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.

JEM 200 Reporting Assignment

HONEYCUTT, Jordan
February 10, 2010
New. Challenges, opportunities

HUGE CHALLENGES, GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FACE
UT TRANSFER STUDENTS

According to University of Tennessee Academic Advisor Betty Bradley transferring from a smaller college, or from another state can be a daunting task for a student in today’s world. There are many things to consider before stepping up to the plate and diving into this new experience.

Students have to be able to adapt to different cultures, new areas, possibly new laws and tougher classes. There are several key steps that can be taken by students to ease this transition period.

From a student’s perspective, the most important thing to do is keep an open mind. Say yes to activities, socials, and any situation where interaction with veteran students occurs. Always keep yourself busy, either by going to some of the aforementioned events or by going to the gym, which both can lead to meeting new people.

“The main issue that I see is that some courses do not transfer to UT and it is hard to deal with the frustration of things not going smoothly. Team Vols and the student success center are great resources offered by UT and transfer students say that they really enjoy the atmosphere and people,” says Bradley.Transfer student Caleb Larson from Houston, Tex. had his own take on the experience. “Meeting people, getting out there and learning to be more independent are the biggest challenges facing transfer students,” Larson said. Larson’s best advice for incoming transfers is to “Get involved in an activity that you enjoy and that you really care about.”

“It is very important for UT to be attractive to transfers and the main reason that I ended up here is that it felt like home when I visited with my family and my Dad graduated from UT,” Larson added.
There are also many great tips available for students on the Web site www.quintcareers.com. Quintcareers.com suggests 25 tips for freshman/transfer students. Everything from getting organized to not feeling pressured into making hasty decisions is mentioned on quintcareers.com. “Be prepared to feel overwhelmed, but the decision that a transfer student makes to continue education away from their home and comfort zone is truly beneficial and rewarding,” said Bradley.