White back in zone in old high school gym

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess // Buy this photo

Tony White Jr. lets a jump shot fly in the summer Rocky Top League at the Bearden High School gym last Wednesday. White scored 35 points, hitting nine 3-point shots.

Maybe former Bearden High School standout Tony White Jr. was saving it up.

Or maybe he just needed to be challenged.

Whatever it was, White took the Pilot Rocky Top League by storm Wednesday night, erupting for 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting including nine 3-pointers.

“I found my shot, so I didn’t stop shooting,’’ White said. “Me and (University of Tennessee center) Wayne Chism had been talking before the game, and I told him I was focused.’’

White’s 35 points out-shined UT transfers J.P. Prince (28) and Tyler Smith (26), who were more than happy to share the burden to carry the News Sentinel Press to a 139-135 win over Chism and Kingston Alley.

Smith was the first to come over and congratulate Smith after his Herculean effort in his old high school gym.

White, the son of former Tennessee star guard Tony White, was reminded earlier in the day that he had made just 6-of-27 shots through the first three games in scoring a total of 19 points.

“I know I’m struggling in my old gym; I don’t know what’s going on,’’ White said in the hours leading up to the game. “But we can get double figures (tonight).’’

White scored 11 points in a 10-minute span.

It was as good a performance as White has had at Bearden since he dropped 51 on Farragut his senior year.

These days, White suits up for coach Bobby Cremins at the College of Charleston, where he averaged nearly 23 minutes per game as a freshman.

“Coming in, I was supposed to redshirt, but that didn’t happen,’’ White said. “I started playing real well in preseason ball and they needed me to be the sixth man right off the bat.’’

White played in all 33 games for the Cougars (22-11), starting seven and averaging 6.4 points per game. He shot a team-best 83 percent from the free throw line while canning 33 percent of his 103 3-point attempts.

“Coach Cremins is a good guy, and if you’re not playing a good game, he’ll try to get your confidence up,’’ White said. “A lot of people have come up and asked me randomly why I didn’t go to UT. I don’t have the answer. They went the direction they wanted to go and I wasn’t a part of it. You have to move on and see where you’re wanted.

“I’m happy where I’m at.’’

Having gotten an up close and personal look at new Vols Smith and Prince, White said UT is headed for bigger things.

“I think Tyler Smith coming back to Tennessee is great for this program,’’ White said. “I saw him at Iowa because we played in the Virgin Islands tournament. He was just scoring at will.

“J.P. Prince’s versatility will help Tennessee, he can rebound, and defensively, he’s long. A 6-7 point guard is rare.’’

For five more games, White will remain their teammate in a league he said was long overdue in East Tennessee.

“It’s about time Knoxville has done something like this for basketball, and all the local talent around Knoxville and East Tennessee,’’ White Jr. said. “It is a summer league but it comes to a certain point where we all take it serious.

“When it gets crunch time, that’s when it gets serious.’’

Back In The Day: Playing pickup led to Duke Crews recalling how he first met fellow UT teammate Ramar Smith at a 14-under AAU tournament.

“We almost got in a fight,’’ Crews said. “He walked in, and he had these black and yellow Nikes. I told him, ‘Yo, those are the ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen.’ ”

Crews said Smith stopped tying his shoes and looked up into the stands at him and told him to shut up.

“I told him to shut up back and started down the steps,’’ Crews said. “Our coaches got between us. After we played, we were cool, and we’ve been friends ever since.’’

Smith smiled when asked about the story.

“Man,’’ he said, “Duke tells that story to everyone.’’

Wake-Up Call: Ramar Smith was removed from a game in the closing seconds by SunTrust coach Kevin Feltner.

“I took a 60-percent shooter out for a 90-percent shooter,’’ Feltner said.

Not exactly. Smith is hitting .536 from the free throw line this year while Terrence Ogelsby, the player who replaced him, has hit at a .619 clip. Smith, however, shot just 6-of-17 from the line last week.

Coach Of The Week: Bret McGhee of the Knoxville News Sentinel stepped in with Andy Rines on vacation and led the Press to a 2-0 record and the top of the standings.

McGhee’s strategy to spread the court has allowed Omar Wattad, White and Cameron Sharp to score from the perimeter and take some pressure off Prince and Tyler Smith.

“I know you guys have complete confidence in me,’’ Rines said, “so long as I keep winning when I get back.’’

Player Of The Week: Crews of the HTG Group showed his competitive streak by leading his team to a 2-0 mark last week.

After hitting just nine of his first 24 (.375) free throw attempts the first week, Crews sank 18 of 24 (.750) last week.

Big Ben: Ben Purcell of First Tennessee is dominating the field goal percentage leaders, hitting 24 of his 34 shots (.706). Purcell, from Division III Sewanee, is 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, and in a loss to HTG Group showed he could defend Crews as well as anyone in the lane.

League Standard: The Vols have shot a cumulative .542 from the free-throw line while the rest of the PRTL has shot .622 collectively.

Player Update: Chris Lofton (Toyota Knoxville) is expected back this week after a week at a Nike Camp in California. ... Ryan Childress (HT Group) is expected to return this week from the strained lower leg tendons that have sidelined him the past six weeks ... Vincent Yarbrough (First Tennessee) is expected to play this week after finishing the playoffs in his league in Germany. ... Dane Bradshaw (Toyota Knoxville) could be back as early as Thursday night after spending a week in Germany at a European tryout camp. ... Ron Slay (First Tennessee) returned to Italy last week for an all-star game and his future status is unclear. ... East Tennessee State players Courtney Pigram (SunTrust) and Andrew Reed (News-Sentinel) have missed the past two games and their status is unknown. ... The Phoenix Suns’ Jalen Rose (Kingston Alley) was a no-show last week after being projected to play, and his status is a mystery. ... Rashard Lee (SunTrust) suffered a knee injury in the opening game and his return is considered unlikely.