STAFF UPDATES
¢ Cuonzo Martin announced on July 3 that he had promoted Tracy Webster to associate head coach. Webster, who, like Martin, is in his second season with the Vols, previously held the title of assistant coach since his hiring on April 5, 2011. ¢ Webster works closely with Tennessee’s guards, and his player development efforts last season helped the Vols finish second in the SEC after initially being projected to finish 11th in the then12-team league. ¢ Martin, along with UT’s head strength and conditioning coach, Ron McKeefery, announced on May 31 that Nicodemus Christopher had been hired to oversee all strength and conditioning efforts related to the men’s basketball program. ¢ A native of San Diego, Calif., Christopher has previous experience as an assistant sports performance coach at Accelerate Performance Enhancement Center (APEC) in Tyler, Texas, and he worked as a sports performance coach at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in Dallas. ¢ He has assisted with NFL training camp preparation and off-season workouts for NFL standouts such as Marion Barber, Bradie James, Akin Ayodele, Donald Driver and Weslye Saunders, just to name a few. ¢ Christopher got his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance from Baylor (2007) and a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis on biomechanics and anatomical kinesiology from the University of Texas at Tyler (2010).
STOKES ON WOODEN AWARD, NAISMITH TROPHY WATCH LISTS
¢ The Los Angeles Athletic Club placed sophomore power forward Jarnell Stokes on its John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top-50 list. ¢ Stokes also landed on the 50-player, early-season watch list for the Naismith Trophy.
VOLS SEEKING EIGHTH STRAIGHT SEASON OF TOP-FIVE ATTENDANCE
¢ The Vols finished fifth nationally in average regular-season home attendance last year, drawing 17,411 fans per game. ¢ As of Nov. 3, Tennessee had already sold more season tickets for the 2012-13 campaign (13,000+) than there are total seats at five different SEC arenas.
5,381
TWO VOLS LAND ON “TOP 100” LIST
¢ Tennessee’s frontcourt tandem of Jeronne Maymon and Jarnell Stokes was honored by CBSSports.com in the preseason, as each player landed on the website’s list of “College Basketball’s Top 100 Players.” ¢ Stokes and Maymon were listed at Nos. 25 and 69, respectively. ¢ Tennessee was one of 22 schools (and one of four in the SEC) to place multiple players in the list’s top 70. ¢ Stokes and Maymon headline what CBSsports. com college basketball expert Gary Parrish touts as “one of the nation’s best front courts.” ¢ The pair weighs in at 530 pounds and combined for 22.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game a season ago.
GOLDEN, MAYMON, STOKES GARNER PRESEASON ALL-SEC HONORS
BIG ORANGE ANNIVERSARIES
¢ The 2012-13 season marks the 50th anniversary of legendary head coach Ray Mears’ first season at UT. Mears was the head coach at Tennessee for 15 years from 1962-63 to 1976-77 and boasted a .713 winning percentage (278-112). He passed away on June 11, 2007. ¢ The 2012-13 campaign also is the 70th anniversary of Tennessee’s 1943 SEC Championship team, which finished 14-4 (6-3 SEC) under head coach John Mauer. ¢ Twenty years ago, Allan Houston captured the 1993 SEC scoring title (22.3 ppg) – and he also broke Ernie Grunfeld’s school scoring record. ¢ And Ron Slay was the league’s scoring champion 10 years ago, averaging 21.2 ppg in 2003.
ANOTHER AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE
¢ Trae Golden was s second-team selection on the coaches' preseason All-SEC Team. ¢ Jeronne Maymon made the coaches’ All-SEC first team but was a second-team selection by the league’s media. ¢ Jarnell Stokes was named to the media’s fiveman preseason All-SEC first team (and received three votes for SEC POY), but the league’s coaches tabbed him as a second-teamer.
