North Florida coach Matt Driscoll: Chaz Lanier 'deserves everything he's getting' at Tennessee

North Florida basketball coach Matt Driscoll still had the text message in mind Tuesday night. It came from Chaz Lanier, his former leading scorer who transferred up and has quickly began starring at Tennessee.

“Coach,” the text read, with Driscoll recounting during a postgame press conference, “they’re still going under me.”

Lanier was telling his former coach that opposing defenders were still going underneath screens, giving him open looks at shots that he has consistently been knocking down during his first month with the Vols. 

“And I’m like, bro, just be elite,” Driscoll said. “Like, do what you do. You know, be who you are.”

.@unfbball 🤝 @swaggychaz

Ask Chaz, you reap what you sow 💯 pic.twitter.com/yZguNBb6hG

— UNF Men's Basketball (@OspreyMBB) December 6, 2024

Driscoll was asked just that Tuesday night after North Florida’s 115-83 win over Warner, about Lanier’s seemingly easy transition to Tennessee and high-major basketball. It’s the same question Driscoll gets from NBA scouts all the time.

Driscoll needed four minutes to answer and worked up a sweat before he was done. 

“The thing about Chaz Lanier that people don’t really understand,” Driscoll said, “I get so much (talk from) NBA people, even today. Going back and forth and like, all these guys keep asking me the same question. And the answer is no.”

No, Driscoll isn’t surprised that Lanier is Tennessee’s leading scorer. Or that he’s averaging his 18.8 points per game on 47.3% shooting from the field and 47.7% shooting from the 3-point line.  

“This dude, all he did was work,” Driscoll said. “And the way he worked, he was relentless in his work. But he worked on basics. And if you watch him play, he does nothing fancy. He does everything within what they do.” 

Lanier’s simplicity didn’t keep him from being one of college basketball’s most lethal scorers last season, erupting in his redshirt junior season at North Florida by averaging 19.7 points per game while shooting 51.0% from the floor and 44.0% from the 3-point line.

It was a story of patience, nonstop work and multi-year development. 

“Here’s a guy that, 17 (total) points as a freshman,” Driscoll said, “five points a game as a sophomore and a junior. And then all of a sudden, he’s the most efficient player in college basketball.”

Chaz Lanier averaging 23.7 points over last four games

He didn’t miss a step in the move to Tennessee. He scored 18 in his debut against Gardner Webb on November 4, then 19 at Louisville five days later. He’s averaging 23.7 points per game over his last four, with 26 against Virginia, 25 against Baylor and 26 more against Syracuse. 

“He made more shots against Baylor in the first half from 3, seven, than he ever made in one game for us,” Driscoll said. “He made more shots in one half against Baylor, seven, than he ever made again for us. And my point is, he’s an elite shooter. 

“He made 26 in a row at the NBA combine — 26 in a row. And so for him to do what he’s doing, we’ve seen him (do it). We’ve seen him do it against high-level, high-major (competition).”

What Driscoll saw during the spring, after Lanier’s breakout season at North Florida, said it all. 

“When I went to watch him go work out with all the pros, he was working out with in his agency, he was torching them jokers,” Driscoll said. “When he got to the NBA G-League Combine, he was torching them jokers. And when he got to Tennessee, he realized the speed, the length, the athleticism, and he’s torching those jokers.” 

Driscoll said he’s from the Rick Barnes coaching family, despite never coaching for Barnes. Larry Shyatt, a former Barnes assistant at Providence and Clemson, had Driscoll on staff at Wyoming and Clemson between 1993 and 2003. He went to Baylor for six seasons before getting his first shot as a head coach at North Florida in 2009.

He coaches his players hard, just like Barnes. He coaches the stars just as hard, just like Barnes. 

“The fact that I coached (Lanier) as hard as I coached him and he allowed me to coach him hard,” Driscoll said, “he wasn’t a prima donna. He wasn’t selfish. He allowed me to coach him hard. And he wanted to be coached hard because he wants to be uberly great, like these guys want to be. And so Coach Barnes coaches them the same way.”

‘He is a better human being than he’s a player’

The line of communication has stayed open, even with Lanier having moved on to the next level. The 26 points Lanier scored against Syracuse on Tuesday, coming on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor with all four of his 3-pointers in the second half, didn’t impress Driscoll. 

Instead, it was a pass to Jordan Gainey that said everything.

“I told him, I said, listen, I know you were flowing,” Driscoll said. “You just made three out of four from 3. But the greatest play you made that resonated was (Jordan) Gainey had just made one, you got a reversal and you were wide open. But you snapped it to (Jordan) because he just made one. 

“And you could have very easily taken it. And coach probably would have wished you to take it. You’re a 50-plus percent 3-point shooter. But to me, that said that dude understands. That dude is a player and that dude knows how the game is played.” 

That’s why Driscoll believes Lanier’s transition to the NBA will be no different than the transition from North Florida to Tennessee. The athletes gets bigger, longer and stronger. 

But Lanier will keep doing what he’s been doing. 

“Chaz deserves everything he’s getting,” Driscoll said. “He is a better human being than he’s a player.”