Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl said Wednesday's fall signees of two prep school players are a good fit for the future, provided one of them loses a few more pounds.

The signing of Cameron Tatum, a 6-foot-6 prospect from The Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., was somewhat of a no-brainer.

An athletic wing that scores from all over the court, Tatum is averaging 15 points per game this season and is the 13th-ranked shooting guard, according to Rivals.com.

Brian Williams, a 6-10, 300-pound center from Harmony Community in Cincinnati, could be viewed as somewhat of a reach, Pearl conceded.

"But the more I watched him, the more I saw he had great hands, great feet, skills and a high basketball IQ,'' Pearl said. "You can't be scared off by the 300 pounds. I believe he'll work to get where he needs to be.''

This recruiting class doesn't approach the numbers or ratings of last fall's consensus top-10 nationally ranked group, which included Duke Crews, Wayne Chism, Josh Tabb and Marques Johnson. Pearl said it does fit its need.

"Last year we had amazing needs,'' said Pearl, who added starting point guard Ramar Smith to the class last spring. "We had a lot of playing time available. It was more challenging to recruit this year.''

Pearl said many recruits were scared by the young talent the Vols feature heading into Friday night's 7:30 p.m. season opener against Middle Tennessee State at Thompson-Boling Arena (TV: My East Tennessee TV).

Tatum, originally from Tucker High School near Atlanta, said he didn't flinch.

"It just feels real good right now to get this wait over with,'' said Tatum, who averaged more than 20 points per game his junior and senior year of high school. "I just love the coaching staff there and it's close to home.

"I know Chris Lofton is an outstanding shooting guard, but at 6-6 I think down the road I can bring a different kind of presence and create some matchup problems.''

Chris Chaney, Tatum's prep school coach, said UT looks to have found itself a future star.

"We have a lot of talent here, but Cameron's been a leader on and off the court and shown he's willing to learn,'' Chaney said. "He's very athletic; he can shoot the 3-pointer and just flat-out score.

"But now he's doing the little things better, like defending and rebounding.''

Chaney said the Bulldogs play a similar style to the Vols, pressing and running the floor.

Williams, who has already lost 58 pounds since leaving Christopher Columbus High in the Bronx, N.Y., said he knows there are skeptics.

"A lot of people don't think I can do it, and some of the players think they're better than me,'' said Williams, who's averaging 12 points and 13 rebounds this season. "Some people thought I should go to a lower school so I could shine more, but I want to take on the challenge.''

Mark Metzka, who coaches Williams at Harmony, said he doesn't believe the Vols will be disappointed.

"Brian will give Tennessee something different; another dimension,'' Metzka said. "I know he's committed to losing the weight. The biggest thing with him is his upside.

"Brian's basketball IQ is advanced considering his lack of experience.''

Williams said he only played 1 1/2 years of organized basketball in high school. Still, he was offered scholarships by Pittsburgh, St. Johns, New Mexico State and UNLV.

Tatum was recruited by Kansas, Wake Forest, Georgia, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida State and Miami, Fla.

"I liked Cameron when he was 6-3 last summer, and now he's about 6-6,'' Pearl said. "He's our kind of player.''

The Vols have another scholarship available. Pearl said if the Vols give the scholarship out, they would likely sign a power forward in the spring.

Starting Lineup: Pearl said Ramar Smith would start at point guard, Lofton at shooting guard, JaJuan Smith at small forward and Dane Bradshaw at power forward against MTSU. The starting center will be Duke Crews or Wayne Chism.

"It's really up in the air,'' Pearl said. "That might be a game-time decision.''

Happy Birthday, Coach: Ray Mears, UT's all-time men's winningest basketball coach, observed his 80th birthday Wednesday at a rehabilitation facility in Farragut, according to his son, Steve.

Mears has for some time been battling the affects of a stroke. He was able to attend only one home basketball game last season.

"As far as rehab, they think he's making progress,'' said Steve Mears. "As far as his day-to-day goes, that hasn't been too good.

"He's got all his faculties. It's just that he's fairly weak.''

Mears has been in the facility several weeks.

"They're hoping to get him out to go home next week,'' Steve Mears said.

Mears coached the Vols to 278 victories 1962-77. Under his direction, Tennessee won or shared three SEC regular-season titles.

Mike Strange contributed to this report.