Tennessee Volunteers
2018-2019 Overall Rank: #4
Conference Rank: #1 SEC
Last season Tennessee finished tied atop the SEC standings and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Their tournament ended earlier than expected with a second round loss to Loyola, but Coach Rick Barnes took a huge step forward and now returns six of his seven players from the regular rotation. This is suddenly a very experienced team and that has led to very high expectations heading into the 2018-2019 season.
2017-18 Record: 26-9, 13-5
2017-18 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Rick Barnes
Coach Record: 57-44 at Tennessee, 661-358 overall
Key Departed Players:
James Daniel III, Guard, 5.6 ppg
Chris Darrington, Guard, 2.6 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Grant Williams, Junior, Forward, 15.2 ppg
Admiral Schofield, Senior, Forward, 13.9 ppg
Jordan Bowden, Junior, Guard, 9.1 ppg
Jordan Bone, Junior, Guard, 7.3 ppg
Kyle Alexander, Senior, Forward, 5.6 ppg
Lamonte Turner, Junior, Guard, 10.9 ppg
Derrick Walker, Sophomore, Forward, 1.9 ppg
John Fulkerson, Sophomore, Forward, 1.7 ppg
Jalen Johnson, Sophomore, Guard, 1.2 ppg
Key New Players:
D.J. Burns, Freshman, Forward
Brock Jancek, Freshman, Forward
Zach Kent, RS Freshman, Forward
Projection:
Tennessee will work through their very talented frontcourt. Grant Williams, a 6-7 junior, led the team with 15.2 points and added 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. When the offense works through Williams, it really opens up shooting lanes for everybody else. And, at the least, Williams will score himself or get fouled. Admiral Schofield is one of many consistent shooters on the team. The senior small forward hit 64 three-pointers at a 39.5 percent clip. Kyle Alexander will not score as much as his frontcourt mates, but the 6-11 senior is a good rebounder and shot blocker. The backcourt returns Jordan Bowden, Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner. Bowden and Turner are both consistent shooters and Bone will again set up all of his teammates after dishing out 3.5 assists per game as a sophomore. If that backcourt trio can continue to shoot efficiently from long range, Tennessee will be in a great position to compete for an SEC title and make a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.8 (170th in nation, 8th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 65.7 (25, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.0 (208, 8)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.9 (30, 5)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.8 (157, 7)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.0 (46, 3)
Free-Throw Percentage: 75.7 (40, 2)
Rebound Margin: 2.0 (107, 8)
Assists Per Game: 15.7 (47, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.1 (102, 6)
Madness 2018 Men’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#133 D.J. Burns
