Tennessee basketball associate head coach Justin Gainey met with the media Tuesday to discuss the Vols’ summer practices as they get ready for next month’s international trip to Italy.
Gainey discussed Chris Ledlum re-entering the transfer portal, the development of a handful of players and much more.
Here’s everything Gainey said.
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On his first impressions of the team
“The first impression is that we have a lot of quality depth. You look around at each position and the guys and I feel the depth. I think we addressed a couple things we were intending to address this summer which was shooting— not only with the guys we brought in but the guys that have been working since the season’s over to improve in that area. You can see guys from a physical standpoint, bodies look a lot better. Jonas is healthy. Tobe has taken a step and his confidence is at a whole new level so just the depth of our team has kind of been my first impression and it’s got me really excited.”
On landing his son Jordan in the transfer portal
“It’s been awesome. Take basketball out of it. Just the fact that I get to see him everyday and continue to watch him grow, grow up and become a man. I would say the last three years he’s been away for school so I’ve missed and really under appreciated what it feels like to see him everyday. For me, that’s been great. Basketball is going to be basketball. We get on the court and there’s going to be good days, there’s going to be bad days. I have to be coach at the end of the day but just being able to see him everyday has been phenomenal for me.”
On his approach when Jordan entered the transfer portal
“My approach was, one, I wanted him to find what he was looking for. Find happiness. I wanted him to be really clear on what it was he wanted. What he was trying to get out of it. For him, it was a place that wanted him and really wanted him. During that process I was dad. I allowed coach (Barnes) to take the reins on that recruitment and I thought he did a fabulous job. He was unbelievable during that process and he was unbelievable in making Jordan feel like, we want you not because your dad is here but because you address a need that we have. That made it easy and once coach (Barnes) talked to mom it sealed the deal. I was dad and tried to answer any questions he might have and give him an inside scoop on what it was to be a Tennessee Vol.”
On the surprise of Chris Ledlum transferring
“Yeah, it was surprising. It caught us all off guard. Something that we weren’t expecting, obviously, coming off of the knee surgery that he was going through so it kind of caught us off guard a little bit. How does it affect us? Obviously he’s a great player. We wish him nothing but the best. I hope he finds what he is looking for, finds happiness. As far as it goes with us, it’s been our mentality ever since I’ve been here, since coach (Barnes) has been here, next man up. We’re really excited about JP Estrella’s development. Where he is going. Obviously Tobe has taken a major jump. Josiah is looking great. He’s healthy. Probably the first healthy summer he’s had in a long time. We’re just next man up moving forward, wish him the best.”
On what he’s seen from redshirt freshmen Freddie Dilione and D.J. Jefferson
“Freddie, when he walks in the door you can tell he’s different. He looks completely different. He’s gained probably 20 pounds of muscle. Physically, I think he’s grown an inch or two. His matureness, he doesn’t feel like a freshman right now. He doesn’t feel like the other two freshmen that are on the floor. He does feel like an upperclassman. Excited about him, excited about his impact.”
“Same with D.J.. Just to watch his growth from when he first stepped foot on campus to where he is now. Being able to talk, being able to lead in his own way. Obviously from a basketball standpoint his athleticism is something that’s (at) an elite level. But just to watch the other stuff he’s been able to do now. He’s not a finished product. Neither is Freddie. They both show flashes of their youth, their immaturity. But I think they have taken a step forward.”
On what makes Freddie Dilione such a talented offensive player
“I think his size at his position. He’s probably a legit 6-foot-5, maybe even 6-foot-6. Big, strong frame. His ability to change pace, to play at his pace. You can’t speed him up. Can’t slow him down and when he puts those two things together and is coming at you with a full head of steam and is really shifty with the ball and can get to the rack whenever he wants to. It makes him a really tough guard.”
