Last updated on April 25, 2024
By Thomas Matchell
Volunteer State men’s basketball is closing out their first season with new head coach Johnny Lynn, with only two games remaining.
After an incident that took place involving former President, Dr. Orinthia Montague, and former head coach Rusty Melvin, Johnny Lynn has stepped up to become the official head coach for the men’s basketball program.
Coach Lynn left the softball program after many years of success and achieving over 1,000 wins at Vol State. Lynn when asked if he stays connected with the softball program, “If they’re here, I’ll watch for a little bit, I haven’t even been to a practice (softball). I gotta turn this basketball program around.”
The team sits at a (5-21) with two games remaining against Walters State Community College and Chattanooga State Community College.
Vol State lost both previous matchups.
Comparing last season and this season, the team is currently averaging higher assists per game 15.8 than last season’s 11.2, but with a worse assist/turnover ratio at 1.02, compared to last season’s 1.51 assist per turnover.
“I think it is really low (assists per game), guards should be averaging about six assist a game, your post players will have some if you go in and out, I think that number should be at least 20,” said Lynn.
Coach Lynn believes the biggest problem with the program currently is the team depth.
“We’ve led everybody, the number one team… the number two team… the number three team. We aren’t afraid to play anybody, but the numbers and depth really hurt us… it’s hard to close a game out when you have to play so many minutes.”
Lynn also states that a big reason towards the depth of the team is due to recruiting, “Recruiting is the key; we have to go out and get some players in here. We have been working on that, when I had gotten here all the players had already signed… that is the key to any college success in any sport, its recruiting.”
“You’re taking over a new program, the key is where we start and where we end. You don’t always go by losses because that’s not fair. I say that because our main goal is to get better every day, we have done that… the one thing that has hurt us the most is depth,” said Lynn.
Vol State has won two of their last three games. In one of their most recent wins against Dyersburg State Community College, the team put up a season-high of 109 points with a team total of 17 three-pointers made.
In hopes of finishing the season with only wins, the team will still finish with a losing record. Lynn states accountability is on everyone, “That’s everybody, from players to me to assistants, we went into the year knowing it’ll be a struggle with the depth. Every game it’s all of us, we win together, and we lose together.”
Remaining Schedule:
2/24 3:00 PM (CST) @ Walters State Community College (Alumni/Sophomore Day)
3/2 3:00 PM (CST) @ Chattanooga State Community College
The program looks to make important changes to the team and that starts with filling in roster spots with depth. “Depth. We have to get after it every day in practice. If we push each other in practice you’re gonna get a lot better, that’s been a negative with this group and that’s gonna be our main objective. We gotta bring in 12-15 good players that will make this program better.”
“I got to get players to understand what hard work is, and when you start recruiting you look at their high school programs, their GPA in the classroom, what are their desires? Usually, players of the good high school teams understand the hard work,” said Lynn.
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