My All-Time Favorite Players: 7th - J.P. Prince

J.P. Prince was an elite guard who had a fabulous career at Tennessee. Born in Jackson Mississippi, the southern-raised J.P. is the cousin of Tayshaun Prince, a former NBA player. Coming out of high school Rivals considered him to be the No. 4 point guard in the nation for the 2006 class. While attending White Station High School in Memphis, Tennessee, he won the 2005 Tennessee Class 3A Mr. Basketball award, was named the Gatorade a Player of the Year and was a McDonalds High School All-American.

Prince spent his freshman season with the Arizona Wildcats. He played in 28 games and averaged 2.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG. Then, 3 games into his sophomore campaign, he decided to transfer to Tennessee. He spent the second part of the year with the Vols, but did not play due to NCAA transfer rules. His career took off as a redshirt sophomore in the 2007-08 season. He still had to sit out the season's first 9 games after transferring, but once he got on the court he was terrific. He scored 23 points on 9-14 shooting against Xavier, which led to him being named the SEC Player of the Week, along with Rivals listing him as the National Player of the Week, a very high honor. As No. 2 Tennessee knocked off No. 1 Memphis in a historic game, Prince had 13 points and 8 rebounds. He made 2 clutch free throws, in the road environment, to give the Vols a 64-61 lead with just 8 seconds remaining in the game. The first start of his career came in the postseason, a second round matchup with Butler in the NCAA Tournament. He accounted for 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block. After playing in 27 games, he averaged 8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 1.8 APG, while shooting 49.7% from the field. He was the first player off the bench for Tennessee in 18 of his 27 appearances, so he was named the SEC Sixth Man of the Year. This next statistic is a factor the plays a role in why I enjoyed watching J.P. play so much. He was aggressive in his first year in Knoxville, finishing second on the team with 28 dunks.

In the game versus Siena, Prince logged 11 points, 3 assists and 2 blocks in just 18 minutes. He later dished out 9 assists with just 1 turnover against Florida. In a matchup with Georgia, he recorded 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, before a dominating performance in a win over Vanderbilt just 3 days later, totaling 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. As the Vols clinched the SEC East title, he had a 20-point performance to go along with 9 rebounds in a game against South Carolina. Additionally, versus Alabama in the SEC Tournament, he recorded his first career double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Although he missed 3 games due to multiple injuries, he started in 23 of the 31 games in which he participated in. He led the team in several categories, including field goal percentage (57%), steals (47) and dunks (30). He scored 9.9 PPG and was responsible for 97 assists on the year. He was tied for second on the team with 20 blocks and had the eighth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the SEC, at 1.5.

In a mid-January matchup with Ole Miss, Prince played in 38 minutes, finishing with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, a block and a steal in an absolutely incredible performance by the fifth year senior. Along with 8 points, he had 4 steals in the victory over No. 1 Kansas. He made a career-high 3 3-pointers versus Vanderbilt, in what would be a 19-point day. He stuffed the stat sheet against Kentucky, logging 9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. J.P. was a monster when it came time for March Madness. He scored 15 points in the first round matchup with San Diego State, before finishing with 18 points in the second round versus Ohio.

Now, my all-time favorite J.P. Prince moment is one of the greatest plays in the history of Tennessee basketball. For some reason, throughout the course of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, I could not stand Evan Turner, the Ohio State guard who was named the National Player of the Year. As the Vols held a 76-73 lead with seconds remaining, Ohio State missed a 3-point attempt and it found the hands of Turner. He heaved up a desperation 3-pointer that was rejected by Prince as buzzer sounded, sending Tennessee to the program's first Elite 8. I still remember exactly where I was standing when I watched this game. He will be remembered for many things that he did during his career, but this is what I remember the most when I think about him. It was an incredible moment and as a VFL, I will never forget it.

As a redshirt senior, he played in all 37 games, making 31 starts. Prince scored 9.9 PPG on 53% shooting from the floor, while dishing out 3.1 APG and grabbing 3.7 RPG. He led Tennessee with 1.5 steals per game and in charges drawn, with 21. His defense was tremendous, recording 18 blocks, and he was efficient from 3-point range, shooting at 32.4% on the season. After averaging 14.8 points in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, he was named to the NCAA Tournament All-Midwest Region Team. After playing in 95 career games at Tennessee, he finished with exactly 100 dunks, which seems like the perfect ending to a remarkable career.

J.P. Prince. From having a cool name, the ability to dunk and an incredible block to send Tennessee to the Elite 8, there is simply nothing to dislike about him. I will cherish the memories of him and will always remember him as a tall, lanky athlete that excelled on both ends of the court. He helped send Tennessee to their first Elite 8, hopefully the Vols will be back there very soon.