On where Tobe Awaka has made the greatest jump in his game
“I think offensively he’s feeling more comfortable. I would say last year for the majority of the year his offensive game depended on him getting an offensive rebound, putbacks, those types of things. I think now he feels a little more comfortable catching it in the post and playing with his back to the basket and making a move. Just like Freddie and D.J., nowhere near a finished product but feeling more confident and knowing what he wants to get to and you can see it in practice.”
On what he’s seen from Dalton Knecht defensively since transferring in
“Gotta get better. Gotta get better in that area. Offensively he is really, really good, but defensively — and I would say that about all of our newcomers. The level of accountability we hold our guys to from a defensive standpoint, we don’t expect for anybody to walk in here and be able to be an elite defender, to be able to defend to the level we require on a day-to-day basis. Dalton, Jordan (Gainey), Cam (Carr), JP (Estrella) — all of those guys. They’ve got to get better defensively.”
On how much point guard Jordan Gainey will be playing at Tennessee after being more of a shooting guard at USC Upstate
“The thing with how we play and the things we’ve been working on here in practice, it’s important for all of our guards to be able to handle the basketball, for all of our guards to be able to push the break and know what to do from that point guard position. For him, it just gives him a little more versatility and that’s something he can do and he showed he can do at Upstate. They just needed him to score and be a volume shooter, scorer. So, I think he’s settling in nicely to that role and he’s just, as all our guards, being prepared to play all guard positions because as you know last year when Zakai (Zeigler) went down, we had to rely on different guys to handle the ball and I think we did a great job with that, with Jahmai (Mashack) stepping up, with Josiah (James) being able to step up and obviously Santi (Vescovi). So the more and more ball-handlers we can have, the more guys can kind of assume that point guard responsibility, the better.”
On guards being able to develop as ball-handlers with Zakai Zeigler missing time this summer
“It’s been tremendous because they’re forced to play that position now. If we had Zakai out there, it wouldn’t be as much because the ball would be in his hand and everybody knows that’s where it is going to be. Without him, guys are kind of forced into that role and I always think the best teacher is being able to go out there and do it, and make mistakes within doing it. So, they have no choice to do it. They’re able to go out and make mistakes and learn from it, grow from it and get better from it.”
On what he’s looking forward to most about the international trip to Italy to play three exhibition games
“I love Italy. I love the food over there, so I’m really excited about that. I love Lake Como. I wish we could spend all 10 days up there and just kind of hang out on the boat and all that good stuff. Looking forward to that. Looking forward to our guys to just be able to spend time with each other. It’s one thing here on campus. They see each other in practice, but those foreign tours, when you’re together, you’re together a lot and you get to know a lot about each other. You’re on the bus rides, you’re in the hotel, all that good stuff, so excited about that. Then also just seeing everybody together and playing against somebody else. You kind of run that course where you’ve practiced so much, it’s like we need to see somebody else, so it’ll be great to play different competition and just kind of get that on film so we can teach guys, talk to guys about what we see.”
On Jordan Gainey developing as a vocal leader at USC Upstate as a sophomore last season
“It’s been fun. Jordan is a competitive guy. He loves the game and whatever is needed of him, he’s going to try to do. He understands that being more vocal, being more of a leader — especially like last year for him was huge. They lost three seniors I think it was and three guys that really contributed heavy. Being that vocal leader wasn’t as natural to him, but he tried to embrace it and I think he’s continuing to get better. But it’s been fun watching that. You see the care factor that he is and he wants to do whatever is needed to try to win.”
On freshman guard Cameron Carr’s offensive ability
“We knew that through recruiting Cam was a good offensive player. He’s really skilled, has great touch. Any shot for him, he can pretty much get to. He’s got the floater where he can get to the rack. He’s long. He’s got the mid-range and can also shoot the three. During the recruitment process we knew that was his skillset and where he needed to improve was physically from strength and conditioning, and get healthy. We’re excited about him. We’re excited about his upside and his ability to score the basketball. Trying to help improve on that other side of the basketball, too, defense.”
