How good is tennessee basketball

Thoughts about Tennessee men’s basketball and what the future holds

Well, now that we’ve had a few days to digest it, I’m sure we all feel a lot better about Tennessee basketball’s 76-68 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Round of 32.

No? We still feel terrible about it? Ah. My apologies.

Maybe I’m just used to the March disappointments, but Tennessee’s loss truly did not shock me. It didn’t happen to the team I thought it would happen to, but a premature exit for the tournament was always at the forefront of our minds.

The truth of the matter is, no matter what seed Tennessee got, and no matter what team they were facing, the fanbase had lingering doubts about whether or not this team was able to buck the trend of recent squads. The SEC championship may have calmed some initial fears—but it still remained.

So here we are again, before the Sweet 16 round begins, thinking about what could’ve been and what we’re going to miss most about this team.

Here’s the good news: Tennessee returns a lot of their talent, even if we assume that Kennedy Chandler heads to the NBA (which I fully expect). Tennessee will still have key players like Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Zakai Ziegler, and Uros Plavsic. They will also get Olivier Nkamhoua back from injury, who will pair nicely with a developing Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. The main starting five for next year is likely in the group of six players I just named.

But who’s to say that Tennessee won’t just rinse and repeat their results for the 2023 season? Honestly…no one. There’s no super elite player coming in (as of now) and it doesn’t seem like the Volunteers will be loading up for a 30-win season. They’ll probably be good—and that’s about it.

I know that some fans want a better answer, but that’s the truth. It’s also something to keep in mind when looking at failing programs across the country.

Head coach Rick Barnes occupies a very weird territory. Usually, people assign him into the “tournament choker” category. We all know the reputation they bring. High level results in the regular season, with shockingly bad collapses come March.

But I can’t help but notice something with Barnes and these past few Tennessee teams: Their tournament disappointments are not the dramatic failures that typically bring discussions of firing. Instead, their results tend to be just short of the expectation, leading to both a disappointment and enough hope to maintain optimism into the next season.

Put it this way: Tennessee does not expect a Final Four and get knocked out in the first round. They expect an Elite Eight and get knocked out in the Round of 32. For the latter, this is much harder to evaluate.*

* The only exception here is probably last year’s squad that lost in the first round to Oregon State.

Even in the one year that Tennessee was viewed as a strong Final Four contender (2019), they did manage to make it to the Sweet 16. Not where they wanted, but not bad enough to cause a serious riff. This is, apparently, the common theme of Barnes’ career. Both at Texas, and now at Tennessee. We have enough data to know that this is the way it happens: Tennessee will perform well in the regular season, but not good enough to give you serious hope that they make a deep tournament run. When they eventually fall short of the actual expectations, the cycle resets.

To be clear, I am not saying that Rick Barnes is solely to blame for those losses. In fact, you could argue that the Michigan game was one of his least fault-worthy yet. Tennessee’s players just couldn’t hit open threes. If they had managed an average outing from behind the arc, they would’ve won by double digits. If they produced a below average outing? Probably a close win.

Instead, they had a putrid day, going just 2-for-18 from 3-point range. There really isn’t much a coach can do when that happens. There were certainly some adjustments Barnes could’ve made, but ultimately I don’t think he had a bad game plan.

I’ve argued before that regular season results cannot be dismissed. They are a large sample size of how a team can perform, and the March tournament is a weird beast. Barnes has 100 percent succeeded in building up Tennessee to a basketball power in the SEC, and that’s true because of his regular season success. The Volunteers under his watch have been regular season SEC champions, SEC tournament champions, recorded a near .650 winning percentage, and maintained fantastic records against Tennessee’s rivals (notably, Kentucky and Florida). He’s also near .500 against top-25 ranked teams in his Tennessee career, and does having a winning record against them over the past four seasons. None of that is a fluke.

So if tournament results were the only thing that mattered, would Tennessee fans want to hire current Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mike White? He had more tournament wins in seven seasons at Florida than Barnes does in seven seasons at Tennessee.

