Skylar McBee for three was the story that unfolded at the Tennessee basketball scrimmage Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The 6-foot-2 freshman from Grainger High School was 4 of 4 beyond the 3-point arc for 12 points and led the Vols with four steals.
"He's playing his way into the rotation,'' UT coach Bruce Pearl said. "Skylar is aggressive, he's very coachable and he comes in here having already been coached well.''
McBee is expected to back up sophomore Scotty Hopson at shooting guard this season, but at one point Pearl turned to the 100 students in attendance and declared that there's "A new Rutledge Rifle.''
A.W. Davis is the original, finishing his career at Rutledge High (now Grainger) as the state's all-time high school scoring champion before moving on to a career with the Vols that saw him average 19.6 points his senior year and lead UT to its first 20-win season in 17 years.
McBee drained three of his 3-pointers in a 17-4 upset over a team that featured the majority of projected starters. Pearl switched lineups and situations around for nearly two hours.
Senior Tyler Smith, who was on the losing end of the 17-4 scrimmage, said he wasn't surprised to see McBee stand out.
"We saw this is what he can do this summer,'' Smith said. "It's going to help having another shooter on the perimeter with Scotty (Hopson) and Cam (Tatum).''
Hopson led all scorers with 13 points but was only 3 of 10 shooting from the field and 2 of 6 beyond the 3-point arc.
Senior Bobby Maze got the upper hand in a head-to-head battle with incoming junior college point guard Melvin Goins. Maze scored eight points on 3 of 9 shooting and went 2-for-2 from the free throw line and had six assists to go with only two turnovers.
Goins, who is not yet completely healthy after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery this month, was 0-for-8 shooting and scored two points on a pair of free throws. Goins didn't get an assist and turned the ball over once.
Senior Wayne Chism, who hit 3 of 4 shots and shared rebounding honors with freshman Kenny Hall (7), said he was impressed with McBee.
"Man, he was whet!'' Chism said. "Skylar shoots with a lot of confidence, and he's a guy that competes every practice.''
McBee, who turned down scholarship offers from Santa Clara and Marshall to walk-on with the Vols, hoping to earn a scholarship, said he's excited to make the most of his opportunity.
"It's just a matter of getting in the gym and working every day,'' McBee said. "All the guys trust me to make shots when I'm open, and I got a lot of open looks because of what the other guys were doing. I think they kind of forgot about me.''
McBee was being modest. Two of his shots were tightly contested.
"I think it's just being getting comfortable with the system and the guys,'' said McBee, who regularly stays after practice to hone his game. "I'll play whatever role I need to for this team.''
The UT students at the scrimmage cheered wildly for McBee, stopping only to munch on the pizza purchased for them by university.
"Yeah, any time somebody is cheering for you it's a great feeling,'' McBee said. "Everyone wants to be loved.''
McBee certainly was at Grainger last season, averaging 24 points, eight rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game while shooting 39.5-percent from beyond the 3-point arc and hitting 82.5 percent of his free throws.
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Comments » 29
Chris4Vols22 writes:
Man I am so excited to see this kid play at TBA. I saw him at the Rocky Top League games, and he looked really good, but I credited it to the weaker competition of that league. Everyone knows that we really need to be a threat from behind the arch and hopefully McBee (and Scotty) won't disappoint.
I CAN'T WAIT TIL FRIDAY!! GO VOLS!!
GiveYourALLforTennToday writes:
Can he play D?...threes don't matter if you cant keep the jodie meeks' of the world from droppin 56 on ya...
utvolz#637682 writes:
Looking forward to seeing them Friday Night vs. Northern Alabama and then back on the Hill Saturday to see us put a beat down on Spurrier! GO VOLS!
RoadTrip writes:
Money!
If he is playing into the rotation as it says, he has to be at least learning to play some D or CBP would keep him grounded.
DownTheField writes:
I absolutely love the way Coach Pearl has embraced Tennessee tradition- I bet most of the students had no idea what he was talking about! I hope he can inspire Coach Kiffin to do the same... it's really cool.
GiveYourALLforTennToday writes:
good point.. GO VOLS!
GreeneVol_TN writes:
Article also said he had four steals so I'm thinking he was playing a litte D as well.
Just a thought.
