thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee men's basketball will have a different look this season, but the loss of four guards and five of the top nine players on last year's squad doesn't leave coach Bruce Pearl at a loss for words.

The opposite, in fact.

At Tuesday's UT basketball media day, Pearl appeared to be as excited about the challenges of the upcoming season as he was last March when the 2007-08 Vols had become most successful team in the history of the program.

"We're going to compete for the SEC championship. I'm confident that this is a basketball team that will have what it takes to defend our championship," Pearl said. "That's the good news.

"The bad news is five true freshmen who have never played a college basketball game before, a redshirt freshman and a junior college transfer."

But the bad news isn't all that bad when one of the freshmen is McDonald's All-American Scotty Hopson, the redshirt freshman is Cameron Tatum and the transfer is Bobby Maze, who played as a freshman at Oklahoma and as a sophomore was a junior college All-America selection.

With the leadership and experience provided by veterans Tyler Smith, J.P. Prince and Wayne Chism, Pearl could find a bigger challenge in blending the old with the new rather than in replacing the point production of Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith. Pearl has designed a tougher non-conference schedule than last year's, so getting this group of talented individuals playing like team as soon as possible is at the top of his to-do list.

"Our non-conference schedule is the best in the country. Last year, it was No. 1 and I think again this year it will be No. 1," Pearl said, in preface to reciting a litany of mid-major opponents picked to win their conferences -- Chattanooga, UT Martin, Belmont -- as well as the likes of Temple, Marquette, Kansas, Gonzaga and Memphis.

"It's because we feel to have a Top-20 program that we've got to play that kind of schedule," Pearl said. "I'm excited about our fans seeing Gonzaga and Mark Few up close and personal and Memphis coming back in here with their great team and Coach (John) Calipari, a team that played for the national championship. It's very, very exciting."

Pearl singled out Smith and Prince as the returning players most likely to contribute leadership as well as points to this year's squad.

"Tyler Smith is a lot better. He has become one of our hardest workers, if not our hardest worker," Pearl said. "Tyler always played hard. Tyler always practiced hard. But Tyler didn't train hard. He didn't have a commitment in the weight room and in his individual workouts that he's had this fall.

"That's a very good sign for a team when your best player is your hardest worker."

Smith says his motivation is leaving a legacy within the program.

"I'm trying to do those things that those guys (Lofton and JaJuan Smith) did, like the hard work Chris put in each day in the gym," Smith said. "Leaving my mark here would be great. I always wanted to play here."

Pearl added that Prince has had a "terrific fall" and is a prime candidate to shoulder some of the offense lost with the graduation of Lofton and Smith.

"This is more of a two-point team. Last year, we had more of the 3s," Prince said. "This year we've got more people who like to go inside. And our schedule is going to be a good test for the tournament run.

"Tyler and I just want to continue what we started last year, and our goal is to win a national championship."

The addition of Maze brings experience to the point guard position, Hopson's skills "make you go 'ooh' and 'aah,'" Pearl says, and Tatum, a guard/forward, knows the system despite sitting out with a medical redshirt. The Vols also promise to be deeper in the paint and a better rebounding team, Pearl said.

Tennessee opens practice on Friday and will play its first two exhibitions games on Nov. 3 against Indianapolis and Nov. 7 against Tusculum. The regular season opens with Chattanooga on Nov. 15.

CHILDRESS OUT: Senior post player Ryan Childress may not be able to play this season, Pearl said. The 6-foot-9 forward from Cincinnati had surgery for a knee injury this past summer and has not been able to run yet.

"Ryan had a pretty serious injury and a pretty serious surgery. He really wants to come back for his senior year, but he's going to be challenged to do that," Pearl said.

"I just don't know. I think he's at least a month-and-a-half away from even thinking about practicing."