¢ In keeping with recent tradition, Tennessee’s schedule will once again rank among the most difficult in the nation... ¢ At least 17 games against teams that won 20 or more games last season ¢ At least 13 games against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season (and at least seven games against teams who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen) ¢ At least 12 games against teams with a top-50 RPI last season
LEAGUE MEDIA PICKS VOLS FOURTH
80 = TIPPING POINT
¢ A preseason poll of SEC and national media members projected Tennessee to finish fourth in the 14-team SEC this season. ¢ The Vols were picked to finish 11th in last year’s preseason media poll (the league had 12 teams), but went 10-6 to finish second in the final standings in Cuonzo Martin’s first season at UT.
¢ In five seasons as a head coach, Cuonzo Martin’s teams are 16-2 when they score at least 80 points. That’s not surprising given the emphasis Martin places on unrelenting defensive pressure, tenacity and technique.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
¢ For the second straight year, Tennessee’s roster includes four players from the state of Georgia. ¢ UT’s three returnees from the Peach State were responsible for more than 47 percent of the total Division I points scored (2,541) by this year’s roster. Trae Golden (555), Kenny Hall (331), Jordan McRae (311) combined for 1,197 points entering this season. ¢ Backup point guard Armani Moore is a true freshman from Kennesaw, Ga.
¢ The Vols’ 2012-13 roster features 15 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing three nations and seven states. ¢ Four Vols hail from the state of Tennessee, while four are from Georgia. ¢ Tennessee has five seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. ¢ The roster includes nine guards, five forwards and one center. ¢ Six Vols stand 6-5 or shorter, and nine are 6-6 or taller.
BIG ORANGE ROSTER PEACH FLAVORED ONCE AGAIN
VOLS COACHES SCORED AT ELITE LEVEL DURING COLLEGE PLAYING DAYS
TENNESSEE ONCE AGAIN BOASTS THE NATION’S HIGHEST-SCORING COACHING STAFF During their playing days, Tennessee’s four full-time coaches combined for more Division I points than any other staff in America. STAFF 1. Tennessee 2. Syracuse 3. Tulsa 4. Auburn 5. Valparaiso 6. TCU 7. Rhode Island 8. Missouri State 9. Duke 10. Princeton
POINTS BREAKDOWN 5,381 Martin (Purdue) – 1,666; Webster (Wisconsin) – 1,264; Harris (Marquette) – 439; Williams (SIU) – 2,012 5,010 Boeheim (Syracuse) – 745; Hopkins (Syracuse) – 628; Autry (Syracuse) – 1,538; McNamara (Syracuse) – 2,099 4,724 Manning (Kansas) – 2,951; Ballard (Kansas) – 59; Woodberry (Kansas) – 1,240; Moore (Ga. Southern) - 474 4,373 Barbee (UMass) – 1,643; Madlock (Memphis) – 894; Wagner (Louisville) – 1,836 4,146 Drew (Valparaiso) – 2,142; Powell Jr. (Illinois) – 1,178; Diebler (Valparaiso) – 826 4,102 Johnson (Boise State) – 1,555; Guerinoni (Nevada) – 197; Scott (Rice) – 1,906; Williamson (Tulsa) – 844 4,019 Hurley (Seton Hall) – 1,070; Hurley (Duke) – 1,731; Murphy (Rhode Island) – 1,218 3,918 Lusk (Iowa, SIU) – 1,666; Baldwin (Northwestern) – 1,189; Henderson (Miami-Ohio) – 458; Tilmon (SIU) – 605 3,805 Krzyzewski (Army) – 426; Collins (Duke) – 1,091; Wojciehowski (Duke) – 687; Capel (Duke) – 1,601 3,804 Henderson (Princeton) – 970; Earl (Princeton) – 1,428; Jenkins (Air Force) – 17; Geriot (Richmond) – 1,389
Includes points scored at Division I institutions only; Includes current full-time “coaches” only (no support staff, directors of operations, etc). 2012-13 TENNESSEE BASKETBALL » UTSPORTS.COM » @VOL_HOOPS