Tennessee McDonald's All-American freshman recruit Scotty Hopson is getting the hang of college life, on and off the basketball court.

"It's a lot different than high school; you have to really stay on top of things,'' Hopson said. "That, and just knowing I am really on my own. I like the freedom.''

Hopson doesn't necessarily like the hard work he has put into conditioning, but he realizes it's necessary.

"I think I've put on five or six pounds these past three weeks,'' the 6-foot-7 Hopson said. "Troy (Wills) wants us all to get stronger, and he pushes us every morning. It's tough, but it will make us better.

"A lot of guys told me it would be difficult, but I didn't think it would be this tough.''

Hopson said he's using the available tutors to stay up with his academics as he's taking English 101 and Musicology.

"At lunch time, Wayne (Chism) comes by and we go to the cafeteria at the (Thompson-Boling) Arena,'' Hopson said. "They have the best fried bologna sandwich.''

Afternoons and nights have been mostly reserved for pickup games with teammates and Pilot Rocky Top League games on Mondays and Wednesdays at Bearden High School.

"I want the competition,'' said Hopson, who draws more defensive attention than any player in the league except Tyler Smith. "Even when I was in high school, I was the guy everyone wanted to go up against.

"But that's good, especially when it's one of my teammates. We'll push each other and make each other better.''

Hopson said he can't wait for the season to start.

"Coach (Bruce) Pearl is going to make me a better player and teach me some things,'' Hopson said. "There's no reason we shouldn't be talented enough to compete for the (SEC) championship.

"Yeah, we lost Chris (Lofton) and JaJuan (Smith), but we've got guys coming in who are focused and ready to push themselves.''

Cool Raul: Raul Placeres said just being one of the boys is what's keeping him going in the PRTL.

Placeres enjoyed a 19-point, nine-rebound outing for the News Sentinel in its 102-101 win over First Tennessee on Thursday night.

"Playing out here makes me feel young again,'' said the 27-year-old Placeres, who in his first year as Gatlinburg-Pittman's head coach led the team to the region quarterfinals for the first time in seven years.

"You get the camaraderie out here that's like college,'' said Placeres, who finished his playing days as Maryville College's point guard some four years ago. "It's not exactly like college, but it's as close as you can get.''

Placeres serves as the translator for the Sevier County school system.

Scary Moment: UT redshirt freshman Cameron Tatum suffered a slightly strained groin after slipping on a wet spot following a dunk Wednesday night.

Tatum left the action but returned to the game and insisted he was fine. PRTL commissioner Andre Whitehead said he told Tatum not to play in Thursday's game as a precautionary measure.

Tatum will return to action Monday night, Whitehead said.

MVP Finalists: The list of candidates for the PRTL MVP race has been cut to five.

Tyler Smith and Courtney Pigram represent the HT Group, while Bobby Maze and Hopson are candidates off Ray's ESG. Tatum is First Tennessee's representative.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.