Tennessee basketball officially begins its preseason practice Tuesday afternoon as the Vols are just six weeks away from tipping off Rick Barnes’ 11th season as head coach.
The Vols project as a top 25 team again this season and have the potential to again spend most the season in the top 10 and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament for another year. Here are three big questions on the Vols as they officially begin preseason practice.
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Shooting Guard, Shooting Guard, Shooting Guard
That isn’t exactly a question but there’s a ton of uncertainty for Tennessee at the two-guard spot after missing out on its top targets in the portal.
Who will start at shooting guard for Tennessee? Louisiana Tech transfer Amaree Abram is the safest bet and was the Vols’ most consistent option this summer. Israeli shooting guard Ethan Burg has high-level basketball experience and is another option despite not arriving on campus until earlier this month.
But the questions are about depth too and who emerges as legit options. Freshman point guard Troy Henderson impressed with his offense this summer. Can he become consistent enough defensively to earn a role this season?
Sophomore Bishop Boswell and freshman Amari Evans are defense first guys. Can they lean into being defensive stoppers and bring anything on the offensive end? French freshman Clarence Massamba, who arrived in August, is another option.
Tennessee did not see much separation from its bevy of shooting guards this summer? Will they find any in the preseason or will minutes become a roulette wheel early in the season?
How Will Tennessee Use Front Court Versatility?
Tennessee has the good type of questions in its front court where the Vols return top contributors Felix Okpara and Cade Phillips from last season’s team. They also get JP Estrella back from injury and added Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey as well as four-star freshman DeWayne Brown.
Those first four will certainly have sizable roles. Brown had a strong summer. Does he force Barnes to play him this season? That would give Tennessee an extremely deep front court.
But what about versatility? Phillips worked at the three-spot a lot over the summer, giving Tennessee the ability to play some mega lineups. How much is Tennessee actually going to play Phillips at the three? It would allow them to slide Ament to the two-spot and mitigate some of the shooting guard questions.
However, any lineup with Ament at the two-spot is going to have serious shooting questions. Is Phillips grown enough there to make that a viable long term option and not just a short stretch gadget? Maybe one of the other front court players makes major shooting strides and can space the court.
I’m high on Tennessee’s front court. Finding a legit shooting threat makes them potential to be elite.
Just How Good Will Nate Ament and Ja’Kobi Gillespie Be?
Tennessee won’t answer this question over the next six weeks. We won’t know the answer until games this going and really until we get into the thick of SEC play.
Maryland transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie and five-star freshman Nate Ament are the two best players on this team. Just how good are they going to be?
From watching them this summer and talking to be around the Tennessee program, I’m pretty bullish on both. I think they both have the potential to be 16-18 point a night guys. The Vols need to find answers to other questions, but these two playing like All-SEC, and even All-Americans, is what can make this team a legit SEC Championship contender.
