Gonzo for Cuonzo!

So a certain man is becoming a trending story here in East Tennessee, new Vol head basketball coach Cuonzo Martin. As soon as the Kentucky vs. North Carolina Elite Eight game ended Sunday, WVLT's Rick Russo broke this news.

As soon as I heard the name Cuonzo Martin, my mind traveled back to 1994. Growing up on tobacco road and being a lifelong Duke fan, I remembered watching Cuonzo play against the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight that year.

As customary in the Honeycutt household, following dinner, my father and I would grab our composition books and lie in the floor to keep score of the tournament games. I loved this bonding time with my dad and looking back now cherish it every day. Anyway, Cuonzo played on Gene Keady's powerhouse Purdue team that featured Glenn "The Big Dog" Robinson.

I remember what a tough game this was as Duke prevailed 69-60, but I will always remember how hard that Purdue team played. Martin, undoubtedly will bring that hard-nose style of play to Rocky Top. Cuonzo Martin earned respect from me that night at the age of 11 and I don't forget basketball players who leave it all on the floor and Martin does the same with his coaching.

I know that many of my friends and colleagues here at UT are younger than I am and do not remember Cuonzo's play but I know that they know the names Jajuan Johnson, E'twaun Moore and Robbie Hummell. All three Purdue stars were primarily recruited by Martin.

Martin's NBA career was short-lived and left a lot to be desired, but the man did defeat the biggest opponent any of us will ever face in cancer. So I do not believe that Calipari's Fab Four of next year will intimidate him too badly.

Martin served as an assistant to Keady and current Boilermaker coach Matt Painter for eight years from 2000-2008. After proving himself as a successful recruiter and assistant, Martin earned the head coaching job at Missouri State.

Most people only know Missouri State as the school that Notre Dame star guard Ben Hansbrough transferred from, but the Bears under Martin were 61-41 in his three seasons, improving their record every year.

Tennessee's biggest problem under Bruce Pearl in my opinion, was that the talent on the roster did not work hard and Pearl didn't push the envelope. Practices were lackadaisical, and performances often showed on the court.

Tennessee boasts one of the nation's best freshmen in Tobias Harris who right now is projected as the 27th pick on NBAdraft.net, but I expect him to stay and perhaps the most talented but also disgruntled wingman in the country in Scotty Hopson.

If Hopson stays, the laziness will not, as I don't expect Martin to tolerate it the way Pearl did. Martin has a daunting task as he needs to secure the commitments of Chris Jones and Kevin Ware for next year's class.

In addition to that, he needs to build repore with youngsters Jordan McRae, Trae Golden and Kenny Hall. The Vols wouldn't be expecting a great year next year even with Pearl, but make no mistake, they are in better shape without him.

If Jones and Ware come and Hopson and Harris stay, UT will be two deep at PG with Jones and Golden, two deep at the 2 Guard with McRae and Ware, solid at the three with Hopson and the four with Harris, but questionable at best in the paint with Hall and Jeronne Maymon.

Pearl did great things, but let's not forget, Tennessee has, is and always will be a football school and any success in hoops is a bonus. The fact that Vol fans have blasted and lambasted Martin online makes me sick. Don't come to games, don't cheer, but when they start winning and playing with pride, stay at home then as well.

Martin doesn't need to be a aging, glorified fratboy like Pearl was. He doesn't have to paint his chest or promote himself, his coaching and his play will do the talking.

Vols "Dawged" At Home

Help!, I need somebody, anybody.

Not just lyrics in a song by the Beatles, but exactly what Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris had to be thinking in a 69-63 loss to Georgia on Saturday.

An obviously emotional and shaken-up Coach Bruce Pearl accredited the unfortunate result to a slow start to the game. "Georgia started the game like they were playing for their NCAA tournament lives and we started like we were already in it," said Pearl.

Georgia jumped out to a 22-7 lead on Tennessee early in the first half and led 33-25 at the break. Center Jeremy Price led the Bulldogs with 20 points, going 8-9 from the field and 4-4 from the stripe.

Hopson enjoyed a career night, scoring 32 points as he sliced and diced his way through the Georgia "D" at will. "I had a great night, but I'd trade that for a "W" anyday," said Hopson.

Early in the second half, Hopson took a pass at the wing, dribbled right and blew by Travis Leslie baseline and thundered down a one-handed slam over Price. The crowd was aroused and back into the game.

But credit Georgia, every time Tennessee made a run, they answered under pressure. One key point was with 11:59 remaining in the game, Vols point guard Melvin Goins stole the ball from Dustin Ware and threw home a one-hander of his own, only to receive a technical foul for excessive hanging on the rim.

A few of Tennessee's "usual suspects" (Williams, Goins and Tatum) only combined for seven points on a horrendous 3-15 from the field.

"It's a team effort and these guys gave all they had I believe but it's my fault. I need to get rid of the nonchalant part of my game and I did that tonight for the most part, but we aren't representing Tennessee basketball too well right now," said Hopson.

"We didn't get to loose balls, didn't play well and made many mistakes. I can deal with mistakes, but I cannot tolerate with not competing and they didn't compete at the beginning of this game," said Pearl.