The answer is obviously no. White’s failure to beat SEC and non-conference rivals meant he could not produce meaningful, tangible results. It also meant fans were constantly upset with him, despite his NCAA tournament success. I cite this because it leads into the conclusion that I feel get overlooked: Unless your team’s tournament run is a deep one, the difference is marginal. Appearing in a Sweet 16 is really not that different from appearing in the Round of 32, in the grand scheme of things. It makes more of a difference if you are consistently going to the Elite 8 or beyond.

All this to say: We can’t easily dismiss Barnes as an “average” coach. He is clearly not average. He gets results from his players, but those results just aren’t up to the expectations that his regular season results (and recruiting) suggest.

Some of this is just repeating what I’ve said for four years. But every time a result happens like Saturday, it’s a cruel reminder that the solution is not as easy as either (1) getting another coach or (2) totally committing to Barnes as the best coach the program can have.

Barnes has done enough to retire on his own terms at Tennessee. It’s weird to remember that an Elite 8 is the absolute furthest that Tennessee has ever gone in the NCAA tournament, and that the Volunteers historically are not even in the top-40 of win percentage by major schools. So not grabbing more titles is unfortunate, but it’s also not a wild departure from program history.

By most standards, Barnes is slightly above what Tennessee basketball has historically managed. His true value comes in the stabilization of the program.

Think of the turmoil that Tennessee went through with Bruce Pearl’s firing, the weird Cuonzo Martin saga, the short-lived Donnie Tyndall experiment, and eventually hiring Barnes. For a lot of programs, that would immediately make the job an unattractive option. Rather than suffer from the turmoil, Barnes went ahead and succeeded, and has brought Tennessee accomplishments they haven’t seen in three decades.

I wish Barnes was better in March. Everyone does. I wish just one of his teams would find a way to keep their momentum going through more than two rounds. I wish Barnes would be quicker to adjust when he sees his team failing to hit their usual marks. We all do. But until Barnes decides he wants to hang it up, that’s just the pill you have to swallow with him.

The minute his regular season results begin to drag, or his recruiting stalls out, or he starts losing internal control of his program, we can start a serious discussion of what comes next. But for now, enjoy what he can do, and just hope that he can find lightning in a bottle before he coaches his final game.

College basketball rankings: Tennessee is heating up with a rematch of its loss to Kentucky looming

The Volunteers, No. 19 in Thursday's Top 25 And 1, are 6-1 since their loss to the Wildcats after beating Mississippi State

By Gary Parrish

Feb 10, 2022 at 12:49 pm ET • 1 min read

Among the first real signs that Kentucky is special enough to win the 2022 NCAA Tournament came when the Wildcats smacked Tennessee by 28 points last month at Rupp Arena. It was a beatdown during which UK shot 67.9% from the field and scored 107 points on a Tennessee defense that ranks among the best nationally.

After that, it was reasonable to be concerned about UT.

But the Vols have recovered nicely. They're 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch being a 52-51 loss on the road to a Texas team that's also surging. Tennessee added a fourth Quadrant 1 win to its resume Wednesday via a 72-63 victory at Mississippi State. The Vols are now 9-6 in the first two quadrants with zero losses outside of Quadrant 1 and zero losses at home.

For what it's worth, KenPom.com currently projects Tennessee to be a favorite in each of its final seven regular-season games. It's a stretch that includes a rematch with Kentucky, a showdown with Auburn, and two games against Arkansas — one at home, one on the road. So winning all seven is obviously unlikely. But the fact that the Vols have gone from 2-3 in the SEC to 8-3 in the SEC since getting rolled by Kentucky is proof that Tennessee bounced back incredibly and is trending in the right direction. As a result, there are now multiple reasons to believe next Tuesday's game with John Calipari's Wildcats could unfold differently, and be much more competitive, than the previous meeting.

Tennessee is No. 19 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Vols will host Vanderbilt inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.

Itching for more college hoops analysis? Listen below and subscribe to the Eye on College Basketball podcast where we take you beyond the hardwood with insider information and instant reactions.

