Basketball, Service Enable Schofield to Tour the Globe
June 22, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Rising junior headed to Vietnam, Spain, France and the Bahamas this year
When Admiral Schofield signed with Tennessee, he knew little about the globe-trotting opportunities that basketball on Rocky Top had to offer. Now, as he enters his junior year, the Volunteers forward is preparing for three separate trips spanning four countries across the globe.
Born in London, England, Schofield spent more than the first year of his life abroad. Coming from a military background, Schofield's family was used to living around the world because of his father's position in the U.S. Navy.
Moving to Illinois before his second birthday, Schofield never truly experienced life abroad. While Schofield did not travel internationally following his initial move to Illinois, he used basketball to travel across the United States.
Through AAU basketball, Schofield played in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York City and many other places before starting his college career at Tennessee.
"To get to see the level of performance that you have to rise to really motivates you to another level," Schofield said. "It pushes your drive to work harder, and that was one of the things that really helped me."
Arriving at Tennessee, Schofield wanted to widen his footprint to new places, stretching from the Knoxville community to other destinations around the world. Working hard in practice and workouts, his coaches praised his leadership qualities, recommending him for the VOLeaders Academy.
Originating in 2015, the VOLeaders Academy was piloted in hopes of enhancing student-athletes' impact on their teams, campus and local and global communities. Each year, the program leads service projects at home and abroad, and this year, VOLeader students are travelling to Vietnam at the beginning of July.
With community service at the forefront, Schofield took the opportunity to use his student-athlete platform to help others.
"Outside of basketball, I try to put a big footprint on the community so that people understand that even though I am an athlete, I'm just a normal person and I grew up just like everybody else," Schofield said. "I like to get out and get to know people in the community, and VOLeaders has given me another opportunity to do that."
After returning from Vietnam later in July, Schofield will only have a few weeks to prepare for his next adventure abroad. This time, it will be with his team for the Volunteers' European tour, which will take the Orange and White to Spain and France in August.
The trip will start off in Barcelona and then Valencia, Spain, before concluding in Paris, France. Aside from the three scheduled games, the team will also take time to tour each location.
Months later in November, the Vols will again travel outside of the United States, but this time to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis holiday tournament. All this following a 2016-17 season that took Schofield and his teammates to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational.
The incredibly challenging 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis field includes Villanova, Arizona, Purdue and SMU, all of which made the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
Blessed to travel so frequently with his teammates, Schofield understands the value that overseas travel can have on a team coming closer together.
"For us, spending that off-the-court time together and really learning each other and building that chemistry on the court is going to be amazing," Schofield said. "It is going to be a confidence builder for our team."
Destined to experience something many others dream of, Schofield has used the game he loves to explore the globe. And as Schofield's newest journeys are just around the corner, he appreciates his first two years at Tennessee that have helped him learn more about himself and the world around him.
"You come into college and you think 'Well, you have school and class and you have workouts,'" Schofield said. "That's all you think you're going to get, but you get everything.
"You get the community, you get the travelling abroad and you get the different type of competition. Being a Tennessee Volunteer has been an amazing experience so far, and I know it's going to continue getting better."
