Tennessee basketball wing D.J. Jefferson wasn’t an active participant in the Vols’ lone practice open to the media this preseason. During Tennessee’s in-house media day, coach Rick Barnes said they were temporarily sidelining Jefferson because “he hasn’t lived up to what we want him to do and all that facets of the program.”
But the redshirt freshman is back practicing with the Vols, Barnes shared Thursday night following Market Square Madness.
“He is (back practicing),” Barnes said of Jefferson. “He did the things we asked him to do and came back and he missed about a week there and he’s working his way back and we’re expecting him to do the right thing and continue to grow and build on where he is right now.”
Barnes and Tennessee assistant coaches frequently praised the 6-foot-5 wing this summer before the team’s foreign trip to Italy. Jefferson redshirted last season while working on his game and serving as the Vols’ honoree ‘One Fly, We All Fly’ pregame dunker.
More From RTI: Four-Star Tennessee Basketball Target Announcing College Commitment Friday
Tennessee’s coaches said Jefferson put in the necessary work to improve his game during his first season in Knoxville including reconstructing his jump shot.
Jefferson is looking to earn a consistent role on a talented Tennessee team in his redshirt freshman season. The Vols have an abundance of talented wing players returning including Jahmai Mashack and Josiah-Jordan James. Tennessee also added talented Northern Colorado transfer wing Dalton Knecht out of the transfer portal.
In Tennessee’s three exhibition games in Italy, Jefferson averaged seven points per game on 32% shooting from the field while adding two assists and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Basketball season is getting closer-and-closer. The Vols open their season against Tennessee Tech in 24 days and face Michigan State in a charity exhibition game in 15 days.