Top 25 And 1 rankings

Biggest Movers

2 Providence

5 Houston

Rk	Teams		Chg	Rcrd
1	Gonzaga	Gonzaga has won 12 straight games by double-digits since losing to Alabama. The Zags' next game is Thursday against Pacific.	--	28-4
2	Auburn	Auburn is 12-2 in the first two quadrants and in possession of an SEC-best 10-1 record in league games. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Texas A&M.	--	28-6
3	Kentucky	Kentucky is 8-4 in the first two quadrants with all four losses coming in Quadrant 1 games away from home. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Florida.	--	26-8
4	Arizona	Arizona is 7-2 in the first two quadrants with the losses coming at Tennessee and at UCLA. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday at Washington State.	--	33-4
5	Purdue	Purdue is 11-3 in the first two quadrants with wins over Villanova, Ohio State and Illinois twice. The Boilermakers' next game is Thursday at Michigan.	1	29-8
6	Kansas	Kansas is 12-4 in the first two quadrants with the losses coming to Kentucky, Texas Tech, Texas and Dayton. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma.	1	34-6
7	Baylor	Baylor is 12-4 in the first two quadrants with wins over Villanova and Michigan State. The Bears' next game is Saturday against Texas.	1	27-7
8	Providence	Providence is 10-2 in the first two quadrants with wins over Texas Tech and Wisconsin and losses to Virginia and Marquette. The Friars' next game is Saturday against DePaul.	2	27-6
9	Wisconsin	Wisconsin is 11-4 in the first two quadrants with wins over Purdue, Houston, Ohio State, Marquette and Michigan State. The Badgers' next game is Saturday against Rutgers.	2	25-8
10	Houston	Houston is 6-3 in the first two quadrants after Wednesday's loss at SMU. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Memphis.	5	32-6
11	Duke	Duke is 7-3 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Virginia falling in Quadrant 3. The Blue Devils' next game is Thursday at Clemson.	1	32-7
12	Texas Tech	Texas Tech is 9-6 in the first two quadrants after Wednesday's loss at Oklahoma. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against TCU.	3	27-10
13	UCLA	UCLA is 7-3 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Arizona State falling in Quadrant 3. The Bruins' next game is Saturday at USC.	--	27-8
14	Illinois	Illinois' 9-6 record in the first two quadrants includes two losses in which All-American Kofi Cockburn did not play. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Northwestern.	--	23-10
15	Marquette	Marquette is 8-2 in its past 10 contests with the only losses in that stretch coming at Providence and at UConn. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Butler.	--	19-13
16	Villanova	Villanova is 8-6 in the first two quadrants with all six losses coming in Quadrant 1. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Seton Hall.	--	30-8
17	Texas	Texas is 9-6 in the first two quadrants with wins over Kansas, Tennessee and Iowa State. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday at Baylor.	--	22-12
18	Michigan St.	Michigan State is 9-6 in the first two quadrants but just 3-4 in its past seven games. The Spartans' next game is Saturday against Indiana.	--	23-13
19	Tennessee	Tennessee is 9-6 in the first two quadrants with wins over Arizona, LSU and North Carolina. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Vanderbilt.	1	27-8
20	Arkansas	Arkansas is 8-3 in the first two quadrants with two additional losses falling in Quadrant 3. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday at Alabama.	1	28-9
21	Wyoming	Wyoming is 7-3 in the first two quadrants and 11-1 in its past 12 games. The Cowboys' next game is Saturday at San Jose State.	1	25-9
22	Ohio St.	Ohio State is 6-6 in the first two quadrants after Wednesday's loss at Rutgers. The Buckeyes' next game is Saturday at Michigan.	3	20-12
23	UConn	UConn is 6-5 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to Creighton falling in Quadrant 3. The Huskies' next game is Friday at Xavier.	--	23-10
24	Davidson	Davidson is 19-1 in its past 20 games with wins over Alabama and VCU. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday at Rhode Island.	--	27-7
25	Saint Mary's	Saint Mary's is 6-5 in the first two quadrants with four of the five losses coming in Quadrant 1. The Gaels' next game is Thursday against San Diego.	1	26-8
26	Murray St.	Murray State is 3-1 in the first two quadrants with an additional loss to East Tennessee State falling in Quadrant 3. The Racers' next game is Thursday at Tennessee State.	NR	31-3

In: Murray State | Out: Xavier

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“I am committed to both sports and studies.

