Following No. 1 Tennessee’s win against West Virginia, in which Admiral Schofield recorded a double-double, the senior All-SEC guard apologized to his teammates.
Saturday’s game against the Mountaineers marked the third consecutive game in which Schofield shot under 32 percent from the field. Prior to that, he had only recorded one shooting game under that mark this season.
“I just apologized to them for getting outside of myself,” Schofield said. “Just doing a little too much talking on the floor and (my) body language has been bad. It’s just things that I have been watching myself…it’s just not who I am as a person.”
The Zion, Illinois native got back to who he is as a person during the Vols’ 92-70 win at South Carolina on Tuesday night.
Schofield had 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting against the Gamecocks. He also pulled in nine rebounds and dished out four assists.
“I thought he was really locked in,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “I thought he let it come to him. I didn’t think he was trying to force anything.”
Schofield’s rough patch began when he struggled in the Vols’ win against Alabama on Jan. 19. He shot 4 of 17 from the floor, as defense propelled Tennessee to a late victory.
The following game, Schofield shot just 2 of 9 at Vanderbilt, as the Vols once again eked out a close win. Then came his 5 of 16 effort against West Virginia.
On Tuesday, his mindset shifted.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film by myself,” Schofield said. “I’ve been one-dimensional the last three games and just worried about shooting the three. That’s something I do well, it’s just I can’t force it…just being strong and using my body. Why have a bodybuilder body and not use it?”
During his three-game skid, Schofield shot 2 of 15 from beyond the 3-point line. Even though he was just 1 of 5 from that distance against the Gamecocks, Schofield shot 8 of 12 from inside the arc and 5 of 5 at the free throw line.
Tennessee’s starting point guard, Jordan Bone, who paced the Vols with 19 points, nine assists and five rebounds against South Carolina, praised Schofield after the game.
“You know Admiral man, he works really hard,” Bone said. “He understands that he doesn’t have to always hunt for his game. It’s going to come to him. We all respect Admiral. We all respect his work ethic. We want the best for him because he works so hard.
“I think that was a great thing for Admiral to apologize to the group to show us how much he cares about us and how much he cares about the game.”
Schofield has honed in on specific goals moving forward. The Vols travel to Texas A&M for a meeting with the Aggies on Saturday night.
“Just taking it on the head and keep working hard,” Schofield said. “Becoming a better person, a better player and also a better teammate.”
Saturday’s game is set to start at 8:00 p.m. ET from College Station, Texas and will be shown on ESPN.
