UTC men’s basketball assistant coach Tanner Bronson believes an experienced and talented team has a chance to thrive this year. Filling in for head coach Lamont Paris at the Friday Civitan Club meeting, Bronson told the club that this year’s team is veteran-laden and ready to start the season.
“Our first few years we were very young, but this year our average age is 22 and a half,” Bronson said. “We’ve got multiple guys with college degrees already and it’s a mature group.”
The Mocs assistant also discussed the current realities of the transfer portal and its effect on the college game.
The Mocs have both benefited from and been weakened by the looser transfer requirements, and Bronson said the Mocs are often seen as an attractive destination by players looking to move closer to home, get more playing time, or find the right place.
“Guys are looking for themselves academically and athletically, and some kids may have made a mistake before,” coach Bronson said. “I think when they come to see our campus and city, those kids are very excited about enrolling at UTC.”
“I think that in coaching, it’s also our responsibility to do what is best for the player and young people we’re trying to coach,” he said. “You might make the wrong decision as a young person, so it’s best to hear out the situation and realize that the transfer portal is something that’s here, and start to ask how we can use it to our advantage?”
One of those transfers made headlines when he announced he was coming to the Scenic City this summer. There have been several talented players to transfer in over coach Paris’ tenure, but none are as gifted as former five-star recruit Silvio De Sousa. While De Sousa has pro-level athleticism and a great skillset, he was more well-known for non-basketball issues, including his part in a bench-clearing brawl in 2020, and a separate battery charge he was found not guilty of in early August.
“Our coaching staff has connections that know Silvio, and I don’t want to comment too much on a lot of stuff that’s out there, but you get to know the kid,” Bronson said. “We’re going to talk to coaches, teammates, and people close to them and see what kind of person someone is.”
De Sousa, a grad transfer, joins the SoCon’s most experienced backcourt in fourth-year sophomore Malachi Smith and sixth-year super senior David Jean Baptiste. Those three, plus forward KC Hankton, swingman AJ Caldwell, and third-year redshirt freshman (and East Hamilton alum) Jamaal Walker comprise the nucleus of what should be a contender in the conference.
“They’re such a huge part of what you try to do as a coach when you’re trying to get guys together and on the same page,” Bronson said. “When you have a starting backcourt that is going to rival anyone in the league, it’s exciting. I’m glad they’re Mocs and not playing for somebody else.”
There has been a nationwide discussion on the New Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules, which allow athletes to make money through endorsements. Bronson said this is something that may be considered when recruiting, but does not see it as a huge factor yet for the mid-major team.
“I don’t think we recruit a ton against SEC schools (who can really benefit from that), but I think there’s going to be niche markets at everybody’s level that can help boost some teams,” Bronson said. “I’m always about what is best for our players, and if there’s a way to help our guys then we’ll look into it. We always have to be ready to adjust as coaches to it, but it hasn’t really impacted recruiting yet.”
The Mocs have improved every season Paris and Bronson have been there. After starting out with 10 wins in 2017, they’ve improved to 12, then 20, and then 18 wins (and a .692 winning percentage) in the last three years. For the Mocs, the next step and a realistic goal is their first conference championship since the 2015-16 campaign under Matt McCall.
“For us, the goal is to win a championship, and I think we have the right things in place to compete in the SoCon, which is a tremendous league, to win the conference tournament, and then compete in the NCAA tournament,” the speaker said.