It didn't take Bruce Pearl long to make an impression on one of Tennessee's biggest basketball alums. Pearl had been at UT for about a month when he called 7-footer Steve Hamer.

"I was shocked," Hamer said. "Bruce has made a point of stressing the family atmosphere that hasn't been in the program before. I never got a call from (former coaches) Jerry Green or Buzz Peterson. It just wasn't a priority for them."

Not only was Hamer impressed with the phone call, he's been even more impressed with Pearl the coach.

"He is a perfect mix between Wade Houston and Kevin O'Neill," said Hamer. "Both of those coaches were too far to one extreme or the other. Wade was too laid back. Guys could get away with anything. Kevin was way too intense.

"I remember a time when Aaron Green was a freshman. Kevin was always hard on freshmen, but especially hard on Aaron.

"Well, one day in practice O'Neill unloaded and started calling Aaron every name in the book. It got to the point where I had to jump in the middle of them and break it up because Aaron was about to hit him.

"On the other hand, not many of the guys respected Wade because he didn't demand it. It just wasn't his personality. Unfortunately that was one of the reasons we would play great one night and horrible the next. We didn't have consistency with him as the coach."

Some people may laugh at the analogy, but Hamer was a fan of both coaches and sees their positives in Pearl.

"He's intense when he needs to be intense, but he's also laid back and relaxed when he needs to do that," Hamer said. "I would have loved to have played for him, but I don't think I would have fit his style.

"He likes 6-8 guys who can run the floor, not 7-footers who try to wear down a defense. Marcus Haislip would have been absolutely perfect in Pearl's system. Marcus was a 6-10 guy who could run like a gazelle and jump out of the gym. He would have been an All-American in Pearl's system."

As you talk with Hamer about his career, his expressions remind you of how the seasons went. At one moment he's grinning from ear to ear remembering upsets of Arkansas and Kentucky when both teams were ranked No. 2 in the nation. The next time he's shaking his head thinking about a 62-point loss to the Wildcats in the SEC tournament and a 5-22 season in his sophomore year.

"I really don't have answers as to why the consistency wasn't there," Hamer said. "When I was a freshman, we beat Arkansas at their place in a game I'll never forget. We beat them, 102-88, and then they went on to win the national championship.

"That same year we beat Kentucky on a last-second tip-in and Thompson-Boling went nuts. That was the greatest feeling seeing the look on Rick Pitino's face."

Unfortunately for Hamer, his brief NBA career ended, thanks to Pitino.

"It's kind of a weird story how my NBA career ended after just one season in Boston," said Hamer. "I was back in Knoxville reading the transactions section in the Sentinel. I saw where the Boston Celtics had declined to pick up the option on Steve Hamer. To this day, 10 years later I have never heard from anyone in the organization and have not talked to Pitino.

"You would think that they would have had the courtesy to call me and tell me that they appreciated the year I spent with them but that they were moving in a different direction, or at least something like that. But, no I got nothing from them."

These days Hamer is working at SunTrust Banks in the Wal-Mart at Walker Springs. His recruiting decision came down the Louisville and Tennessee. Although he might have won more games had he gone to Louisville, Hamer says he wouldn't change a thing.

"I used to be a Louisville fan, but now that Rick Pitino is there, I root against them every game," said Hamer. "I'll tell you this though, I'm as big a UT fan as you will find anywhere. And, I hope Bruce Pearl stays in Knoxville for a long time to come."

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room at 10 p.m. on Sunday on My East Tennessee TV. His guest tonight is Steve Hamer.