Who's going to step up?

He was intense. He was a fist-pumping, go-to player who wanted the ball at crunch time.

He's also long gone.

Slay's eligibility with the Tennessee basketball team ended in 2003.

Since then, one of the missing links UT coach Buzz Peterson has been searching in vain for is a fiery, Slay-like leader.

"One thing that disturbs you is that leadership," Peterson said going into Saturday's game at Mississippi. "I wish I had somebody who would just get in somebody's face and challenge them.

"We really just don't have that."

It's a fact of life Peterson is dealing with as his team sits at 11-13, 4-7 in the SEC.

Gung-ho leadership isn't something he expects to magically appear with five games remaining in the regular season.

Brandon Crump, Scooter McFadgon and C.J. Watson were named co-captains prior to the season.

Crump and McFadgon are the only senior starters and both admittedly on the quiet side.

Watson, who spent a week at the NCAA Leadership Conference last summer, is a junior point guard and - by most accounts - the quietest of the bunch.

Still, each displays a different form of leadership.

Crump has shown flashes of emotion.

Watson stepped up big while Crump was injured for four games, leading the team in scoring in three of the four.

McFadgon keeps playing hard despite a recent shooting slump.

But players and coaches agree: something is missing.

Freshman guard Chris Lofton quickly points to Crump, McFadgon and Watson as undisputed leaders of this team, but admits an emotional charge could help the Vols.

"I think that's something we could use," he said. "Somebody to get the crowd into it and get us going. That's something we miss."

Peterson maintains his optimistic approach, but isn't bashful about pointing out mistakes.

"It just means a lot more when a player does that to another player instead of a coach," he said. "I can't worry about it.

"I just have to go day to day and try to do the best job to get this team to improve. Hopefully, things will get better for us."

Crump remembers what it was like when Slay was rampaging up and down the court at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"He didn't care what anybody thought," Crump said. "He would get in somebody's face and say, 'What kind of shot was that?'

"He didn't care (about antagonizing teammates) as long as he was getting the ball and his team was winning."

Of the three captains, Crump said he's the most likely to step up and get vocal.

"We are the quiet ones," he said. "C.J. and I might get on each other. The person out of us three I see getting in somebody's face, encouraging them or getting on them, would be me.

"I don't think C.J. or Scooter would be able to do that with how quiet they are."

So, is leadership something easily developed? Peterson doesn't think so.

"I'm a big believer you're born with it," he said. "A lot of guys can run their mouth when you win, or things are going well.

"But when it gets bad, you lose a couple of games, or it has been tough in practice, that's when you have to have somebody step up.

"But we've got some guys who are pretty quiet. Is that bad? No. But sometimes I wish they would step up and challenge a teammate."

Crump agrees. He admits the recent 1-6 losing skid has been frustrating, but he's not giving up.

"I think we're one of the best teams in the SEC when everybody comes to play and everybody has their mind into it," he said. "If we bring it every night, it's pretty hard to stop us. Some nights, things just don't go our way.

"We have the experience. We just have to come through in the end."

MARK BURGESS, burgess@knews.com