'his players' and 'him getting his guys.' We never talked like that. It was never about that for us. But that's a dynamic that people talk about, and I do think in his mind at some level he wasn't ever really sure that he was one of our guys. I think we eventually got to a point where he was like, 'You know what? I'm just as big a part of this as anybody.' And I think that epiphany took place. Maybe he doesn't see it like that. But I thought I was recognizing that at a point last year."
TFP: Is it important for younger players to see Admiral's work ethic?
Lanier: "Yeah, it is important for those guys to know that's the standard, that's what this program, that's what Rick Barnes is all about. Certainly you hope that the guys behind them that you get a couple that adopt that same approach and it continues to filter through your program."
TFP: What are your reflections on how Kyle has changed personally and as a player?
Oliver: "Well, day one with Kyle, the fact that it was us and Rice tells you where his recruitment was. We saw some upside with Kyle and we needed a young guy with that size to come and play for us right away because our team was bare with talent. I don't know if Kyle had the confidence that he could do it initially. His parents, I think, were curious to see if he could step up and take that challenge to play right away. Certainly, physically he wasn't strong enough. Mentally, his confidence was still developing. But what he had was he had a motor. Kyle always played hard in high school, he played hard in AAU. He was new to the game, so guys who are new to the game are sponges. They tend to absorb everything you teach them. That's what he's done. From day one, he absorbed it. He's learned to become one of our best workers. I still think his best basketball is ahead of him."
TFP: Where does a project like Kyle Alexander rank in terms of things that bring you satisfaction as a coach?
Oliver: "I wouldn't call him a project, because to me projects are guys who aren't coordinated, they can't run and jump. They're just big and they have nothing. Kyle came with some talent. He came as a good athlete. Kyle could run the floor. He wasn't jumping like he can now but had decent hands and he made effort plays from day one. I wouldn't call him a project. But it does fulfill you as a coach knowing that you helped a young man come close to peaking. I still don't think he's peaked yet as a player, but I think he's close."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.