Go Vols!
eduardo writes:
Money!!! Got to have people that put the ball in the hole!!! This kid is gonna light it up this yr in the tommy bowl!!!
rclarkvols#224537 writes:
I hope McBee will be for us like that kid from Maryville was for Florida during their championship runs.
mbible1utk#324980 writes:
Sounds like the next Jajuan Smith type maybe....
slov writes:
lee humphrey. hard to forget those daggers from a hometown kid. former tennessee mr bballs and the two natchamp rings.
Ironcity writes:
If he knocks down 3 or 4 threes a game his freshmen season he would ultimately set an all time NCAA record for three's in his career. We fans shouldn't put that type of pressure on Mcbee or any other player. It does sound like he is a guy that can really help when we need more shooters or if we want to get quicker on Dee. Can we give him a scholarship for this year now that Tabb is gone?
Ironcity writes:
5 Mcbees would likely all foul out and get few rebounds against a team of Princes and Hopsons. Don't underestimate how good those two are and don't overestimate how good Mcbee is when he hasn't played a minute yet for the Vols.
Bearwuzacheater writes:
Buzz Peterson would not even offer Humphrey a scholarship... I thought that should have got him fired long before his mediocre coaching did!
navyvolinva writes:
And what about the kid from Fulton going to Auburn?
RockyTop1 writes:
I hate that being a 72 grad from Fulton!! Why did we not pursue him??
Major_Magilicutty writes:
Is the game on TV on Friday?
rab63 writes:
Is the game going to be broadcast on radio?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Sounds like the kid has a head for the game, with a feel for passing lanes. I doubt many of his steals were strips of someone's dribble. He may or may not be a great on-ball defender, but nobody else could do anything with Meeks last year, either. I see his primary role, this year at least, as a designated zone-buster, maybe not getting a lot of minutes but helping keep defenses from collapsing inside. If he isn't a good one-on-one defender, he could still be a good press defender, since court awareness and anticipation are actually more valuable on a press than sheer foot-speed. The team could also play some zone while he is in.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Don't be an idiot. Maybe you were just trying to make a lame joke, but there is no way to compare a guy from a small rural school in East Tennessee to big-city blue-chippers. It will be QUITE enough for Skylar to emulate another relatively unheralded small-town kid like Lofton, who only turned out to be the SEC career leader in 3-pointers. Besides, it is not outside the realm of reason that Lofton will be in the NBA some day, and maybe fairly soon if he lights it up in the premier European league this year.
JeffCoVol writes:
Skylar is a class act. I played against him two summers ago at Fulton and i have nothing but respect for the kid.
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
Maybee McDonalds will Sponsor the MacThree
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
After your Stupid comments, that were very racist yesterday, I can't believe that KNS hasn't banned you.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
sounds like he will be the darling of the fans.
tennrich1 writes:
You talking about the Lofton that TORCHED those Tigers every time he played um...man, take that foot outta yo mouth....
VolFanInTheBoro writes:
Lofton took his own SAT test. Bwahahaha
UTByrd writes:
Let's let Skylar make his own name.
Talking defense, check the aforementioned stats: 24 ppg, 8 boards, 4.3 assists, AND 3.6 steals per game. I don't about the competition he faces in HS, but it sounds like he has a complete package.
Maybe we got us a Dane Bradshaw (glue) that can shoot the lights out.
No matter who's in the game, Pearl has promised to get back to an outstanding defense.
I can hardly wait.
Go VOLS!!!!!
gbeejr#1354500 writes:
Buzz had some concerns about Humphrey, but he recruited Gordon hard. Lee Humphrey was a very good high school bb player. But he was pretty much one dimensional - a spot up jump shooter. Nothing wrong with that, but he wasn't really quick enough to create and take SEC players on the dribble and also a bit of a liability defending SEC players. You'll remember he received very few major college offers (just how many did he get?). But his outside shot was a perfect fit for a team (fl.) that had terrific talent in all other phases of the game. That was pretty much his role. Humphrey was perfect for fl and fl was perfect for Humphrey. Humphrey would have never experienced the success at TN that he did at fl, so it worked out well for him. Let's hope that Skylar has great success and is a perfect fit for the VOLS! Gordon was a heart breaker, Buzz recruited him very hard. You'll remember at that time that the program was struggling some so maybe that had something to do with it.
Baryon writes:
Saw this guy play tonight, he was keeping up pretty well. Scored a couple of threes. CBP needs to start this kid if the others can't produce.
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