Today the Russian U18 team completed the Samara stage of preparation for the European Championship, which starts at the end of July in Turkey. Most of the players who train under the guidance of senior coach Igor Grachev represent leading Russian clubs. But there is also a “legionnaire” in the national team - a graduate of CSKA Arseniy Andreev, who has been playing in the US school championship for the past few years.

Especially for our blog, Arseniy spoke in detail about the peculiarities of studying in the USA and the differences between American basketball and Russian basketball, highlighted the main thing that his years in the States gave him, and shared his unbanal expectations from the European Championship.

- How did you get the idea to go to study in the USA? After all, by the time you left, you were only 15 years old.

- I have always strived for the maximum development and always dreamed of studying and playing basketball in America. In addition, I initially knew English, at some certain level - my grandmother taught English, so in this regard it was already easier for me. Plus, I have a twin brother Artemy, with whom we trained for many years with Dmitry Andreevich Shatskov, and at the age of 13 we went together for the first time to an American training camp. We were offered to stay there, but then we were not ready for this yet. But the next time we visited them again, we were once again offered to stay, apparently seeing the potential in us. By that time, at the age of 15, we had grown stronger, it became possible to do this for relatively little money - and now I have been studying and training in the USA for three years now.

I am constantly developing in various areas: both in "physics" and in thinking, both as a student and as a basketball player, and just as a person. Although the head still remained in Russian basketball for a long time - after all, every year I was involved in various teams. Now I have the last year at school left, the 12th grade, I finish it and enter the university.

In general, the reason why I left can be formulated as follows: when in Russia you start playing in the Junior Junior League or for the youth team, you have to choose between sports or studies. And I have always been set up for both: sports are very important for a man, and study is generally for a person. So I decided to combine them. In the USA it is possible, in our country it is not.

- How difficult was the decision to move?

- The decision was, of course, very difficult. And although it was not spontaneous, my brother and I had to decide everything in a very short time, because it was necessary to collect all the necessary documents. And we, I confess, were still inclined to stay in Russia. We like everything here: family, friends, beloved Moscow, everything is good in studies and basketball. .. But now I understand that we made the right decision. The most difficult thing was to overpower yourself mentally, to understand that this move will help you in the future, open up new frontiers and new opportunities. If I had stayed here, perhaps I would not have had a sports future at all, I would have gone in for sports just “for myself”. But that would be a completely different me. And my parents always insisted that I raise my bar as high as possible. In the end, although we were with my brother at a fairly young age, we decided that it would be better to go through all possible difficulties - and we went.

- You left for the USA in 2014, when a new round of aggravation of relations between our countries began...

- This is, of course, an interesting topic. My family and I are very fond of discussing politics, and in the USA we constantly discuss it with friends. And, by the way, many people ask me about this: are the American media escalating the situation with regard to Russia, do they say that we are “bad” . .. No, no one there says that Russia is bad, on the contrary, it is our propaganda that works. Of course, there are people in the USA who have a bad attitude towards our country - but they always have some reason for this, for example, the policy of our president. There is no open rage or hostility: they respect any people, including ours. Although the Americans who follow politics and understand it, the events of recent years, Crimea and so on, of course, caused a negative reaction. Our people are greatly influenced by propaganda, and this is noticeable: everyone treats the United States as an enemy, it seems that the second cold war is beginning.

- What was the most difficult thing for you in the process of adapting to life in America?

- The problem of the language barrier was and still is sometimes encountered. Although I know English perfectly, it still happens that I hear some words or phrases for the first time - simply because it is not my native language. But the language barrier is the smallest problem of all. And everything was simple with life: my brother and I are already independent, we quickly got used to the fact that we need to be responsible for ourselves and for our actions.

