Tennessee Opens Exhibition Play Wednesday
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* The Vols are 37-11 all-time in exhibition games. Last year Tennessee won both of its exhibition games, a 75-70 win over EA Sports and an 108-80 victory over BC Cesis of Latvia.
* Tennessee was picked to finish third in the SEC East in a preseason poll of the league's media.
* Of the 15 players to earn Associated Press All-SEC honors in 2002-03 only three of them return. Justin Reed (Ole Miss), Timmy Bowers (Mississippi State) and Matt Freije (Vanderbilt) each earned third team honors last year.
* Tennessee begins its 95th season of basketball with a 1,316-853-2 overall record.
Noting EA Sports
EA Sports will be playing its fourth game in six days when it visits Tennessee on Wednesday ... The All-Stars are coming off a 78-90 loss at Louisville on Monday ... Mike Chappell led EA Sports with 19 points while Ricky Price added 18 points and Paul Shirley had 13 rebounds against the Cardinals ... EA Sports opened its 15-game schedule with an 86-82 win at Virginia Tech on Friday, Oct. 31 ... Saturday they fell to preseason Atlantic 10 Conference favorite Xavier, 63-100 ... Price, a former McDonald's All-America and Duke standout, led EA Sports with 27 points against Virginia Tech ... Shirley, a former Iowa State star who spent some time with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks last season, had 11 points against Xavier Saturday ... Tennessee is 2-0 all-time against the EA Sports All-Stars ... Last year UT defeated the All-Stars 75-70 and on Nov. 1, 2001, the Vols won 68-64.
Tennessee In Exhibition Games
The Vols are 37-11 all-time in exhibition games, including a 34-8 mark in home exhibition games ... Tennessee has won 20 of its last 22 exhibition games dating back to the 1992 season ... Last year the Vols swept both of their exhibition games with a 75-70 win over the EA Sports East All-Stars and a 108-80 won over BC Cesis of Latvia.
Vols To Use Experimental Rules In Exhibition Games
Tennessee will participate in an experiment by the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee by using an extended three-point line in its two exhibition games this season ... The three-point line will be moved back to 20-feet, 6.25-inches which is nine inches farther out than what is currently used in NCAA games.
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.
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