Tennessee Basketball Jumped by Familiar Foes in Early Top 25 Prediction

By Ric Butler
- May 6, 2025

Tennessee is reloading its roster in a massive way this offseason.

The Vols are adding eight players with four high school prospects, one international player, and three portal additions. That’s also three more players than Tennessee added during last offseason’s big roster haul with Chaz Lanier, Igor Milicic Jr., and others.

Tennessee is filling the vacant point guard void with Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who was ranked as the No. 9 transfer player in ESPN’s spring rankings. Gillespie is a true do-it-all point guard, which will make the task of replacing Zakai Zeigler’s maturity and production a bit easier. Last season with the Terrapins, Gillespie averaged 14.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists on 45.3% shooting from the floor and 40.7% shooting from three-point range.

Another big addition that has Tennessee’s coaching staff on the edge of their seat is incoming five-star signee Nate Ament. The 6-foot-9 wing is currently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the 2026 class and projects to be a significant piece in Tennessee’s plans this season.

As of Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello projects four new faces in Tennessee’s starting five next season, with the only returning starter being Felix Okpara. Borzello’s five looks like Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Louisiana Tech transfer SG Amaree Abram, five-star wing Nate Ament, Vanderbilt transfer forward Jaylen Carey, and Okpara.

With that roster projection, Borzello has Tennessee projected at No. 20 in his early Top 25. That’s a four-spot drop from its previous spot of No. 16 with No. 19 Creighton, No. 18 Florida, No. 17 Illinois, and No. 16 Wisconsin all jumping ahead. Creighton, Florida, and Illinois are all teams that Tennessee has seen in the last two seasons, with a combined record of 5-2 against them.

Tennessee lands as the fourth highest-ranked SEC team on the list, trailing No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Kentucky, No. 15 Auburn, and No. 18 Florida. The Vols sit ahead of No. 24 Alabama.

Borzello’s rankings are on the low end, but in line with other recent industry Top 25 projections. For instance, Jon Rothstein has Tennessee at No. 18 while CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish has the Vols at No. 21 as well. Fox Sports’ John Fanta is the highest on the Vols with a No. 13 projection earlier this week.

Tennessee’s ranking isn’t all too surprising, even after making back-to-back Elite Eights. While Rick Barnes brought in some nice pieces that should develop and settle in pretty well, it’s not unreasonable to be a bit hesitant after Tennessee lost Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier, Jordan Gainey, Jahmai Mashack, Igor Milicic, and others. The new-look Vols are going to have to prove it on the court, just like Lanier and Dalton Knecht’s teams did. But that’s just college basketball.