University of Tennessee Athletics
Hometown Hoops Heroics
February 03, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
By Josh Battle, UT Sports Information
It's what so many players dream about as children while shooting hoops in their driveway, on the playground or in an empty school gym. In the biggest game of their career, surrounded by the deafening roar of the crowd and the final seconds' ticking off the clock... both the game and the ball are in their hands.
Jump forward about 10 or 12 years and combine that end-of-the-game pressure with a raucous Memphis home crowd of more than 18,000, eight seconds and two critical free throws to be attempted; you're talking about a once-in-a-lifetime moment for any young player.
For then-sophomore wing and Memphis native J.P. Prince, it was the realization of that childhood dream, with one considerable difference. His hometown Memphis crowd was cheering for him to miss.
Prince however, was more than happy to disappoint those clad in blue that had come to the FedEx Forum last February to watch the previously-unbeaten Memphis Tigers take on the No. 2 Tennessee Vols.
Many often question the mindset of an athlete at such a critical and pressure-packed moment in a game. What sets apart good athletes from the great ones? For Prince the answer was simply confidence and composure, and not just his but the entire team's.
"We're about to win the game," Prince said, describing his thoughts that night at the Memphis foul line. "That's what you dream of right there."
Prince's two critical free throws helped combine for a total of 13 second-half points, giving Tennessee a 64-61 lead over the Tigers. His scoring, combined with a career-high eight rebounds, was enough to snap the nation's longest home winning streak at 47 and propel Tennessee to its first No. 1 ranking in school history.
"It was a good game," Prince said. "We had fun and enjoyed ourselves. It was a great lifetime memory."
A great memory made even greater in its personal significance to Prince, a Tigers fan from an early age, who grew up around the Memphis program while his father, John Prince, served as an assistant coach for the Tigers during the early and mid-1990s.
"It obviously meant a lot to him growing up in Memphis and his dad being a very valuable member of Larry Finch's staff at Memphis," Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said. "And growing up a Memphis Tiger fan, obviously in front of his hometown, getting that win was significant, especially beating them when they were clearly one of the best teams in the country."
Looking forward to this season's showdown with Memphis at Thompson-Bowling Arena in Knoxville, Prince is again confident knowing his Tennessee team will have both home-court advantage and an orange-and-white-clad crowd cheering for them. However, he still acknowledges the challenges presented by such a high-profile game. And last year's win at Memphis is sure to set the stage for another intense matchup.
"It'll be a great game," Prince said. "It's a big east-west Tennessee rivalry. People look forward to that game, and it's one of the biggest games on the schedule."
Another confidence boost for Prince is the fact that he's returning to health after an injury-riddled first half of the season. He missed several weeks in the fall after hurting his right shoulder and several more weeks in December with an ankle injury.
"I wish I was doing better, but it's something I have to fight through and get my body back right," Prince said. "I have to workout harder to get back in shape and get that extra bounce back into my step that I'm missing right now."
Prince feels confident that he is getting that step back, and he's especially ready for it to show on the court; and it's coming at the right time. For the player who cites "beating Memphis" as the highlight of his career, there's little doubt as to the significance this game plays in Prince's mind.
"I just want to win," Prince said. "It's just a game I want to be able to win. I don't care if I have zero points or 30 points; I just want to win the game."
