How Tennessee basketball’s new-look roster is adjusting to Rick Barnes practices

Terrence Hill Jr. called it what it was. Ralph Scott, Tennessee basketball’s freshman wing, was suffering through the transition to the big time while doubled over after a summer workout. “I feel like he had a welcome to college moment pretty early,” Hill said this week, “when we were doing some drills.” Scott confirmed as much himself. “(It) was definitely some sprints after practice,” Scott said. “I want to say two to three weeks ago. First time in a while that I’ve thrown up after a practice, but that was my welcome to college moment.” Competition defining Tennessee’s summer workouts It was a welcome to Rick Barnes moment, too. And it’s not just Scott. There are three other freshmen along side Scott in guards Marquis Clark and Manny Green and wing Chris Washington Jr. There are eight new players who signed with Tennessee out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, with Hill transferring from VCU. Christian Fermin, who joined Hill in the move from VCU to Tennessee, said two weeks ago that he’s never been through a practice or summer program the likes of what he’s seen with Barnes and the Vols. Scott went into more detail on Monday. “I’d say that we compete a lot,” he said. “We do a lot of skill work at the start but once it gets really into it, we compete. We go after each other. I’d say that’s where he sees us getting better. Going against each other all the time.” Every team wants to compete. But what makes a Barnes practice different? “I feel like he’s more intense from the jump,” Hill added. “He’s more locked in on the small details than anything else. He just wants us to be as best as we can every rep. So, just seeing that, his intensity, is just very impactful to me.” Hill said it didn’t take “too long” for him to adjust because he knew what he was signing up for with Barnes. “I knew he was a high-intense coach,” Hill said. “Maybe for others, it took a little longer, but you kind of just get used to it over time, especially if you want to get better. You know everything he’s saying is just out of love for you to get better.” Rick Barnes on offseason workouts: ‘I love this time of year’ The veteran head coach, the one entering his 40th season as a Division I head coach, still can’t get enough of it. “I love this time of year,” Barnes said in June. “I think that when you got a group of guys that want to be good, I think they embrace it, too. You talk about being forged in fire, you know, you got to turn it up every day. You got to get the furnace hot, and you got to get them to understand what’s coming. Barnes knows the intensity of the summer will be felt again months down the road, when Tennessee and its new-look roster is grinding through the season. “We know what’s coming,” Barnes said. “Our schedule, what we have in front of us. But I think they’ve embraced it. We haven’t had any type of attitude situation. Guys are doing what they’re doing, not only out here, but in the weight room, where there’s a lot of team bonding going on there, and just looking out for each other. “We’ve got a good group of guys, but we got a long ways to go, like you’d expect this time of year. But up to this point, I would say we’re very pleased with them.”