Detrick Mostella happy with choice to stick with Vols

Georgia forward/center Yante Maten, left, and Tennessee guard Detrick Mostella (15) compete for a rebound during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Athens Banner-Herald, AJ Reynolds) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT , TV OUT
Georgia forward/center Yante Maten, left, and Tennessee guard Detrick Mostella (15) compete for a rebound during an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Athens Banner-Herald, AJ Reynolds) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT , TV OUT

KNOXVILLE - Detrick Mostella likely would have had his choice of landing spots.

The Tennessee shooting guard decided to give his new head coach a shot first.

After his first year with the Volunteers didn't go as planned and the coach who brought him to Tennessee was fired, the former four-star recruit who nearly picked Oklahoma State or Pittsburgh to start with could have looked into possibly transferring elsewhere, as fellow freshmen Tariq Owens and Willie Carmichael did.

There would have been options, but Mostella hesitated before jumping ship after the Vols hired Rick Barnes as coach.

photo Tennessee guard Detrick Mostella (15) defends against Pikeville guard K.K. Simmons (24) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 80-62. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

"I was going to look around at first," Mostella said after his Rocky Top League game Monday night. "Then I thought, 'It's Coach Barnes, I'm going to give him a shot before I do anything.' I committed to Tennessee to play for Tennessee, so I'm just going to wait and see who the coach is.

"I talked to Coach Barnes, and he told me what he looked for in his guys, and I feel like I can be a piece of his puzzle in building his career, so I decided to stay with him."

If the 6-foot-3 Alabama native can tap into his potential, the decision ultimately could pay off for him and Tennessee.

Ranked the No. 45 overall prospect in the 2014 recruiting class by 247Sports.com, Mostella was up and down in a debut season with the Vols. He averaged 3.4 points in 11.7 minutes per game in 31 appearances.

He hit multiple 3-pointers in six games - including four against Kansas and three at North Carolina State early in the season - but he also shot just 27.6 percent from the field and had twice as many turnovers (30) as assists (15) as his confidence plummeted as the season progressed.

Perhaps the best snapshot of Mostella's freshman season were his first and last games.

In the season opener, he scored 17 points in Tennessee's loss to VCU. In the season-ender against Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference tournament, Mostella played just one minute.

"It was basically a learning experience," he said. "Being a freshman's hard, because some games you're on and some games you're not. It depends on how you hit that wall or not. The second half of the season, I hit that wall. I hit that freshman wall. It was basically a learning experience.

"Next year I have more of a learning experience to go out there and play my game."

Now the learning experience for Mostella, who can be a bit of a loose cannon, is adjusting to Barnes and his style of coaching and running a program.

Barnes said Monday night Mostella has been "impressive," before adding, "in terms of what I was told."

"I think that's important that when you come in, you do listen to people and you try to get a feel," the coach continued. "But then I think, to be quite frank and honest, you tell him, 'This is what I've heard, and it's not going to work this way.' But he was very open and honest with us. He said, 'Look, I know I've got to improve. I went through a lot last year.'

"I think if you asked anybody on campus, they would tell you that they've been impressed with the way that he's done things both on the court and off the court."

Mostella said he's enjoyed the more "pro-style" system Barnes is employing and admitted the matchup zone defense used by previous head coach Donnie Tyndall was "confusing" to him.

"We'd miss our matchup, and we'd get in trouble about it," he said.

There's been less trouble, Mostella said, getting used to his new coach.

"It was easy adjusting to Barnes because everybody knew when he came how it's going to be and how new it's going to be," he said. "He basically told everybody just to play their game. Play how you're supposed to play. As long as you're giving good effort, everything's going to be all right.

"It's just an effort thing, so adjusting was pretty easy."

Mostella is hoping to improve his ball-handling and add strength to his slender frame this summer. Though the Vols have a big hole to fill at point guard, it's more likely Mostella will remain off the ball. Roles for next season are unclear at this stage.

"Everybody's working everywhere," Mostella said. "I was out here guarding (freshman big man) Kyle (Alexander) tonight, so I might be playing center. Wherever Coach puts me in to play, I'd love to play."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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