Tennessee basketball associate head coach Justin Gainey met with the media Tuesday afternoon as the Vols continue their summer work at Pratt Pavilion.
Before Tennessee’s open practice, Gainey discussed his thoughts on Tennessee’s newcomers, five-star freshman Nate Ament and much more. Here’s everything Gainey said.
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On new players learning what it’s like to play for Rick Barnes
“Yeah, it’s different. It’s definitely different. If you talk to all of them, I think to a man, they’d probably say some of the toughest things they’ve been through from a day to day, just the grind of it, but they love it, right? And that’s the one thing with us through the recruiting process. We lay it out to him, like to be great, to do what you’re trying to do is going to be hard, and so it’s our job to prepare you for that. And get you get you ready. And so all the guys appreciate it. It’s fun for them, right? Because it’s basketball, but it is a little different than I think each of them, whether they’re coming from high school, coming from a different college, university is accustomed to.”
On integrating Tennessee’s new assistant coaches
“Yeah, same thing. It’s different for them as well. Both of those guys, Coach Morgan and Coach McClain, both of those guys have adjusted nicely, blended in nicely. And it always helps to have familiarity with those guys. Coach’s (Barnes) known both of them, and so it makes that transition a little bit smoother.”
On having more depth inside
“Well, you know what it feels like that right now still, since JP isn’t in right now. And Jaylen (Carey) is kind of coming back slowly, so it’s still those two guys banging around, but on paper, excited about it, right, excited about it. And I think the best thing these last two weeks, about those two guys being out, obviously, we want them in, is DeWayne Brown is able to get more reps. As a freshman coming in that development is going to be huge for him. To get these reps in practice is great.”
On if there is more importance this time of year due to the portal
“It does from the standpoint of, especially from a coaching standpoint, and for Coach Barnes is figuring out the new guys. How they learn, what makes them go, how they’re going to react to adversity. What exactly it is that they do at a high level and where they need to improve in and so like this summer is used to find all of that out that you can. How tough are they? How are they going to react to adversity? And so now that the summers have become even more important to getting to know your team because you’re bringing in so many new faces. And look, the last few years, we’ve been lucky. We’ve had a core that’s been intact. That’s been here, that understands Tennessee and the culture that we’ve developed. And so now you’re bringing in a lot of new faces that you know that have to go through it and have to learn.”
On which players have stepped up into a leadership role
“Leadership’s in different ways. From how those guys led, and I’d say like Zakai and Jahmai led different than Josiah and Santi and Uros did, right? But the guys that you kind of see stepping up— Cade, right? Cade has been here, and he’s been through it, and so he’s a guy that has been more vocal, Felix in his own way. His leadership is shining through with his day-to-day habits. And just being around the guys and make sure everybody’s included. And also, JP has been a guy that, although he’s been injured and he’s still working his way back, his voice has still been there. Is even louder. He’s a great connector. And so just bringing the new guys in and showing them, just doing things together whether it’s going to softball games, baseball games, and just just kind of hanging out. So all those three guys have done a great job of it. Of stepping up. And in spurts you see Bishop because although his role was limited last year, he knows what it looks like. And so in spurts you’ll see him, but I’d say Cade, JP and Felix have been the most vocal, and in stepping up in that role.”
On where JP Estrella is at in his injury recovery
“Not full time. He is working his way back. Again, we want to be cautious with him. I’m sure, if needed right now, he probably could. But, again, it’s a long year. And the most important thing is that he is 100% when he does come back. And so you see him doing some stuff on the court, some shooting, some full goal workouts a little bit. He’s on the treadmill running. And so we feel really good about where he is right now from that recovery. And Chad and Garrett, they’ve both done a great job with him, helping him on that recovery.”
On what stands out about freshman guard Amari Evans
“I think for for all of those guys just the thing, I think glaring for them, is like the conditioning you have to be in to do what we do. To play with intensity and force on both sides of the basketball, The intensity levels that are different from high school. And so I think if you ask those two guys to think things that were standing out would be the intensity and just the overall physical condition that you have to be in.”
On if the coaching staff has conversations with freshman about how different it is in college compared to high school
“I don’t think you have to tell them. They know, you know. It’s like, ‘man, coach, this is hard. Like, this is the toughest thing I’ve ever done.’ Or you talk to their coaches and their circle from back home and (they) say, ‘yeah, man, he said, this is really tough.’ So it’s not necessarily you having to tell them. They know it and, you know, it’s a standard that we got to get to. And that’s what they signed up for.”
On his initial impression of Tennessee five-star freshman Nate Ament
“Nate is an unbelievable young man. The things that stand out about him; his character is just unbelievable, off the charts. His ability to pick things up quickly, whether you tell him one time, or he watches the group in front of him. He has a high basketball IQ and an attention span to where he can kind of lock in and focus in on things and pick it up rather quickly.
“On the court, I was just saying his versatility, his ability to score at all three levels. His size and his length make him really unique with his skill set. So it’s been fun. But he’s also a guy too, right, coming out of high school, the intensity and the toughness of everything is, you feel the difference of it. He feels it. He’ll tell you, ‘man, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.’ But he’s a guy that’s determined. He’s gonna make it. He loves those challenges, and it just motivates him more.”
On where Maryland transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie is at in terms of learning the offense
“He’s picking it up. We’ve only been going — this is week three, so nobody has everything kind of figured out. But you know, Ja’Kobi is so naturally gifted and talented. There will be some things that he can improvise on, he can make plays on that may break off the offense a little bit and Coach (Barnes) is okay with it. You know, Coach is okay with him, putting his own twist, his own spin on it. So he’s doing great and he’s picking things up quickly.”
On his favorite part about being back in the gym with the guys
“It’s a good question. Just hanging out with them. Probably more so, the time off the court than on the court, because when we don’t have practice, you don’t really see them a lot. Just because they got so many other things going on with classes and weights and all of that. But it’s the time before and after practice, you get to hang out with them and joke around and do all those things.”
On if they’ve spoken as a coaching staff about the proposed rule change that will coaches to have a challenge
“No, I don’t think so. I do think it puts a lot of pressure on (director of video and analytics) Luke Schapker, who sits behind the bench, and he’s kind of the iPad guy, and so it’s going to ramp up the pressure and intensity on him. But no, we haven’t talked to the guys about it. We usually wait until we bring the officials in and let them kind of go over all the new rules with them and everything.”
On if it’s weird getting back to practice without former Tennessee guard Jordan Gainey on the team
“It is a little different. From a parent standpoint, I was lucky the last two years because you got to see him every day. When your kids leave the house, it is weird, it is different, when they go away for college. The first two years, I kind of got used to it. But then the next two years, when I had a chance to see him every day, you just kind of appreciate it, and now that that’s not the case, it’s just different. I was telling my wife that the other night. I find myself calling him every night just to check in and see what’s going on. But yeah, it is a little different.”
On Tennessee senior forward Felix Okpara’s offensive development this offseason
“Yeah, just continuing to improve it. Look, you won’t be able to improve everything at once, but, you know, just fine-tuning some some small details on positioning and angles, just all those little details is what we are kind of focusing on with him. And he’s done a great job of it. He is a guy that wants to do more, wants to be able to do more down there from an offensive standpoint, right? (We) already feel like he’s one of the best, if not the best, post defender in the country, right? And so that next piece is continuing to add to his offensive game, and that’s what we’re looking to do this summer. And so, you know, putting him in different places on the court, allowing him to play through more mistakes and to be more aggressive inside, I think will continue to help him grow his game, and the summer is the time to do that.”
