Tennessee forward Darlinstone Dubar made his Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center debut on Wednesday evening as the Vols coasted past UT Martin 78-35.
Dubar missed Tennessee’s first three games of the season while dealing with a “personal matter” before returning to the court in the Baha Mar Championship over the weekend. The 6-foot-6 forward completely missed two weeks of practice before returning to the court to do individual work for a week before rejoining team portions of practice last week before he returned to the court.
Meeting with the media following Tennessee’s win over UT Martin, Dubar expressed is thankfulness for how Tennessee basketball supported him during his time away.
“It meant everything to me,” Dubar said of the support. “Never been around a group of guys and a group of coaches where it is really family. They have been here for me and I really appreciate them.”
Dubar turned in his best performance of his young Tennessee career against UT Martin, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
A Hofstra transfer, Dubar has been solid in all three games he’s played in this season and is averaging 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.
“But for a guy that was really not having a lot of practice the last month, impressive,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “And we know he can rebound. He proved that to us down in the Bahamas. And he proved to us that he’s competitive. I mean, trying to guard (Baylor’s Norchad) Omier is as hard as anything he’ll have to go against all year, and he fought hard. And I’m excited because we know he can continue to, like all of us, get better.”
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Dubar has been stout as a rebounder so far. His numbers aren’t overwhelming due to his limited number of minutes but his 28% defensive rebounding rate is the highest on the Vols’ roster.
The Vols are going to need quality minutes from Dubar and will need his physicality inside due to injuries. Center JP Estrella is out for the season with a foot injury while wing Cam Carr is out three to five more weeks with a thumb injury.
Those injuries create more opportunities for Dubar both at the four-spot and the three-spot. But the Charlotte native has a skillset that can help Tennessee out at both spots. He’s a solid defender, can play physically on the inside and is fully capable of hitting open shots on the perimeter.
“We need him to continue to improve defensively,” Barnes said. “And I think the more he plays, his stamina will continue to improve. Offensively, we think he’s a terrific shooter. He’ll have to keep figuring out when to and when not to. And understand how to stay in the flow of his teammates. It will be game to game because every game takes on its own identity.”
Dubar and Tennessee basketball return to the court next week when they host Syracuse on Tuesday night as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.
