Crews back on team after suspension

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

UT's Duke Crews reacts to a call against Tennessee during the first round of the NIT Tip-Off against Fordham in Nashville last season.

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

UT's Duke Crews reacts to a call against Tennessee during the first round of the NIT Tip-Off against Fordham in Nashville last season.

Tennessee sophomore Duke Crews said Monday it feels good to be running with his teammates once again.

Crews has been reinstated to the men's basketball team after serving a 30-day suspension for violations of team rules.

"It feels great to be back; it was hard being away, and I've talked to all my teammates individually and apologized to them,'' said Crews, making his first public comments since being suspended Sept. 26. "I'd also like to apologize to the university and the fans.

"I wish I could have changed the circumstances. At the end of the day, you realize if you don't do what you need to do, it will be taken away permanently.''

UT coach Bruce Pearl said Crews was suspended for more than one reason; in addition to a couple of tardy occasions, a resident assistant's search of Crews' campus apartment turned up what UT police referred to as a "minor'' amount of marijuana.

"Everybody will have their own opinion,'' Crews said. "I'm just sorry it happened.''

Crews wasn't present when the apartment he shares was searched, and no charges were filed. Pearl said Crews needed to be more careful with the people he surrounds himself with.

The people surrounding Crews are excited to have him back.

"It has brought a smile to our faces to get our brother back,'' UT senior JaJuan Smith said. "Duke brings energy, excitement and intensity, and he's a vocal leader. He brings a whole lot to the table.

"I think Duke has learned from this, and it has been a growing experience for all of us.''

Pearl said Crews has maintained his conditioning and looks good in practice.

"Duke did a good job of staying in shape,'' Pearl said. 26. "It was good to have him back. He'll stay on the scout team this week in preparation for our first exhibition game with California-Pennsylvania.''

Tennessee, ranked No. 7 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll and the preseason pick to win the SEC, opens its exhibition season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"Duke's attitude is great, he's easy to coach and a terrific competitor,'' said Pearl, who allowed Crews to practice Saturday. "After a week of getting him back, we'll be able to evaluate where he'll land on the depth chart.''

Tabb Returns: The Vols' depth chart got deeper with the return of UT wing Josh Tabb, whose Monday practice was his first since suffering an "Orbital blowout fracture'' near his eye socket in an Oct. 16 practice.

Tabb was injured when teammate J.P. Prince inadvertently hit him during a five-on-five scrimmage at the Stokely Athletics Center.

"That's the hardest hit I've ever taken,'' said Tabb, who is wearing protective goggles after undergoing surgery Oct. 22. "But everything is back to normal.''

Tabb, a 6-4 sophomore, established himself as one of the top defenders in the SEC last season and most often drew the opponents' top perimeter scorer.

"Josh really played well this summer and in Europe,'' Pearl said. "Our plan for the exhibition game is to play all 12 scholarship players.''

Full Strength: Monday's practice marked the first that UT was at full strength, as the two transfers (Tyler Smith, J.P. Prince) and two incoming freshmen (Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams), were not allowed to travel with the team to Europe.

"Everybody is gelling together,'' Crews said. "You can't ask for more. Those freshmen are picking things up faster than we did at this point last year.''

Pearl said that's a good thing.

"We play Friday night, then Monday again and then Temple Nov. 9,'' Pearl said. "Ready or not, here it comes.''

Say Cheese!: Camera-shy UT senior Chris Lofton said the picture that ran in Sunday's News Sentinel was too much.

"That picture was too big!'' said Lofton, who has taken a good amount of teasing from his teammates. "They had me cheesing (smiling) way too hard.''

First Look: Pearl said he chose California-Pennsylvania for Friday night's exhibition because he expects a good test from the Vulcans.

"This team lost by one to Maryland and lost by six to Arkansas last year,'' Pearl said. "They've given Division I teams a good ball game and hopefully they'll do the same for us.''

Student Tickets: Students will have 3,749 allotted tickets for the Vols' games against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Florida, and 3,000 for Temple, Ohio State, Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and South Carolina according to a UT release.

The student ticket allotment for California (PA), Lincoln Memorial, MTSU, North Carolina A&T, Louisiana-Lafayette and the Legends Classic will be 1,530 tickets. UT will hold more than 500 seats for the Vols' game against UNC-Asheville during the holiday break.

The athletic department has also made approximately 600 additional upper-level seats available for overflow should students use more than their allotment. All lower-level seats remain unchanged.

Last year's average student attendance for an SEC game was 2,131. Average attendance for a non-conference game was 1,302.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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