For the first time, Tennessee men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has a team made up of players he personally recruited.

The smoke-and-mirrors approach Pearl has used to get by over the past three seasons is no longer necessary.

That's not to say Pearl won't miss guards Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith and Jordan Howell - he will, they were the winningest senior class in UT basketball history.

But the Vols' lack of size on the perimeter limited Pearl's defensive options and prevented UT from utilizing any zone.

That will change this season, as Pearl said the Vols will implement some zone coverage into their defensive arsenal.

A reporter asked Pearl after UT lost to Arkansas in the SEC tournament if he considered switching things up on defense on the perimeter.

Pearl, who rarely shows his frustrations in the media, went off.

"What do you want me to do?'' Pearl said, referencing the Vols' shortness at guard.

What Pearl has done is recruit a 6-foot-6 shooting guard in Scotty Hopson. Ready for work is 6-5 Cameron Tatum, who redshirted this past season.

What UT loses in quickness, it more than makes up for in size and overall athleticism, hence, the ability to play zone.

"The whole zone thing has to do with losing three 6-1 guards and picking up 6-5, 6-6 guards,'' Pearl said. "We're getting longer and bigger.''

And the 3-point line is being moved back, so challenging opponents to shoot threes isn't as daunting.

"I think man-to-man will still be our base,'' said UT assistant Steve Forbes, who Pearl considers his defensive specialist. "We just have to decide on a consistent way we want to play zone and stick with it. You have to work on it every day, and you have to be committed to it.''

Pearl said he has asked his players to start working on some of the zone concepts right now, even in their unsupervised workouts.

"Maybe when they play pickup,'' he said, "one out of every four or five games they play zone, just so they can get used to communicating in it.''

Pearl used a matchup zone when the Vols went on their European tour last season, as an experiment for next season as much as anything else.

"I liked the way our guys moved in it, and we were aggressive in it,'' Forbes said, "but the competition wasn't what it is in the states.''

UT assistant Jason Shay, who sees a myriad of different looks when scouting UT's opponents, sees the positives and negatives in zone defense.

"I see it for us a change of pace, when the opponent gets in an offensive rhythm you give them a different look to slow them up,'' Shay said. "Or, you use it when the opponent isn't particularly good shooting on the perimeter. Another good thing about it is it gets you out in your lanes for the break quicker.''

But there are some downsides, as well.

"It's tough to rebound out of any zone, because you have gaps and anyone can come flying down the lane,'' Shay said. "It could also create mismatches, if they can get Wayne (Chism) or Brian (Williams) isolated on the wing.''

Forbes Flexes: Hopson's signing with the Vols was a coup for Forbes, who did most of the leg work on his recruitment.

"I'm not going to lie to you, that was very rewarding and big for our program,'' Forbes said. "To put as much work into Elliott (Williams) and have him go to Duke, and then land a player like Scotty was big.

"Sometimes one door closes and another one opens.''

Hopson's coach in Hopkinsville, Ky., at University Heights Academy, Randy McCoy, said his prior relationship with Forbes at the college level was a factor.

McCoy coached at NAIA Pikeville College and met Forbes when he was coach at Barton (Kan.) Community College.

Out and About: It's been a busy recruiting time for Pearl and his staff. Over the past two weeks, UT has had a representative at AAU tournaments in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Houston, Fayetteville, Ark., Starkville, Miss., and Akron, Ohio.

Atlanta, Memphis and parts of Michigan also have been canvassed during the middle of the weeks.

The current recruiting period ends May 1 before picking back up at the start of July.

More On Hopson: Pearl said one great thing about Hopson is his ability to hit tough baskets.

"You watch the NBA playoffs, and that's what the great ones do, they get the shot off with defenders all over them,'' he said. "Just watching Louisville and North Carolina, there was a little difference in what some of their players could do, hitting the tough ones.

"I believe Scotty can do that for us early. And as he gets stronger and gets more experienced, he'll be able to make even more of those tough twos.''

Recruiting Wrap: Pearl feels good about the signing class, but he said there were a couple of other SEC schools who also will have impact freshmen.

"Florida had a great recruiting class, and that's back-to-back top classes for Florida, so that will be a factor right there,'' he said. "Alabama has had an excellent class.

Those two jump out at me.''

Mike Griffith covers Tennessee men's basketball. He can be reached at griffithm@knoxnews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.