UTC women's basketball player Lakelyn Bouldin practices during a team practice in the Chattem practice facility on campus Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Lakelyn Bouldin had to do a bit of everything during her time as a basketball standout for Van Buren High School. Now at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, her role has been greatly reduced.
But Mocs coach Jim Foster fully believes she'll fit in just fine.
The 5-foot-7 freshman guard, who was named Class A Miss Basketball her senior season, has settled into a backup guard role for the Mocs in the preseason. She averaged 21 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.4 steals as a senior last season, leading the Eaglettes to the state tournament for the first time in school history.
"She knows how to play," Foster said Tuesday. "When you know how to play, you just fit in very quickly no matter what position she's playing or whatever it is we're in.
"She just understands the game."
That has helped her transition as she's gone from being the primary playmaker at a school with an enrollment of 425 for grades 6-12 to a player who could be asked to fill in some throughout the season for a Division I college.
She admitted that she was "nervous going in" to her first practice.
"I've had to adjust to the intensity and pace of the game," she said. "It's a lot faster, a lot more intense than high school. Now I'm just working on being a point guard and two guard, and look for my shot, assist, the next pass, stuff like that.
"I wanted to make a good first impression in that first practice, and I probably put too much pressure not to mess up. I was overwhelmed."
The last time the Mocs didn't win the Southern Conference championship and advance to the NCAA tournament, Bouldin was an eighth-grader averaging more than 25 points per game for the Eaglettes in the postseason.
Now she doesn't want UTC's streak to end on her watch.
"We want to win conference again, and make a good run in the NCAA tournament," she said. "Not just play (in the tournament), but to win.
"As an individual, I just want to contribute the most I can to the team."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.