Tennessee falls to (16-11,6-6) and even more in danger of being "on the bubble" for the NCAA tournament. The Vols take on Vanderbilt Tuesday in the end-zone styled Memorial Gymnasium, which is always a dangerous place for Tennessee.

Tennessee also falls to (2-1) in "Outlive" games which is an annual event where Tennessee basketball fights cancer.

Vols Gash the Gamecocks

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The Tennessee men’s basketball team (16-10) tasted victory for the first time in the last four games by defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 73-67.

The Vols definitely made it interesting by shooting an atrocious 19-33 from the free throw line. Junior forward Scotty Hopson led the way with 23 points, including three rim-rocking dunks that exploded the crowd.

Things became a little chippy in the second half when Steven Pearl mixed it up a bit with Carolina big man Sam Muldrow and both received technical fouls for jaw-jacking.

Fellow junior forward Cam Tatum chipped in with 13 points to aide Hopson. This marks coach Bruce Pearl’s first win since returning from his 8-game suspension.

“We played really great defense in the first half and held South Carolina to 20 percent shooting from the field. Offensively, however, I felt that we left some shots out there and 16 turnovers is way too many,” said Pearl.

For the Gamecocks (13-11, 4-7 SEC) leading the attack was forward Malik Cooke who
scored 22 points and freshman guard Bruce Ellington who poured in 15.

South Carolina coach Darrin Horn falls to 0-7 all-time against Tennessee.

First ever Camp Pearl is a huge success

500 UT students filed into Thompson-Boling Arena Friday night in anticipation of one of the biggest rivalry games of the season. Tennessee hosted the No.2 ranked and once beaten University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Players including Scotty Hopson, Bobby Maze, Renaldo Woolridge, Skylar McBee, Steven Pearl, Kenny Hall, Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams, and Emmanuel Negedu greeted the droves of students. Video Games were set up along the main concourse, "Coach Carter" on the scoreboard, and a row of sleeping bags and pillows graced the hard concrete foors.

"This is so cool that you guys are willing to camp out and support us so much," said UT forward Renaldo Woolridge

Students were allowed into Thompson-Boling at 9:30 a.m. They could sleep there and receive wristbands for entry to Saturday's game but had to be out by 6 a.m. These same students had to back in line at 8 a.m. to wait until 10:30 a.m. to regain entrance to the arena.

Mostly all students who wanted to attend the game were admitted and all received the 2010 UT "Outlive" t-shirt free of charge. Tennessee usually wears home white jerseys but decided to don their road orange jerseys for crowd amplification. This worked to a science as the crowd was jumping and could not wait for the game to begin.

Tennessee jumped out to an astounding 18-4 lead and Thompson-Boling erupted. All players were energized and on fire to start the game and fed off of the energy of the crowd. Kentucky, being the great team that they are hung tough and fought hard to make the halftime score 40-29 UT.

The second half began the same way as the first but with about 12 minutes to go in the game, all-world Kentucky freshman John Wall took over. Back-to-back 3-point plays sparked the Cats and they tied the game on a Patrick Patterson slam dunk from Wall.

Coach Pearl called a timeout at that point and rallied the troops. Bobby Maze drove the lane and converted a tough shot that put the Vols up by 2. An offensive foul on Kentucky center Demarcus Cousins gave UT the ball back with a lead with just over a minute left to play.

With few seconds left on the shot clock, UT sophomore wingman Scotty Hopson buried a clutch 3-pointer that was the dagger in Kentucky. As J.P. Prince sank 4 free throws down the stretch the place erupted again, and upon the sounding of the final buzzer the players ran to the fans and paraded down the student section to show their appreciation.

"Without our students being such a huge part of our team and providing us energy, no way do we win that game," said UT Head Coach Bruce Pearl.

HONEYCUTT, Jordan
Feb. 24, 2010
Lady Vols, LSU, Nutshell




Lady Vols tame Tigers for 25th victory of the season



Coach Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols had revenge on their minds Monday when they took on the LSU Tigers. LSU had beaten Tennessee each of the last two seasons in Knoxville. On top of that matter of pride, Tennessee could also clinch at least a share of the SEC regular season title.

• Junior Center Kelley Cain scored 16 points and added a school record 12 blocks
• Freshman Forward Alyssia Brewer scored a game-high 18 points
• LSU was led by Allison Hightower with 18 points

The game started out slow and sloppy with foul after foul being whistled on both teams. Tennessee also could not seem to find their shooting stroke early on. After a poorly played half, the Lady Vols led 32-24.

Shortly after the start of the second half, things began to pick up for both teams. Tennessee guard Shekinna Stricklen drained 2 consecutive 3-point shots and stretched the lead to double digits. LSU was scrappy as they tried to make a run late in the game but thanks to Kelley Cain’s imposing defense and timely shots from Alyssia Brewer and Angie Bjorklund, it was to no avail.

The final score read 70-61 and made the Lady Vols 25-2 on the season with two home games remaining against No. 16 Kentucky, and conference foe Ole Miss. Coach Summitt’s girls take on No.16 Kentucky at home on Thursday.

