Tennessee Tidbits * The Vols got an early start to the 2003-04 season with a trip to the Dominican Republic from Oct. 15-19. UT went 1-1 playing against teams that were made up of members of the Dominican Under-21 National Team. Scooter McFadgon led the Vols with 29.0 points per game while C.J. Watson and Brandon Crump each added 12.0 points Jemere Hendrix contributed 9.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two contests.
* The Vol roster does not list any seniors. In fact, the only scholarship player who has been a part of the program for more than one season is junior forward Brandon Crump.
* C.J. Watson gained additional international experience as a member of the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team that competed in the Global Games in Dallas and in the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Junior World Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece.
* After sitting out the 2002-03 season, transfers Jemere Hendrix and Scooter McFadgon are eligible to play. Hendrix is a sophomore forward from Clemson who gained a reputation as a tenacious rebounder in practices last season while McFadgon is a junior guard from Memphis who is an outstanding shooter.
* UT was picked to finish third in the SEC East in a preseason poll of the league's media.
* Tennessee begins its 95th season of basketball with a 1,316-853-2 overall record.
Tennessee In Season-Openers
Tennessee has won its season-opener in each of the last four seasons, including a 71-69 win over Gardner-Webb last season ... In their last 18 season-openers, the Vols have recorded a 16-2 record ... The only teams to post a win over the Vols in that time were No. 18 Arizona (73-72 on Nov. 13, 1998) and East Tennessee State (87-79 on Nov. 25, 1991).
Tennessee In Home-Openers
Tennessee has won 11 home-openers in a row ... UT's last loss in a home opener was on Nov. 25, 1991 when East Tennessee State posted a 87-79 win in Thompson-Boling Arena ... ETSU went on to post a 24-7 record that included a win over Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Looking At Wofford
The Terriers return two starters and a total of seven lettermen from a team that went 14-15 and finished third in the South Division of the Southern Conference last season ... Wofford is playing its first game this year, the Terriers did not play any exhibition games ... Wofford was picked to finish fourth in the SoCon's South Division in a preseason poll of the league's media ... Junior guard Adrien Borders is Wofford's top returning scorer after averaging 9.7 points and 3.1 assists as a sophomore ... Borders, who also competes for Wofford's track team, won the triple jump and the long jump at the 2003 Southern Conference Outdoor Track Championship ... Sam Daniels, a 6-foot-9 junior center is the only other returning starter ... Projected starter Greg Taylor sat out last season after transferring from South Carolina ... Justin Stephens, a guard who was named to the 2001-02 All-SoCon Freshman Team after averaging 12.4 points, returns to the lineup after suffering a serious knee injury in the second game of the season last year ... The Terriers are coached by Mike Young who is 14-15 after his first season at Wofford and as a head coach ... Young spent 13 seasons on the bench at Wofford as an assistant to Richard Johnson before assuming the head coaching duties prior to last season.
Westbury Christian Connection
Tennessee sophomore Stanley Asumnu and Wofford freshman Ugo Ihekweazu were high school teammates at Westbury Christian Academy in Houston, Texas ... The duo helped lead the Wildcats to a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Class 3A championship in 2001 when Asumnu was a senior and Ihekweazu was a sophomore.
The Wofford Series
Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Terriers, 5-0 ... This is the first meeting between the schools since the 1997-98 season when UT took a 92-63 win in Knoxville ... UT leads the series 4-0 when it is played in Knoxville ... This is just the third meeting between Tennessee and Wofford since the early 1950s ... Buzz Peterson recorded a 3-0 record against Wofford when he was the head coach at Appalachian State (1996-2000) ... Tennessee is 77-12 against current members of the Southern Conference.
Looking Back At The Southeastern All-Stars Game
Tennessee completed the sweep of its two exhibition games with a 114-71 win over the Southeastern All-Stars on Nov. 14 ... The Vols' 114 points were a school record for most points scored in an exhibition game ... All 13 players on the UT roster scored at least two points in the game ... Brandon Crump led four Vols in double-figure scoring with 19 points and 14 rebounds ... Scooter McFadgon added 17 points while Stanley Asumnu had 14 and Jemere Hendrix contributed 12 ... Tennessee shot 53.8 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line ... Marvin Ricks, a former Idaho star, led the Southeastern All-Stars with 27 points ... UT had 28 assists on 43 field goals ... It was the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Vols scored 100 or more points in both of their exhibition games.
Vols Sign Big Recruiting Class
Jackie Butler, a 6-foot-11 forward/center, and Damion Harris, a 6-foot-10 forward, signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Vols during the early signing period.
