Vols Basketball Lands Two New Recruits on Signing Day

Tennessee basketball coach Donnie Tyndall announced Wednesday that Shembari Phillips and Admiral Schofield will join the Volunteers program next season after each signed and submitted National Letters of Intent to UT Wednesday.

Both signees plans to enroll at Tennessee as freshmen next summer.

SHEMBARI PHILLIPS

(pronounced: shem-BAR-ee)

The 6-4, 185-pound Phillips is currently a senior at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., where he is coached by Doug Lipscomb.

"Shembari is a long, athletic combo guard," Tyndall said. "He’s a guy who can shoot it with range. We feel like, with his length and athleticism, he’ll be very productive in our system and style of play."

Phillips attended Tucker High School last season, where he averaged 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks while playing for coach James Hartry.

Former Vols guard and 1,000-point scorer Cameron Tatum (2007-12) also attended Tucker before his career at Tennessee.

Phillips played his AAU ball with the Georgia Tornadoes program, coached by Steven Bouye.

Phillips could give the Vols four players from the state of Georgia on next season’s roster, joining Devon Baulkman(Bainbridge), Jabari McGhee (Albany) and Armani Moore (Kennesaw).

ADMIRAL SCHOFIELD

Schofield, a 6-6, 220-pound combo forward, attends Zion-Benton Township High School in Zion, Ill.

"Admiral is a big, physical wing player," Tyndall said. "He’s tough and rugged, but yet he’s skilled for his size. He can step out and make threes, he can drive the basketball and he’s a very good passer. His toughness–along with the fact that his body is already `college ready’–will help us tremendously."

As a junior last season, Schofield earned honorable mention All-State honors from the Champaign-Urbana News Gazetteafter averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Schofield is coached at Zion-Benton by Bob Worthington (and previously Don Kloth), and he played his AAU ball with Dickey Simpkins’ Chicago-based Team NLP program.

Schofield’s older brother, O’Brien Schofield, played college football at Wisconsin and is in his sixth season as a defensive end in the NFL. O’Brien Schofield was drafted by Arizona in 2010 and now plays for Seattle, where we was a member of last year’s Super Bowl XLVII championship team.