The most difficult thing is to get used to a completely different mentality, to people who behave in a completely different way. Now I have been living in America for two years - and in fact, I have two mentalities. And this is interesting: sometimes I come here - and I look at some things in a different way, not as a Russian person, but there - on the contrary. It seems to me that this gives me a broader outlook, allows me to look at many things from different angles. And this gives a chance to find the right solution.

- Which American trait do you like the most?

- It's hard to generalize all the people - you'll get a stereotype, but I don't really like stereotypes. But in America, people are much more efficient, even those who work in the most insignificant jobs are trying to break through to the top, everyone wants to achieve something. Sometimes I come here and see: a talented person, but he is satisfied with his current position - this is what irritates me in our people. I do not want to generalize, of course, but we have such a feature.

If we talk about our “pluses”, then, despite the fact that, of course, I found friends in the USA, I still get the feeling that people in Russia are more sincere. If here you develop good friendly relations with a person, you feel that he is with you, he will help you. In the same place, there is no such feeling that all friends and relatives are always with you and, if necessary, will cover your back.

- What is your school like?

- IMG is a very famous academy. It is designed for people who want to improve. Meals, accommodation, training - all this is "included". Approximately 800 people study at the Academy, people from all over the world are gathered there, this is a truly multinational school. And a variety of sports are developing: basketball, American football, la crosse, which, I think, very few people know about in Russia, baseball, tennis, which glorified the Academy, golf, athletics . ..

Read about IMG Academy on Wikipedia

And we all live on the same campus, go to school together, eat together. Representatives of different sports are even specially accommodated in the rooms, for example, an athlete with a golfer - and this, I think, is right. Although about half of the students we, although we see them, in fact do not know each other. We have two gyms, but there aren’t enough of them for everyone, so, for example, girls-basketball players go to training in the morning and go to school in the evening, while we do the opposite. Therefore, we, of course, intersect with them, but not so often.

As part of the youth team of CSKA:

- What does your typical day consist of?

- This is my daily routine. In the morning, I always tried to go to the gym, at least three or four times a week, sometimes with a coach, sometimes without. At 5-00 or 5-30 I woke up, from 6-00 to 7-30 I studied. This also gave its results: thanks to these trainings, I became more technical. School from 7:45 am to 12:30 pm. As elsewhere in the American education system, we choose five or six grades, which we do all year. Then there are a couple of hours to have lunch and change.

Around 2:00 p.m. — practice, most often in the gym, with a good coach who works with players from the NBA or NFL. Then - already the actual team training. During the season, a lot of time is devoted to "physics" and playing defense, but at the same time, the coaches still develop our basketball IQ. Europe seems to be famous for this, but in America they also devote time to this. From 17-30, when the training ends, we have time to eat and work on ourselves - the hall is always open until 20-00.

But by 19-30, all students must be in their room or at school - this is called study hall, everyone must do homework: they control it so that we don’t slip into our studies at all, which is very easy with such loads. Although students with good grades can skip this study hall. It continues until 21:00, and at 22:00 we already have a "light out": everyone must be in their rooms.

No training on weekends. Unless there can be a team lesson on Saturday morning - that's all. And Sunday is always a rest, someone goes to church, someone goes to the beach...

- Is studying easy for you?

– The most difficult thing is various social subjects: history, American and world, social studies, the study of the state... I chose them for study. I think they are much more difficult than in Russia. We write much more, while constantly talking in class, challenging someone else's point of view and defending our own. In Russia, I have never had anything like this. But in Russia exact sciences are presented much better. In general, I love mathematics, so I take more mathematical courses, moreover, not at the “ordinary”, but at the “complex” level. But besides what you like and what you can take to study "to choose from", you must take some basic courses every year: the same basic mathematics, basic English ...

- Everyone knows that players on American college teams have to study hard or they will simply not be allowed to practice and play. Do schools have the same system?

- It is clear that not all the players of our team are excellent students, but there is such a thing - GPA, Grade point average, that is, the average score. “4” is considered very cool, but if you have less than “2”, you are not allowed to play in the NCAA. In our team, everyone has good scores, but if there are any problems with studying, a person skips training until he corrects all his grades.

