Watch: Admiral Schofield gets emotional during Tennessee’s Senior Night presentation

It may have officially been senior night in Knoxville, but it might as well have been renamed Admiral Schofield night. Tennessee’s star senior wing developed into the heart and soul of this program over the past two seasons. Tonight he was honored before his final game at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Check out the emotional scene below.

After watching that, you just kind of knew it was going to be Schofield’s night. Sure enough, the Admiral dropped in a contested jumper to kick start the scoring on Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Schofield went on to make his first four shots of the night, quickly igniting the Tennessee offense. Admiral would finish his final game in Knoxville with 18 points, which led the team.

“I thought Admiral and Kyle were really locked in,” Rick Barnes said after the game. “Sometimes you expect it to be the other way, where the seniors are a little bit too emotional, but I thought those guys were terrific.”

Quite honestly, it’s tough to imagine Tennessee basketball without Admiral Schofield. He’s become such a fixture of this program — making big shots, throwing down huge dunks, showboating around the floor after big wins — he literally is the personality of this team. Replacing him from that perspective will be impossible.

The good news is, we don’t have to do that just yet. Admiral and Kyle Alexander get Auburn on Saturday ahead of the SEC Tournament. From there, they’ll have one final shot at advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament.

The final game is coming, though. And my goodness — what a tough day that’s going to be.