* Jackie Butler: One of the highest-rated big men to sign with Tennessee in school history, Butler is a 6-foot-11, 250-pound native of McComb, Miss. A consensus top-25 player nationally, he was named to the 2003 McDonald's All-America Team. Last year at McComb High School Butler averaged 19.5 points, 17.3 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game as a senior. As a junior he nearly averaged a triple-double with 25 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks while leading McComb HS to a 25-game winning streak. Butler is the sixth McDonald's All-America to sign with the Vols and the first since Vincent Yarbrough in 1998. Other former Vols who were McDonald's All-Americas include Tony Harris (1997), Charles Hathaway (1996), Allan Houston (1989), Doug Roth (1985) and Yarbrough (1998).
* Damion Harris: A 6-foot-10, 255-pound forward from Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, SC, Harris averaged 14.9 points and 14 rebounds while leading the Generals to a 13-10 record and an appearance in the state playoffs as a junior. A player who has drawn comparisons to former North Carolina all-America and current Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood, he was recently named an honorable mention selection on Street & Smith's 2003 Boys High School All-America Team.
High-Octane Offense
After a pair of exhibition games in the Dominican Republic and two more exhibition games at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Vols are averaging 102.8 points per game ... The Vols have scored 92, 95, 110 and 114 points, respectively in their exhibition games ... In the two exhibition games played at Thompson-Boling Arena the Vols averaged 112.0 points ... The 114 points against the Southeastern All-Stars are the most ever by the Vols in an exhibition game ... The previous high came in a 112-85 win over the African All-Stars on Dec. 25, 1976 in a game played in Madrid, Spain.
Vols Get Head Start On Season
While most other Division I basketball teams were holding their first practice of the season on Oct. 18, the Vols had already practiced 10 times and played two games ... After starting practice on Oct. 1, Tennessee traveled to the Dominican Republic Oct. 15-19 to play a pair of exhibition games against members of the Dominican Under-21 National Team ... Tennessee dropped the first game in La Romana 96-92 despite 36 points from Scooter McFadgon and 16 points and eight rebounds from Brandon Crump ... The next night the Vols traveled to Santo Domingo where they picked up a 95-92 win ... During the trip, McFadgon led the Vols with 29.0 points per game while C.J. Watson and Crump each added 12.0 points and Jemere Hendrix contributed 9.5 points and 9.0 rebounds ... The Vols had an opportunity to enjoy the Caribbean sun and beaches but also assisted the communities they visited by holding youth clinics and bringing gifts of books, clothing and medicine ... One of the highlights of the trip came on the final afternoon when each of the players and coaches participated in a game of donkey polo.
Watson's World Tour
Sophomore point guard C.J. Watson had a busy summer travelling the world in 2003 ... The Las Vegas, Nev., native was a member of the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team that competed in the Global Games in Dallas and in the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Junior World Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece ... Team USA rolled through the Global Games, winning the gold medal with a 104-80 win over the Global Games Select Team in the championship game ... At the FIBA Junior World Championship, Team USA fell out of medal contention with a loss to Australia in the quarterfinals but still finished the tournament with a 7-1 record ... Watson averaged 6.0 points, 2.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds while playing 21.3 minutes per game in Greece.
Big Men On Campus
Brandon Crump and Boomer Herndon both spent a session at Pete Newell's Big Man Camp in Las Vegas over the summer ... For Crump it is the second consecutive year that he has attended the camp ... The twosome were among about 60 college players and a dozen NBA players attending the camp in early August ... One of the instructors Herndon worked with the most was 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson.
The Memphis Mafia
From the late 1950s until his death in 1977, Elvis Presley's friends were known as the Memphis Mafia ... In 2003-04 the Tennessee Volunteers have their own version of the Memphis Mafia ... Four players and one staff member are natives of the Bluff City ... Dane Bradshaw (White Station HS), Scooter McFadgon (Raleigh-Egypt HS), Fred Smithwick (Christian Brothers HS) and Lou Wright (Raleigh-Egypt HS) all attended high school in Memphis ... Former Vol guard and current administrative coordinator Clarence Swearengen is also a native of Memphis.
Homecourt Advantage
Thompson-Boling Arena has provided the Vols with a definite homecourt advantage since the facility opened in time for the 1987-88 season.
* Tennessee is 176-75 (.701) in its 17th season in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Since the 1998 season, the Vols are 77-16 (.828) in Thompson-Boling Arena.
* Tennessee is 63-14 (.818) since the 1999 season at home. UT recorded a 14-1 record in 1999, a 15-1 mark in 2000, 12-3 in 2001, 10-4 in 2002 and 12-5 in 2003.
* The Vols are 36-13 against SEC teams at home over the last four plus seasons.
* UT has won 47 of its last 50 home games against non-conference opponents.