- Does being on the school team give you any academic advantage?

- If it were an ordinary school - a public school, that is, a state school - yes, there would be many advantages. And we have all the athletes in the academy. For two or three leaders or the starting five, sometimes they make some concessions, since we often leave for matches. But still, our progress is monitored. There is no such thing as just rating us like that.

- Did you get used to American basketball for a long time?

– In Russia, school basketball is not developed at all, on the contrary, it is very developed there, especially at the level of such large academies. In my first year, I played for the junior high team because I was in junior high myself. Of course, compared to where I play now, it was not very serious. Then I played for the seniors, but at first I sat on the bench, because the other guys were much more experienced and older than me - born in 1997, 1996 and even 1995. But the last season was the first for me, when I played at a good level, and went out at the start. We had a strong team and we achieved a lot.

Was it hard to get into the team? There is competition, just like anywhere else. In the USA, there is more emphasis on conversations, communication on the court, both in training and in games. I am now trying to bring this to our team. We generally have little communication on the site, and this, I think, is bad. The more you communicate, tell each other, the better. What else is celebrated in America? Effort in defense, fighting for "nobody's" balls... Of course, if a person is talented, he will get into the team, but if he does not give all the best in defense, they will not let him play. Coming to Russia, I see this often.

It wasn't that hard to get used to the game. Even when I was in CSKA, we had a team that was quite athletic for its age, we tried to play fast basketball. So in this regard, it was not difficult for me. Plus, I worked in the gym and at the stadium, so I noticeably added both in strength and in speed, simple and explosive.

The only thing that was hard to get used to... Here in Russia, you definitely need to play a "scheme", you definitely need to find an absolutely open throw. In the same place, if a player is at least a little open, this is already considered good, which means that the team created a moment for him, and he must throw. Therefore, the game becomes much more athletic, much faster, much more spectacular.

- You are not the most outstanding height by basketball standards, "only" 182 cm. What do you use?

- Yes, it's clear that there are a lot of guys like me... However, it was the game thinking that was given to me in CSKA that distinguished me, for which I am grateful to my coach and the whole club. Somewhere athleticism, because I spend a lot of time in a rocking chair. Probably, my grades distinguish me from the “competitors”. And somewhere, I think, and leadership qualities: I have always been the captain in my teams, and at important moments I tried to be a leader and take over the game.

- Do high school matches really cause such a stir among the locals, as shown in American films?

– Our games, the school championship games, are indeed attended by ordinary residents of the district, people who have nothing to do with our school - they are just interested in watching live basketball. And school students, girls, friends - this goes without saying. In general, public schools gather full halls, there are support groups. In our country, since many are focused specifically on their sport, although the hall is gathering, there is still no such excitement as in other schools. But at the most important matches and in our academy, the atmosphere is just crazy.

- How successful is your team?

- The ratio of victories and defeats we have is 37/10. This is a very good result, considering that we are playing against some of the top teams in the US. Although we often go to different tournaments, and there it happens that taking some place is not the most important thing. Scouts from various colleges come there: they look at us, we show ourselves to them ... We went to tournaments in Atlanta, Denver, Tennessee, and this is not counting Florida itself: Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee ... And in almost every tournament we performed quite successfully, more often winning than losing. But we couldn't get to the state championship this year.

- In a year you will enter the university. Will the basketball program have any meaning for you when choosing where exactly to enter?

- Of course. As I said, I plan to combine basketball and study. Last year in terms of basketball, I had a successful (14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game - approx. auth.) , so I received a lot of offers from colleges. And from very different people. In my understanding, "good" colleges fall into two categories: good academics and good basketball. And I have proposals from colleges "good study - bad basketball" or, conversely, "good basketball - bad study." I try to find the most suitable option for myself. Of course, I want to play at a high level. And the teams that are most interested in me are playing in the Ivy league: there is a very good study there, and the top teams are very good at basketball. Harvard, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania... This is the first division of the NCAA. I go there both in terms of grades and, of course, in basketball.

- The main thing that years in the USA gave you in terms of basketball?

