Basketball Mocs' David Jean-Baptiste making it through

The UTC Mocs basketball team began practice on Thursday.
New players include David Jean-Baptiste (13).
The UTC Mocs basketball team began practice on Thursday. New players include David Jean-Baptiste (13).

David Jean-Baptiste has had a lot on his mind recently.

Off the court, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball player had to deal with the fear of watching the city where he grew up, Miami, get ravaged by the storms of Hurricane Irma. It was so bad that his mother, Liliane Dorismod, was without power at her home for "two, three weeks."

"She had to go to her job and stay with co-workers and fellow friends," Jean-Baptiste said Tuesday after a team workout. "She didn't have anywhere to stay, so she stayed at my neighbors' a few of those nights. I know she's not feeling well - she's getting sick and I talk to her every night - so it's kind of tough having to deal with that, with school and practice.

"It's tough, but we get through it."

On top of that, the 6-foot-2 guard redshirted his first season at UTC and now is trying to make an impact on a new coaching staff that has a young roster with no seniors.

Jean-Baptist said the year off from playing wasn't hard; he took it as a learning experience.

"It was good to be around older guys that are now all overseas playing pro ball," he said. "I just spent the time learning the insides and outs of college basketball. It's more mental than physical."

New head coach Lamont Paris said Tuesday that he's been impressed by how "detail-oriented" Jean-Baptiste has been.

"He tries to do what's asked," Paris said. "The most important thing is that he stands out as a guy who really tries to listen to the things we ask and try to put those into play, and he's actually doing it; some guys have a harder time doing it."

Spending last season watching served a good purpose for Jean-Baptiste. It was a roller-coaster ride witnessing tremendous highs (awin at Tennessee) as well as awful lows (losses in eight of the final 12 games), so he's entering this season devoid of expectations - for himself as well as the team.

"Last year, we had high expectations, and you never know what'll come out of that," he said. "For me, I'm looking for our team to build a bond and build chemistry with my teammates.

"Once you've got that, games will come easy."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

Upcoming Events