Tennessee basketball has had its share of international talent under Rick Barnes. That will be no different this year with one of the foreign players, Clarence Massamba, just arriving on campus this past weekend.
Massamba did play a bit of high school ball in Florida before heading back to France to continue his career. Now, he enters his college career with full eligibility and will get things going this year in Knoxville with the Vols.
While Massamba is yet to go through a practice with Tennessee still, he met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss his early impressions. Here’s what he said.
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On who he is as a player
“I think I’m a pretty good overall player. I can play both ends of the court. Able to shoot it and play at a good speed. I think that’s what Coach is expecting from me the most. Being able to put speed on the court in transition, especially.”
On how his teammates have welcomed him
“We have a really good group. Feel really good about everyone in the group. I think they all did a good job welcoming me to the team.”
On his first impression of Knoxville, campus
“Good. Really, it’s a great campus. We have everything on campus. Everything is here. I wasn’t expecting that much to be honest. We have everything. The staff is great, everybody is great, we have everything accessible, so yeah, this is awesome.”
On how familiar he was with Tennessee basketball before his recruitment, why he chose the Vols
“I was kind of familiar cause I was playing high school in Florida. I was kind of introduced to the SEC conference. I knew enough about Tennessee basketball, so having the opportunity to play here was a big thing for me. How I knew it was the right fit for me was the conversations with the coaching staff. Made me feel like it was — that’s what basketball is, having a family. If you have a family I think everything is good on the court.”
On the difference between playing in the States and Europe
“Definitely the pace, I’d say. High school basketball is we played more off instinct I’d say. It’s not really organized like European basketball is. That’s really the big difference I think. That’s what college basketball is trying to be like now.”
