University of Tennessee Athletics
Cory Stanton Joins UT Basketball Team
January 11, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2012
Tennessee basketball coach Cuonzo Martin announced Wednesday that Springfield, Tenn., native Cory Stanton has enrolled at UT and has joined the Volunteers as a walk-on point guard.
Stanton can begin practicing with the Vols immediately but will not be eligible to travel or compete in games until January of 2013 due to NCAA regulations for transfer student-athletes (he'll be classified as a redshirt sophomore at that time). He began his college career at Clemson but spent the fall of 2011 enrolled at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.
"First of all, Cory is the type of high-character kid we want in this program," Martin said. "On the court, he is very quick and fast with the ball. He's a true point guard who knows how to run a team and get his teammates involved."
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Stanton said having the chance to become a Vol has been a longtime goal.
"The University of Tennessee has always been a place I wanted to be," Stanton said. "Even going back to my freshman year in high school, my goal was to get here.
"This is a great place with great people and great fans. I just want to thank the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to be a part of it."
As a freshman at Clemson in 2010-11, Stanton appeared in 33 of the Tigers' 34 games, averaging 2.4 points in 10.7 minutes per game. He posted a season-high nine points in 20 minutes of action against eventual NCAA Tournament participant Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. And he also came off the bench to score seven points on 3-of-5 shooting at North Carolina.
As a prep standout at Springfield High School, where he was coached by former Tennessee point guard Johnny Darden (1976-79), Stanton was rated as the seventh-best prospect in the state of Tennessee in the class of 2010. He was a McDonald's All-America nominee and recorded seven 30-point games as a senior.
Stanton will wear jersey No. 12 at Tennessee, and he plans to major in Sociology-Environmental Issues and Globalization.
