MARTIN’S PROGRAM MANTRA: #TOUGHERBREED ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE ¢ The Tennessee basketball team’s performance in the classroom has improved dramatically since head coach Cuonzo Martin’s arrival on Rocky Top. There have been several noteworthy highlights. ¢ When the NCAA released its most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) data in June 2013, the basketball program’s multi-year score of 973 was its best ever. ¢ Martin has been at the helm for each of the program’s two best multi-year APR scores ever (961 in 2012, 973 in 2013). ¢ The program’s 2.63 team GPA for the Spring 2013 semester was its best since the data started being recorded in 2003. ¢ In Martin’s two years at Tennessee, every outgoing senior has received his degree. ¢ A total of 21 Tennessee men’s basketball players have graduated in the last five years. Those players are: Josh Bone, Quinn Cannington, Ryan Childress, Wayne Chism, John Fields, Melvin Goins, Kenny Hall, Tony Harris, Michael Hubert, Justin Jackson, Chris Lofton, Skylar McBee, Dwight Miller, Rob Murphy, Steven Pearl, J.P. Prince, Tyler Summitt, Cameron Tatum, C.J. Watson, Tanner Wild and Renaldo Woolridge. ¢ Of those 21 graduates in the last five years, 10 went on to sign professional basketball contracts and two have gone into coaching.
EMPHASIS OF THE DAY ¢ Prior to every Tennessee practice, Cuonzo Martin gathers the Vols at midcourt and discusses the “Emphasis of the Day.” ¢ The Emphasis of the Day rarely focuses on basketball-specific skills or strategy, as Martin typically uses it as a vehicle for character building and personal development. As such, it has become something that the members of the team look forward to each day. ¢ Martin typically begins by reading that day’s “emphasis” aloud. He then asks one or two players to read it aloud before opening a team-wide discussion during which different team members are asked to interpret the meaning in their own words. ¢ “Everyday when coach gives the guys the emphasis of the day, it’s something that really makes them think and become closer as a team,” associate head coach Tracy Webster said. “A lot of times, the things that he says really hit home with the guys. It can be about family life, it can be a scripture, it can be a quote from someone, but it’s all geared around `team.’ ¢ Added Webster: “If the guys are having a hard time understanding the message, he breaks it down for them and makes sure that they do. It’s kind of like prayer before a meal. It’s to help you get off to a good start. ¢ A few examples: When someone does well, we all do well. When someone makes a mistake, we all make the mistake. Let’s figure out the best way to constructively help each other. When we are reliable, others know that they can depend on us. They know that we will make the effort to do our best, whatever the situation might be. They know we won’t run, cower or become paralyzed by fear.
Tennessee head coach Cuonzo Martin introduced a new program slogan this season: A Tougher Breed. “Toughness has got to be what we are as a program. That’s our brand, our way of life,” Martin said. So the Vols embody that “tougher breed” approach in all they do. Their workouts, which oftentimes begin long before sunrise. The standards to which coaches hold players and players hold each other. It can hardly be surprising that Tennessee also employs some boxing workouts from time to time, or that the Vols are embracing their lacing up the sneakers like a pugilist tying on gloves. They proudly wear T-shirts with orange boxing gloves that read “Let’s Rumble.” “That came from the coaching staff. We’ve done boxing workouts as a team. It just shows our toughness and our tenacity,” senior forward Jeronne Maymon explained. “How we get after things. Especially on the court, we’re always pushing and shoving each other and testing our brothers on the practice court. The sport of boxing is a good translation to what we do in practice and the weight room and other things in life. “It would be hard to find a tougher team in America than the University of Tennessee men’s basketball program. That’s what we hang our hat on. You’ve got to find something to hang your hat on, and we hang our hat on toughness.” Proof of said toughness is undeniable across Martin’s first two campaigns in Knoxville; his teams held foes to fewer than 65 points per game both seasons and also ranked second each year in the SEC in rebounding margin. “Coach Martin has a very steady personality. He doesn’t waver. You always know what you’re going to get, so I think that’s what really keeps us on balance,” said Maymon. “So if (coach’s) personality wavered and sometimes he was happy and sometimes he was sad and he made us do drills off his emotions, then we’d be unbalanced. But he’s very stable, and we know what we’re getting and what we’re getting into every day. So it’s pretty easy for us to adapt to his personality. Martin now knows without a doubt this Tennessee team wants to earn and desperately craves the opportunity to proclaim and wear that label of toughness. “The one thing about it, every guy wants to be considered tough; they like the results behind it on the floor but also the stuff we do in the weight room,” Martin said. “Guys love to have a level of toughness, like the shirts we’ve got with the boxing gloves and ’Let’s rumble.’ We enjoy that, we embrace that. We want to be as tough as we can be on the basketball floor and as nice as we can be off the basketball floor.”
“Toughness has got to be what we are as a program. That’s our brand, our way of life.” — Cuonzo Martin
VOLS IN THE NBA ¢ Former Vol Tobias Harris (2011) was traded from Milwaukee to Orlando in February. As a starter for the Magic last year, he averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 36 minutes per game.
¢ Veteran NBA point guard C.J. Watson (2003-06) enters his seveth NBA season with a new team: the Indiana Pacers. Through his first six seasons, Watson averaged 7.6 points and 2.5 assists per game.
¢ Vol legends Ernie Grunfeld (1974-77) and Allan Houston (1990-93) each hold NBA front-office titles. Grunfeld is in his 11th year as president of the Wizards, and Houston is the assistant general manager of the New York Knicks.
2013-14 TENNESSEE BASKETBALL » UTSPORTS.COM » @VOL_HOOPS » #TOUGHERBREED