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#12 VOLS, #2 CATS READY TO RUMBLE IN RUPP

Tennessee has faced a larger challenge than #2 Kentucky already this season by playing #1 Kansas in which they came out victorious. That game was in the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena, not a hostile atmosphere like Rupp Arena, and it didn’t have SEC regular season ramifications. Coming off of an embarrassing loss Tuesday night against Vanderbilt; the Vols desperately to put on a good showing Saturday against the Cats.
Senior center Wayne Chism and Sophomore Forward Scotty Hopson lead the Vols this season with 13.1 points per game. Both will need to exceed their averages to come out successful against Kentucky. Leading the Cats is a pair of freshmen; John Wall is averaging 16.7 points per game, and Demarcus Cousins is averaging a double-double with 16.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
There will be several key match-ups in the game on Saturday. Tennessee has got to get the ball inside to Chism early and try to get fouls on Demarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson. On that note, Chism has to make sure and play tough defense without fouling. Bobby Maze and Melvin Goins are both solid defenders and should be able to put at least some pressure on John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. Maze and Goins, however, need to attack Kentucky’s guards in the same sense that Chism needs to attack Kentucky’s bigs.
“We absolutely have got to get out to a great start. You cannot go into a place like Rupp and spot them anything. Transition is where they are so deadly. They are the best transition team in the country and we have to key on getting back on defense if we are going to have any chance to win.” UT Head Coach Bruce Pearl
This game is going to be extremely important and tough for Tennessee swingman Scotty Hopson. Hailing from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Hopson has many detractors and angry Wildcat fans because of his choice to play college ball at Tennessee instead of joining Big Blue. Neither Coach Pearl, nor Scotty seem to be too worried about that though. “Scotty has been through all of that stuff last season and I do not have to say anything to any of these guys to get them ready to go versus Kentucky. It’s Tennessee and Kentucky, enough said,” added Pearl.
Scotty also seems very prepared and excited to take on the Cats. “SEC road games are all tough and all are in hostile environments. The other road games that we have played in this conference have prepared me to be able to ignore the boos and things that fans might say. I’m just going in there focused and ready to play my game. Coach has really been preaching to me to start creating my own scoring opportunities and using my talents to the best of my ability,” says UT Forward Scotty Hopson.
The time for talk is over, the stage is set, ESPN’s College Gameday is in the house and both teams are ready to the nation what they are made of. Coach Pearl hopes to improve his 3-5 against Kentucky and his 2-2 against Coach Calipari. Rupp will be rocking, but will Kentucky keep rolling in the SEC East? Or will Tennessee come to play and shock the college hoops world?

GOINS, A NEW PLAYER UPON RETURN

Midway through the SEC regular season, Tennessee has taken some lumps, but some players are starting to show significant improvement. At the top of that list is JUCO transfer PG Melvin Goins. Goins's role with the Vols most of the season has been to come off of the bench and play solid defense and give Bobby Maze rest minutes. Anything offensively that the team got from Goins was considered a bonus and unexpected.
Against Vanderbilt, with the team struggling to get anything going, Melvin found himself in his familiar role heading into the game for Maze. Upon entering, Goins showed aggressiveness from the moment he stepped on the court. Goins, who is built like a miniature Sherron Collins of Kansas, short in stature at 5'11" but incredibly strong in his upper body made two tough floaters in the lane that many players could even get off. "Melvin is a factor when he is on the floor, and I think that by him missing a few games, he has a greater appreciation for the playing time that he gets now. Melvin seems a lot more dedicated and you can see that in his defense as of late," said Coach Pearl.
Goins's stat line against Vandy of 11 points, 5 assists, and a steal doesn't necessarily blow you away, but if the Vols could get these numbers from him on a consistent level, it would be greatly beneficial. "Tonight's game was a huge confidence booster that I hope to build on, but I still wish we could have come out with the W. We have a huge game coming up this weekend against Kentucky, so I can't get too caught up in how well I played against Vandy," said Goins.
Melvin is no stranger to being a scorer. While in high school, he averaged 18 points per game, and in junior college at Mt. San Jacinto College in California, he put up 17.2 ppg. "I know that I can score and hope that I can keep making shots and doing anything I can to help out my team," Goins said. When asked about the daunting challenge facing him in Rupp Arena this weekend, Melvin said "I always love playing against the best competition and it pushes me to play stronger and harder. With ESPN Gameday being there, I mean this is any college player's dream to play on this big of a stage and I am really looking forward to it."
Goins is not underestimating the talents of Kentucky PG John Wall or SG Eric Bledsoe at all. He knows that he could be matched up at some point against either of them and feels that he is ready. "John Wall is a great player, arguably the best in the nation right now and Kentucky has a #2 ranking, so we are going to have to scrap for everything against them," Goins added.
Coach Pearl also knows the importance of Goins continuing stellar play. "Few guys can make the kinds of tough shots that Melvin makes. Add to that the way that he plays tough, hard-nosed defense and I think that he will be vital to us having success on Saturday night," said Pearl. Melvin Goins is a star that is just starting to shine and both he and Volnation hope that shine continues glowing brighter and brighter.