- I learned to really work, both at school and on the court. It helps me a lot in life. I didn't have this in Russia. I was talented in something, I had a good upbringing - and on this I “travelled”. And in America I had to learn how to work day in and day out with all my might. This is the biggest plus for me. Yes, I improved my physical data, began to throw better, see the game better - but the most important thing is still hard work.

- Have you met any of the star basketball players?

– In the summer, alumni often come to our academy to train. Among the celebrities who train with us all the time is Eman Shumpert, who plays for the Cleveland and became a champion, he comes every summer. We also have a lot of guys from the draft training here, for example, the Spaniard Juancho Hernangomes, selected this year under the 15th pick. Duane Wade has trained with us several times. Sometimes you manage to communicate with them, sometimes even train together, although imagine how many people there are! with them or ask for some advice is not a problem.

- You and your brother are probably not the only Russians at the academy...

- In our first year there was another guy there - Vanya Slutsky, but he spent only six months there, and then decided to return home. He is a good player, now he plays for Khimki-2. We are still friends with him. There were other guys, but I did not know them before - they are from the regions. Last year there were guys from Ukraine, they will probably also play for their U18 team. Yuri Umrikhin also came to the USA (candidate for the Russian national team U18 - approx. auth.) , however, not to our academy, but we played against him. In total, if we count representatives of all sports, there were ten Russians in the academy.

At first, of course, most of all I communicated with them: at first I myself was not very sociable, and my knowledge of the language was not so good. But then I discovered new people - Europeans, Latin Americans, Africans - and I stopped going to "Russian" companies... Although we still celebrate all Russian holidays together: Christmas, Easter, and so on...

- Are the problems of racial discrimination and tolerance really as exaggerated in the USA as it is sometimes portrayed here?

- Hard to say. There are conflicts, of course. There are different "groupings", for example, blacks go with blacks or whites with whites. But this does not mean that they do not communicate with anyone else. And they try to follow the conflicts in our academy, although they still happen. For example, during the game they start to "run over" you, you say something in response - and a conflict begins, which can be called ethnic.

And every time a white cop kills a black one somewhere in the country, it's all over the news. But even despite all this, it seems to me that, in general, the United States is moving towards the eradication of racism. In Russia, racism is treated normally, in the sense that we have some stereotypes, and if they are voiced, everyone will react normally to this. In the same place, it causes irritation and negativity, so they try to fight it. So everything, in my opinion, depends on the attitude to the problem.

- This is not the first time you have been involved in the youth teams. There is some difficulty in the fact that after the United States you have to get used to Russian realities again, is there for you?

- I don't think so. I'm already used to both American basketball and Russian. Now I just really want us to achieve something with the national team, so that we have faith in ourselves. Even if we don't succeed, may we have that faith. All the last years, when our teams failed, it happened precisely because of the lack of self-confidence. And without it, nothing can be achieved.

- European Championship U 18 starts in less than a month. What result are you aiming for?

- Probably, I will not answer this question quite “correctly”. Even if we all lose and get relegated to division B, the main thing will be, I think, if everyone really tries, believes in our victory, strives to improve themselves and enjoy the game. This is what is important to me. But as a team, when we communicate with each other, we still set ourselves the highest tournament goals. Of course, it would be great to win the championship, or to get into the top three, or into the top five - to get to the World Cup. But all this will be seen during the tournament.

- How do you, who are familiar with a variety of coaches, work with Igor Grachev?

- I like that he communicates with his players. I have seen very little of this among Russian coaches. Often the coaches do not make contact with the players. I don't consider it professional. And Igor Igorevich always communicates with us, he never raises his voice for no reason. A very measured person - and I like it. Probably, as a coach, he is between an American coach and a Russian one. And I think he has enough experience to lead us to success.

- You recently won one of the streetball tournaments in Moscow and now you have to play in the European Streetball Championship U18, in the middle of July, in the middle of July. How did the streetball option come about?

