Listen to his old coach, and you get a sense Maurice Thomas will fit right in with Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

The 6-foot-8 forward from Philadelphia Lutheran Christian Academy has a natural instinct to make things happen, according to his prep school coach, Darryl Schofield.

"I call him a nightmare," Schofield said. "True forwards couldn’t stick with him and threes (small forwards) weren’t strong enough for him."

Thomas has verbally committed to UT with only the official paperwork of a national letter of intent to be completed.

"He can put the ball on the floor and he can shoot the three," Schofield said. "He’s going to work hard for Coach Pearl and fit into that system well.

"He can definitely play full-court man-to-man. That’s the way we play."

Thomas averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds during his one season at the Philadelphia prep school.

He visited Knoxville this past weekend, had a great visit, Schofield said, and decided UT was his college home of the future.

Thomas had previously committed to UTEP and UNLV, but neither worked out in the long run for the former Olney (Pa.) High School star.

An interesting side note is former UT recruit Jamont Gordon has enrolled at Lutheran Christian Academy.

Gordon, a Mississippi State signee, reportedly ran into troubles at Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and plans to finish this semester at Lutheran Christian Academy, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Vernon Goodridge, another Mississippi State signee, also played this past season at Lutheran Christian Academy.

Gordon, a Nashville native who played at Glencliff High School, and Goodridge are still striving to become academically eligible.

Pearl’s continuing search for athletes included, according to Rivals.com, a visit Wednesday from 6-6 guard/forward Desmond Yates of Fayette-Ware and 6-5 small forward Anthony Passley of Indianapolis, a former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee signee under Pearl. He was given his release by Pearl last August.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also reported all news was not great for Pearl and his staff.

Kaylan Anderson, a 6-5 wing player from Birmingham, Ala., signed Tuesday with Pearl’s old school at UWM.

Anderson told the Journal-Sentinel his decision came down to Tennessee and UWM.

Hoop Turkeys: The UT men’s and women’s basketball teams will help hand out 180 turkeys to the Second Harvest Food Bank at 11 a.m. today.

For each shot blocked during the season by members of the UT basketball teams, a Butterball turkey was donated.

Mark Burgess covers Tennessee men’s basketball and may be reached at 865-342-6277.