University of Tennessee Athletics
Academic Ascension: John Fields
February 04, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2011
Amanda Pruitt
UTsports.com
In 10th grade, John Fields stood 6-foot-6 and was pretty much the tallest kid in class.
For one, this meant an instant advantage on the basketball court, where his size was a distinct advantage in rebounding and blocking.
For another, Fields also found his height also helped out his teachers and fellow students in the classroom. Over the years, he's been the one in charge of erasing the highest points of the chalkboard and lifting objects off cabinets and even removing objects that have gotten stuck on ceilings. He's been known to fix a ceiling-mounted projector or two, something he's happy to do to help out the professors.
Some things never change, even in graduate school. Now at 6-9, it is safe to say Fields is one of the tallest students working on a master's degree in sports psychology. And yes, he's still the one called on to do the tall tasks in the class.
Fields, a senior from Fayetteville, N.C., earned his undergraduate degree in mass communication from UNC-Wilmington last year before transferring to Tennessee during the summer. The Vols forward said he never really planned on going to graduate school growing up. In fact, academics was not really a priority until he was more than halfway through high school.
"Coming up through middle school into early high school, I was a very mediocre student," Fields said. "A light finally came on in the 11th grade when I got some tutoring and some life skills teaching, and I've been carrying it on today. When I got to college, it just got simple for me and I've carried that into grad school."
Academics are not just part of Fields' daily checklist; he enjoys attending graduate classes, even the courses with names like "Research Methods" and "Sports Law."
In some courses, Fields has learned principles he has been able to put into practice on the court. That was the case with one of his Sports Psychology classes, where they discussed the practice of visualizing sports performance the day before games.
"Knowing the mental part of the game has a lot to do with the game instead of just the physical part," Fields said. "It helped me gain confidence visualizing and imagining what I was going to do the day before."
Over his college career, basketball has taken Fields from East Carolina to UNC-Wilmington and now to Tennessee. He had to adjust to different athletic programs and coaches with each move, and he also faced the added challenge of getting to know an entirely new set of professors and classroom expectations.
Balancing the workload of being a graduate student and an athlete is a little bit different than it was while he was working on his undergraduate degree. Graduate school means less class time. But it usually means much more homework and research.
"It's a little different," Fields said. "The workload is a little more intense, a little more research- and opinion-based. You have a lot more time on your hands because you're not in class as much, but it's a lot of homework and research and paperwork.
"There's a heightened level of expectation and perfection that the teachers want from your work."
Before starting graduate school, Fields aimed at being a public relations man for a big company, but he said taking courses in sports has opened new possibilities for him. He hasn't ruled out coaching or any job that promised a decent salary.
"Since I got into sports psychology, I may take that into coaching," Fields said. "I love working with young people and affecting their lives."