- Everything turned out pretty funny. The tournament in Moscow was held in May. And I was not supposed to come to Russia in May, usually in the spring I come only on vacation in March. But this year I had to take the exam and I came to write an essay - admission to the exam. I saw friends and they, and there, by the way, another guy from our team - Nikita Vavilov, invited me to play streetball. I didn’t want to sit in Moscow without sports at all, so I decided to participate, although I didn’t even know what kind of tournament it would be. And only about the middle of the tournament I find out that the prize for winning it will be the opportunity to get into the Russian national streetball team. And I would love to play in it, but ... I respect all streetball players, but I think that 5x5 basketball is much more important for me personally. And so I understand that it would be irresponsible to go into streetball now to participate in the qualification for the European Championship. Now the most important thing for me is our basketball team. And in streetball, I think, they will take another player.

Photo: BC Samara and Arseny Andreev's archive

One-armed schoolboy from the Dominican Republic conquers basketball: he moved to the USA, won the dunk competition and already received an invitation from the NCAA - Do not play basketball - Blogs

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Inspirational body positivity from Hansel Emmanuel.

If you imagine the image of an average winner of a local competition in throws from above, then an athletic and jumping guy with good coordination and height over 19 will surely appear before your eyes0 centimeters. All these qualities are inherent in Hansel Emmanuel, the winner of the dunk competition held last week in Florida among students of the City of Palms Classic high school. With one exception - the 17-year-old basketball player has only one fully functioning arm.

Hansel Emmanuel Donato Dominguez does not use his full name, but he fully realizes himself in basketball and does not pay attention to physical illness. Speaker in both positions in the back line 19Not only does the 5cm guard jump well, he also won the Central Florida Championship with Life Christian academy team, with averaging an impressive 26 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists per game.

Kikimita's story, which is how the player's nickname is pronounced, is amazing. Hansel was born and raised in the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. The boy's childhood passed under the supervision of his father Salvador, a professional basketball player who played in the national championship. From him, Emmanuel drew a love for sports and, like other peers who were no different from him at that time, often played with an orange ball, and also learned the basics of baseball.

A post shared by Hansel Enmanuel (@enmanuelhansel)

Everything changed when Hansel was 6 years old. The boy habitually spent his free time in a dilapidated building, but one of the walls could not bear his weight and collapsed - the slab crushed his left hand. The father was nearby, but he could not help in any way, because the mass of the structure was unbearable even for several adult men. Rescuers reached the scene only two hours later, and by that time the condition of the bones and tendons no longer allowed them to save the child's arm, so it was amputated to the shoulder.

“I didn't feel like doing anything. I couldn’t tie my shoelaces, I couldn’t pour water into a glass normally, ”Emmanuel recalled the first time after the operation.

“When this incident happened, I thought our lives were ruined. I was next to him when the doctors amputated his arm... But the Lord led us along a special path,” said the boy’s father.

Children endure even the most terrible tragedies more easily. Some time later, the future basketball player again took the ball in his hand to hone an almost perfect dribbling using only one limb.

High school games helped Hansel become a star in his hometown, and in 2020, footage of the guy's matches came to a former teammate of the basketball player's father, Moises Michael, who worked as a coach for the Life Christian academy team based in the small town of Kissimmee. The coach was impressed by the success of Emmanuel and invited him to move, to which he agreed. Even ignorance of the English language did not stop Kikimita before the next stage in the realization of her dream.

“The main thing for me is to play basketball. I am not very good at English, and this creates difficulties in communication with partners, but many of them help me, ”the athlete explained.

A post shared by Hansel Enmanuel (@enmanuelhansel)

His popularity was rapidly gaining momentum. At the beginning of 2021, about 20,000 people, mostly Spanish speakers, signed up for the one-armed basketball player's Instagram account. In April 2021, the number of subscribers increased to 600 thousand, and now it already exceeds 1 million followers.

“I ask my followers not to rate me as a guy with special needs. I would like them to see me as just a great player who squeezes the maximum out of himself. To be considered a good basketball player, ”Hansel admitted.

A post shared by Hansel Enmanuel (@enmanuelhansel)

Last summer, the University of Tennessee offered Emmanuel a place on the NCAA Division I varsity team.

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