Hamilton Heights Coach Zach Ferrell Faces His Mentor on Wednesday in McCallie Coach John Shulman

   Zach Ferrell did not see a lot of game action as a walk-on at UTC, but he’s still grateful for the opportunity head coach John Shulman awarded him.

"But Coach Shulman allowed me to fulfill my dreams of playing Division One college basketball."

Said Shulman,"Well, Zach has got the ‘it’ factor. Zach was the first one at practice and the last one to leave. Worked harder than everybody else. Didn’t have the talent everybody had, but worked harder than everybody else."

    Ferrell remains close with Shulman, and he’s not afraid to use some of Shulman’s tactics.

Said Ferrell,"If you stayed and watched practice today, we’ll have several drills that we did at UTC."

Added Shulman,"I watched a little tape on them. They’re running some of the similar stuff we ran at Chattanooga. So I started giggling when I saw that."

   Despite their friendship, Shulman says it took a third party to schedule McCallie and Hamilton Heights.

"The person who got this game going was Amy Shulman. (John’s wife)  She was like, don’t get mad at people when they don’t want to play McCallie because if you don’t want to play Zach, that’s the same reason. So I was like, you’re right. So we’re going to play Zach. But we’re going to play them here. My cousins are going to officiate the game."

    Kidding aside, should be fun when the student faces the teacher on Wednesday night.

Said Ferrell,"It’s probably a little intimidating, but it’s exciting for me. He has made such a big impact on my life, and he has helped me so much."

Said Shulman,"Let me tell you something. It has been weird saying hey, don’t run it up on us, please. The problem is I should have played him more because he’s going to have some pent up aggression tomorrow night. I should have played him more. That’s my fault."
McCallie and Hamilton Heights will tip at 7pm on Wednesday.