Playing time is on the line when Tennessee hits the basketball court for today's practice.

Vols' coach Bruce Pearl said on Thursday's Sports Page radio show he anticipates sophomore transfer J.P. Prince will take a place in the team's nine-man rotation.

"J.P. is going to be in the nine,'' Pearl said. "He's going to take minutes from Ramar (Smith) or Jordan (Howell), Josh Tabb or JaJuan (Smith).

"One of those guys will come out, or (Prince) takes some minutes from all of them and the rotation will be 10, (but) I'm leaning toward a nine-man rotation with one of those four guys getting pulled out."

Tennessee is 8-1 and ranked 10th in the nation, but the Vols have had their struggles, losing by 19 points to Texas and showing inconsistent tendencies in wins.

Pearl is desperately searching to find the right mix.

The 6-foot-8 Prince returned to practice this week after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery Nov. 8 and sitting out fall-term games after transferring from Arizona last January. Prince is eligible to play in UT's next game, Dec. 14 against Western Kentucky in Nashville.

"We've got (many days) of practice coming up," Pearl said, "and I promise you, Ramar, Jordan, Josh and JaJuan will be fighting to keep J.P. Prince out of the rotation."

Prince likely will compete at the wing and point guard positions, as has been the plan all along.

Pearl said freshmen Brian Williams and Cameron Tatum have handled their current status with the team well.

Neither has played in the past two games because Pearl is contemplating redshirting either or both of them. If Pearl chooses to do so, he made it clear it's because of the team's depth, not the freshmen's past performances.

"They really did play well," Pearl said. "Trust me, there has been more than one occasion the last (couple) games when they haven't played when I thought about playing them."

Pearl said Williams, a 6-10 center, had the misfortune of suffering injuries at an inopportune time.

"Brian, I don't know if Duke (Crews) has the opportunity to get out there if Brian doesn't go knee to knee (Nov. 20) and get a hip pointer on Sunday (Nov. 22), and gets hurt," Pearl said. "Duke has taken full advantage of that since he's come back, and I hope we continue to see him play well and even better.

"Duke's plus-minus numbers are very strong the last four or five games. Brian would give us a stronger rebounder and an even a strong defender."

Pearl also has had to hold himself back from playing the athletic Tatum, who despite some freshman moments has shown flashes of brilliance as a wing.

"Cameron is going to be a great player, and that's a strong statement," Pearl said. "It's just you have JaJuan and Chris, two seniors, residing at his position. I don't want to waste him.

"So that's what we're wrestling with. I want to keep them both ready, and we'll have to see how things go throughout the season, whether they're eligible for a redshirt situation."

Pearl said he understands how any player who's not getting court time could get frustrated, and having recruited them for their competitive nature, he would be disappointed if they weren't a little upset about not playing.

"Right now playing time is a concern for us, because I have 12 very good basketball players on this team," he said. "But I don't see it to the extent where I see someone transferring.

"All you can do is point to Jordan Howell, Dane Bradshaw, Stanley Asumnu and guys that have paid their dues and how it worked out for them," Pearl said. "It happens earlier for some and later for others."

What happens over the next few weeks likely will determine the "whos" and the "whens."

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.