2008-2009 Roster Preview: J.P. Prince

• Junior
• 6′7″,205
• Memphis, TN (via Arizona)
• Major: Arts and Sciences

J.P. Prince came to Tennessee with an outstanding high school history but an experience at Arizona to be forgotten. People around Knoxville didn’t know what to expect– here was a big time talent out of Memphis that elected to go out West, had measly stats as a freshman, and wanted to come back to Tennessee. Speculation about attitude issues and overrated talent was rampant and many, as with the Tyler Smith transfer, wanted Coach Pearl to say “no thanks.”

Many didn’t realize at the time what Prince had been through in Arizona. Namely, a wisdom tooth removal turned infection turned respiratory issue turned coma that left Prince in the hospital for weeks and on a respirator for 16 days. After the near-death episode, Prince was weakened and could hardly contribute in his sophomore year at Arizona. Midway through the season he decided that he needed a new place and a fresh start (and after seeing the Emmanuel Negedu experience with Lute Olsen, it wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted a new coach too).

Some questions about his ability were answered last year about this time, when Prince and Tyler Smith teamed up to rule the Rocky Top League as a hyper-athletic duo with a knack for finding each other and the rim. We learned he could run, pass, and really finish, and that he was even taller than we realized. Of course, the RTL only gives glimpses of what a player can do– the setting is not appropriate for scouting.

When Prince made his debut against Western Kentucky on December 15, he didn’t disappoint Tennessee fans: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 19 minutes. It was clear that he was a multidimensional threat that could help the Vols at several positions. He would go on to score double figures in 4 of the next 5 games, including a dominating 23-point performance that led the Vols to a huge road win at Xavier.

This raised the expectations of Tennessee fans, which of course is a double edged sword. Inevitably there would be a letdown and people would return to their complaints, as fans are wont to do. Prince was a solid contributor for the remainder of the season, averaging 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, mainly playing the small forward position.

That is, until the NCAA tournament. Down the stretch of the season Jordan Howell couldn’t throw it in the ocean and Ramar Smith couldn’t do much either, and Bruce had to roll the dice. J.P. would be the Vols’ point guard. The decision was widely criticized but most understood that the situation was desperate. Without better PG play there was no way the Vols would advance through the tourney.

Unfortunately J.P. was not at his best in these circumstances, and you really couldn’t expect him to be. He played hard but made some key mistakes. In the 3 NCAA tourney games, Prince had 13 turnovers to just 8 assists. Unfortunately that left some Tennessee fans with a bad taste in their mouths, about Prince, the season, and Coach Pearl. All are ridiculous as all three are/were excellent. But it does likely mean that Prince has played his last minutes as UT’s starting PG. He may get some emergency time at the position and will surely lead UT in breaks when he’s on the floor, but his days as a 1 are numbered. He played much better at the 3 and his skills will most help UT there.

For the 2008-2009 Vols, most fans agree that Prince will play a vital role. He has a good chance of starting at small forward with the departure of JaJuan Smith, giving the Vols some much needed height at the position. He will battle Cameron Tatum for that spot, though Tatum has the edge right now due to J.P.’s off-season shoulder surgery. Even if he doesn’t start, you can count on Prince to at least equal his PT from last year of 19 minutes. He brings enough to the table to warrant more depending on the circumstances, especially if he can improve his jumpshot. He’s tall, has long arms, and can get to the rim and distribute or finish. Add a jumpshot to that and you have NBA potential. We’ll see if that develops. For now, I have Prince penciled in as the starter at the 3. With Cameron Tatum tearing up the RTL and Prince on the DL, it’ll be tough for me to keep it that way, but I’m sticking with experience right now. I’m counting on Prince to make great strides when he returns and to take his game and the Vols up another notch.

Previous player previews:

• Ryan Childress
• Wayne Chism
• Josh Tabb

Tennessee 82, Xavier 75

When Tony Jones and Bruce Pearl stack the Vols’ schedule with quality teams, they envision nationally televised contests and resume-quality wins to boost RPI and NCAA seed. The Vols grabbed ahold of both yesterday by beating the Xavier Musketeers on their home floor in the Cintas Center in front of an ESPN national audience.

Xavier is very much a quality opponent, with some marquee wins and high efficiency marks. In fact, Xavier is still above Tennessee in pythag (#19 vs. Tennessee’s #25) even after the Vols handed them a loss. They are the class of the Atlantic 10, which sports 8 pythag top-100 teams, and you can bet the Musketeers will win 20-25 games and grab an NCAA tournament bid when March rolls around.

Tennessee, which struggled mightily away from Thompson-Boling Arena last year (6-9), has now won three straight road/neutral tests and is 4-1 away from home before Christmas. That alone provides a nice boost to Tennessee’s RPI, and beating quality teams like Xavier and WVU are only going to improve that further.

