Tennessee's men's basketball team expects to play in another exempt tournament during the 2007-08 season, though the Vols have yet to decide which one.

"You seen how the landscape has changed in college basketball, and we're responding to that,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said Friday. "November and December now have some tremendous matchups, where it's almost like a preview of March Madness.''

The Vols played in the NIT Season Tip-off last season, handling Fordham and UNC-Wilmington in ESPN-televised matchups before falling to eventual NCAA participants Butler (56-44) and North Carolina (101-87) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Former UT player Dane Bradshaw cited the second half of the North Carolina game as when the Vols came together and started to turn a corner last season.

Pearl said he prefers that level of competition to early-season patsies.

"You no longer just play seven home games against nobodys,'' said Pearl, whose schedule has ranked in the top 10 nationally each of the past two seasons. "Those exempt tournaments have become a tool the selection committee uses to determine who gets into the NCAA tournament and what kind of seed they get.''

Pearl said one of the exempt tournaments the Vols are considering is called "The Legends,'' and is played in East Rutherford, N.J.

"We are looking at that for November, but no contract has been signed,'' he said.

Tennessee is already set for the Old Spice Classic during the 2008-09 season, an exempt tournament played at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., during Thanksgiving. That field includes Gonzaga, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Siena and Wichita State.

Fresh Prince: J.P. Prince is off and running in the offseason weight program, Pearl said.

"He's put on about 15 pounds since he's been here,'' Pearl said. "The offseason is huge for him, both the weight training and the nutrition. He was ill last year and now he has his health back and he's happy.''

Pearl said he's happy with the 6-foot-6 Prince, too, who transferred to UT from Arizona for the spring semester after a severe respiratory reaction to an infected wisdom tooth took him out of the Wildcats' rotation. Prince has 2A 1/2 years of eligibility remaining.

"J.P. is longer, tougher and shoots better than what we anticipated, but we still need more information on him,'' Pearl said. "There's a difference between being a redshirt and competing for playing time.''

Pearl said he hopes Prince can carry out some of the duties vacated by Bradshaw. An early indication that Pearl's optimistic about Prince's talents is UT's decision to cancel the visit of 6-7, 235-pound junior college power forward Rodney Alexander this weekend.

Lofton Rehab: Pearl said guard Chris Lofton continues an extended rehabilitation of the ankle he injured against South Carolina on Jan. 20. Surgery, however, is not expected to be part of the rehabilitation.

"There's nothing to any rumors about Chris having surgery on his ankle,'' Pearl said.