Schofield reflects on lessons from NBA process
KNOXVILLE – Admiral Schofield had his lines rehearsed and his pitch ready.
The Tennessee rising senior forward sat down a day later with Vols coach Rick Barnes prepared to explain why he wanted to go through the NBA Draft process. Then Barnes surprised him. “He was like, ‘AD, what do you think about the NBA?’” Schofield said. “I was like, ‘Uh, I think it’s a good idea.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I think so, too.’
“That was the end of that conversation. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Barnes, on his end, essentially had his lines rehearsed as well. He knew the value in experiencing the NBA Draft process a year before it gets very real for Schofield. Encouraging Schofield to explore it made perfect sense.
“Any experience you can get doing that right now will help you a year from now,” Barnes said. “That’s what it’s there for. It’s something that players should take advantage of — those that really have a legitimate shot at it.”
Like that, it was set. Schofield declared for the NBA Draft, but did not sign an agent to reserve the chance to return to Tennessee. He then did that, opting to play his senior year after spending two months working out for NBA teams and learning about the process.
The second-team All-SEC selection loved the competition aspect, learned about NBA spacing and saw the need for even better conditioning at the next level. He felt he showed his ability to play without the ball, shoot, create shots for others and guard multiple positions.
“Just things I already know, but also things they were pleased with,” Schofield said. “They thought I was a really good competitor, very physical, loved my physique and athleticism. Thought I could really play the game, knew the game, schemes, different ways of getting people open, things like that. “It was a great process.” Schofield, who averaged 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds as a junior, worked out for at least six teams, including the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies. He admitted to making the process harder than it was early on — a product of not knowing what to expect.
But he settled in, found a rhythm and gained the biggest lesson of all: the confidence he is ready for the next level, but still has room to grow.
“The biggest thing for me is realizing that I’m close enough to touch it, but I still have a long way to go in that aspect,” Schofield said. “It’s just understanding that every day you have to put in the time and the work and the detail. It’s not so much about volume like it was last year. It’s about perfection — perfecting every rep, perfecting every jump shot, perfecting every form shot, working on my dribble, not losing the ball, just different things like that. Being more methodical with a lot of things.”
Barnes has often praised Schofield as one of the hardest-working players at UT — and it’s that work ethic that Barnes believes will make Schofield a viable NBA Draft prospect next year.
He expects that work to continue following his experiences getting a taste of the next level, while having no plans to coach Schofield any differently now.
“He went through it,” Barnes said. “I think that everything that he learned, I think it reinforce what we are doing here with him. He was able to come back here and share with his teammates a lot of the things he had gone through.
“He will have to do it again a year from now. What he went through is going to help him.”
Schofield’s lines and pitch wound up going unspoken and unheard thanks to a surprise from Barnes.
The result was the same. He got a dress rehearsal for the NBA next season before electing to return to Knoxville, where his goal remains the same.
“My goal is to be the best player I can be,” Schofield said. “I think if I’m the best player I can be, I think I’m up there with anybody, can compete with anybody. Drafted or undrafted, I know I’ll be in the NBA someday and I’ll be one of the biggest competitors in the league.
“Right now, it’s about what I can do right now, what I can control right now. That’s leading my team and making myself better, making (my teammates) better as well."