We saw some great things in this game. First of all, Arizona fans and coach Lute Olsen probably would not recognize this J.P Prince fellow. Prince went on the offensive vs. Xavier, piling up 23 points on 9-15 shooting in 20 minutes of play. With JaJuan Smith having an abysmal offensive game and Chris Lofton not terribly effective either, Prince took it upon himself to aggressively attack the basket. Time and time again, Prince made his man look foolish en route to an easy deuce. Very smooth and athletic, Prince has become the tall, rangy wing that Tennessee fans have been dreaming of since Vincent Yarbrough failed to live up to expectations. He also may be the piece of the puzzle that this year’s Vols had been missing.

In addition to Prince’s efforts, the Vols got improved play out of Wayne Chism (12 points, 3 steals, 1 TO) and Ramar Smith (9 points, 4 steals, 3 assists, 1 TO), which bodes well for the future. Those two are as talented as anyone on the Vol roster but had been very disappointing early in the season. Tyler Smith was his usual steady self (12 points, 3 steals, 2 assists, 0 TO).

Lofton was aggressive and played solid defense, especially in the 2nd half. He attempted only five threes but seven two-point baskets, a far cry from previous outings. Lofton got to the hole effectively but got zero respect from the refs, getting hammered each time and getting no calls. He should have been to the line at least three times and had closer to 15 points, but those opportunities were denied.

The officials, in fact, were just lousy. Tennessee got the short end of the stick, but the calls were extremely inconsistent both ways. Xavier coach Sean Miller was assessed a technical in the first half for arguing, seemingly innocuously, a call that he disagreed with, and Coach Pearl managed to one-up him by getting T’d up when he wasn’t talking to the refs at all.

Between the officiating and a rowdy crowd at the Cintas Center, the Vols had a lot to overcome against a very good Xavier team. This experience, and of course the win, will pay major dividends down the road as the Vols have the SEC slate and three huge non-conference games (Gonzaga, Ohio State, Memphis) left to play.

Tennessee’s defense left a bit to be desired at times in the game, but for the last four minutes it was smothering, forcing Xavier into mistakes and getting transition buckets as a result. The Vols were also badly outrebounded (39-26) so there is plenty to learn from and improve upon. But Coach Pearl and the players have a lot to be proud of, and this will definitely be a feather in their cap when March rolls around.

Up next: Gonzaga and another major road test in front of a big (ESPN2) audience. The Vols need to build off of this win and keep improving, and this game showed that they are definitely capable of stepping up their play when it counts. Let’s hope the improvement by Wayne and Ramar is a permanent change. If it is, the Vols will be very tough to beat on anybody’s floor.

Color me confused

In this article on GoVolsXtra, Bruce Pearl is trying to help clarify the player rotation, how J.P. Prince will affect it, and what happens with Death Star and Cameron Tatum. Of the freshmen, he says, “so that’s what we’re wrestling with. I want to keep them both ready, and we’ll have to see how things go throughout the season, whether they’re eligible for a redshirt situation.”

This topic has been discussed repeatedly regarding football players, and to my knowledge the rules are the same for basketball and football. Barring serious injury early in the year, no player can redshirt if he has participated in a regular season game. Tatum and Williams have both participated in multiple games this year, so how could they possibly redshirt? That would only be possible if injury kept them from playing. We know for sure that Williams had his knee banged up, but he’s played since then. Tatum has no injuries to my knowledge.

So how can either redshirt? I’ll admit I’m easily confused, but these comments have me perplexed. Hopefully we’ll find out soon what Bruce will do with these guys, and get some clarification on why they may be able to redshirt.

The rest of the article talks about what will happen when J.P. Prince becomes eligible for the Dec. 15 game against Western Kentucky. Bruce is pretty matter of fact about that with these quotes:

“J.P. is going to be in the nine. He’s going to take minutes from Ramar (Smith) or Jordan (Howell), Josh Tabb or JaJuan (Smith). One of those guys will come out, or (Prince) takes some minutes from all of them and the rotation will be 10, (but) I’m leaning toward a nine-man rotation with one of those four guys getting pulled out.”

“We’ve got (many days) of practice coming up, and I promise you, Ramar, Jordan, Josh and JaJuan will be fighting to keep J.P. Prince out of the rotation.”

That’s pretty clear. J.P. must have really impressed Bruce in practice, which is exactly what we heard from people who had viewed practices before J.P. was hurt. Pearl has no doubt Prince will be in the rotation and it’s just a matter of who misses out. This creates a really interesting situation for the four guards mentioned above.

It also makes me wonder if Bruce hasn’t just been biding his time for the last few games, not really settling on a rotation or assignment of minutes until Prince returns. Clearly he thinks Prince changes everything, so the rotation is going to be affected considerably.

If you ask me, Josh Tabb and Ramar Smith are the two that have to show Bruce something in practice the next week. Tabb hasn’t played poorly but his impact has been hard to notice at times. Smith has been noticeably inconsistent and has shown little progress from a year ago. It’s hard for me to imagine that JaJuan Smith or Jordan Howell will sit.

Pay attention, folks. The season was already fun to watch, and it’s going to get a lot more interesting in the next week or two.