Late in Sunday's University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball game at McKenzie Arena, a relatively easy 104-55 victory over NAIA program Tennessee Wesleyan University from nearby Athens, UTC senior forward Darius Banks was walking back to the bench.
Silvio De Sousa looked up, saw him approaching and quickly moved to wipe off a seat for his arrival - to which Banks was seen saying "Appreciate that!" to his teammate. Moments later, Banks, De Sousa and the rest of the Mocs on the sideline were on their feet as redshirt freshman forward Jaden Frazier slammed home a one-handed dunk.
Both instances speak to the culture created by Lamont Paris, now in his fifth season as head coach of the Mocs. It's a mix of players - five who have spent their entire collegiate careers at UTC and eight who have transferred in - who have all bought into what has been built by Paris and David Jean-Baptiste, a sixth-year senior who redshirted his first season but appeared in all 33 games in 2017-18 as Paris took over.
Teams largely built on transfers can sometimes either swim together, or sink. It's been the former this season the Mocs, who used Sunday's 49-point victory over the Bulldogs to reach 9-1 for the second straight season and match the program record for best start. (TWU was 10-2 going into the game, the Bulldogs' first of three straight against NCAA Division I opponents that they consider exhibitions that don't count against their record.)
Of UTC's 790 points scored this season, 65% have been by transfers, led by Malachi Smith's 18.1 points per contest. The former Wright State guard also has per-game averages of 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Nobody played more than 25 minutes Sunday for UTC, with Jean-Baptiste and Jamaal Walker both hitting that mark. De Sousa led the Mocs with 20 points and also had six rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks in 14 minutes off the bench. Walker had 19 points and three steals, while Jean-Baptiste and Smith had 15 points and six assists each, with Smith adding seven rebounds.
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC men's basketball coach Lamont Paris instructs Silvio De Sousa during a game against College of Charleston on Nov. 27 at McKenzie Arena.Paris didn't have to do much recruiting once he was able to get the transfers on campus. Players such as De Sousa, Diggs and others were influenced by the likes of Banks, Jean-Baptiste and Smith this past offseason, and Paris just had to hammer home his vision for the program.
"Any time you have recruits come in, the players (already in the program) are what ultimately seals the deal ..." Paris said last week. "We've got such a good group of guys that when kids came on a visit in the cycle before this, that makes my job easier as a coach but also as a recruiter as well.
"I think with the transfers, you have an opportunity, and your vision has to be that they play a significant role in what you're going to accomplish and I think winning is a factor for those guys, too, as well as freedom offensively to be able to do what they're good at doing. But there's no doubt that some of our guys have helped with that process."
Despite the numerous roster changes almost every offseason since Paris arrived, the Mocs have improved their number of wins or winning percentage from one season to the next every year during his tenure.
So how was this culture created? By the players, it seems. De Sousa had a hard, tumultuous career leading up to his decision to transfer to UTC. Like others who made the same decision, he was looking for the right fit with the right circumstances.
"When I got to other schools, the players and coaches were great, but when I'd get there, the players wanted to do things that I'm trying to stay away from," he said recently. "I'm looking for somebody that will hold me accountable and make sure I'm in the gym getting better.
"I got to UTC, and it was a different conversation. I was like, 'Do you all party here?' and it was like, 'No, they don't get down like that.' That's when I knew this was the place I wanted to go."
That's exactly what the program is trying to convey: a focus on getting the job done on the court as well as in the classroom. That started with the head coach, of course, but it has trickled down and been carried out by the players.
"There's a time and a place for everything," said Banks, who scored 1,069 points as a three-year starter at James Madison before transferring to UTC ahead of the 2020-21 season. "Maturity is a big thing, and if you want to be down with basketball - like really really serious about basketball - then this is the right thing to do."
That's the message that has resonated throughout the program. It's the message that has led to continuous improvement and winning.
The Mocs' next five games - Wednesday at Belmont, Saturday at Murray State, Dec. 22 at Middle Tennessee State, Dec. 30 at East Tennessee State and Jan. 1 at Mercer (the last two to open Southern Conference play) - are against teams currently ranked in the top 100 of the Rating Percentage Index. That means there will be five consecutive tests for an experienced team that is locked in on one goal, the goal that brought this current collection of players to the same program at the same time.
Winning.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.