David Jean-Baptiste carried a Haitian flag as he walked to the podium in the McKenzie Arena press room Saturday night.
The redshirt freshman guard has become one of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's more reliable players this season, but he didn't start out that way.
He struggled in the Mocs' 68-63 exhibition loss to NCAA Division II member Francis Marion early this month, missing his only shot in 14 minutes. After that game, Jean-Baptiste spoke with junior Nat Dixon and sophomore Rodney Chatman, who encouraged the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder by telling him "we're going to need you this year," Jean-Baptiste recalled.
"I played timid," said Jean-Baptiste, who was born and raised in Miami but is of Haitian descent. "I realized there was no reason to be nervous when I realized I've got so many people who got my back and count on me, so why am I nervous? I look where I came from, and it's hard to just make it out of there, so I'm just going to go ahead do what what I know I can do."
Things have been different since then. Jean-Baptiste is third on the team in scoring - he has averaged 11.3 points per game despite coming off the bench - while shooting 52 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range. He has also averaged 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 27 minutes per game for Mocs (3-3), who beat Tennessee Wesleyan 95-60 on Saturday.
When asked why he was carrying the flag, he said it's a reminder the game is "bigger than him."
"The name on my back, my last name, my family, where we come from, it reminds me to stay humble and remember what I'm doing," said Jean-Baptiste, who ties the flag around his backpack while walking on campus. "Everywhere I go, I just know my family's got my back, so why be nervous? Why be scared?"
He had season highs of 18 points and seven rebounds against Tennessee Wesleyan while tying his season best with six assists. He has four double-digit scoring performances this season, tied with Chatman and junior Makinde London for tops on the team. Off the bench, he has been a burst of energy on a number of occasions.
And he knows why.
"He plays hard. We want all of our guys to play hard," UTC coach Lamont Paris said. "We always talk about trying to establish an identity. If someone was watching us for the first time, how would they classify our team? Playing hard and getting after it is one thing we want to do. There's some other things, but David comes in and just plays hard.
"It's nice to have a guy come out and do that for your team."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.