Tennessee basketball: Thank you Donnie Tyndall for believing in Admiral Schofield

Admiral Schofield’s 30-point performance went a long way in beating the No.1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. Former coach Donnie Tyndall is somewhere smiling.

It’s been over 48 hours since Tennessee basketball beat the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the then number one team in the nation. It marked the first time since 2010 that the Vols took down the top team in the land which was the Kansas Jayhawks. And, it was the first time in Rick Barnes’ accomplished such a feat in his 30-plus years of coaching.

In 2010, an underappreciated and underrated Skylar McBee hit a three-point shot to lock up the game against a very talented Jayhawks squad. Fast forward eight years and Admiral Schofield took center stage at the Jerry Colangelo Classic in helping the Vols get a win over Gonzaga going 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.

The 6-foot-5 forward from Zion, Illinois was overlooked and underrecruited coming out of high school. Even still today the Tennessee team as a whole is a bit overlooked by the national media because they don’t have any “five-star” players.

Schofield, a three-star according to 247Sports, didn’t have many teams interested. In fact, only a handful of schools offered him a scholarship including Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Wofford.

However, there was Tennessee, a premier program in one of the best conferences in the nation with an offer. For as much heat and criticism former head coach Donnie Tyndall has taken over the past few years, shouldn’t Volnation give thanks?

I’m not suggesting Tyndall deserves the credit of Schofield’s success. Honestly, he might not deserve any. After all, Schofield has been the one in the gym putting up hundreds of shots every day. He’s been the one working on his game and diet.

And, then there is Rick Barnes and the current Tennessee coaching staff who has been there to push Schofield and all his players to be the best they can be. However, Tyndall was the one that offered him a chance at a big-time program when many schools didn’t see his potential. Potential that is off the charts and leaving some coaches around the nation painting Schofield as the one that got away.

Schofield has come a long way from a freshman who played out of position that only averaged 7.6 points per game. A three-point jumper was lacking from his game hovering around 30 percent. Now Schofield is taking around six per game and making around 41 percent. He is a threat from deep and should continue to get better.

Even if you take away the scoring, Schofield is a much better all-around player and should have a great opportunity to make an NBA roster next season. In Rick Barnes post-game speech to his team, he told them he knew Admiral was going to make that game-winning shot because of all the hard work he has put into crafting his game.

Just like Rick Barnes, Volnation is proud of Schofield, and if I were a betting man, I would say Donnie Tyndall is as well.