It's highly unlikely that Kevin Easley will be having any on-court blowups in his first season with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team.
He'll have yoga to thank for that.
The UTC freshman and highest-rated recruit in school history started the exercise system prior to his 12th-grade year with two of his friends, one of whose mom was a yoga instructor. Initially thinking it would be "easy," he quickly found out it was the complete opposite.
"There was one exercise where I was standing on the upper part of my back for 15-20 seconds," the 6-foot-6 Easley recalled. "It was fun, but it was hard for me being a tall guy in a small room."
Easley continued yoga a couple of times a week, which decreased to once weekly during his final season at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, where he averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots per game. He was ranked as a four-star prospect by ESPN and a three-star by 247Sports.com and was rated as the No. 35 small forward nationally and the No. 6 player in Indiana.
He was once committed to former UTC coach Will Wade at Virginia Commonwealth, but he decommitted and chose the Mocs over the likes of 2018 Final Four participant Loyola-Chicago and Massachusetts, where another former UTC leader (Matt McCall) is the head coach.
"It's more team-oriented here than other schools," Easley said. "Here, it's all about team and family. The coaches are good coaches, man. I've been on a lot of school visits, but this coaching staff is straight up and honest on and off the court.
"We have a lot of potential - potential in the school, potential from a basketball standpoint. I feel like we could be something special, in my opinion. Of course it's going to take hard work, but I feel this is a special place."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.