Tennessee basketball may be on a collision course to meet a former player in the Final Four. On Saturday night, one-seed Arizona topped two-seed Purdue in an Elite Eight clash. This means former Vol Tobe Awaka has punched his ticket with the Wildcats.
This season, Awaka has proven to be one of the best six-men in the country. He is averaging 9.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game on 58.9% shooting from the field. In the win over the Boilermakers, he battled foul trouble, finishing with just four points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.
On Sunday, one-seed Michigan and six-seed Tennessee will meet for another spot in the Final Four. The winner of that game will play Awaka and Arizona. That means, if Rick Barnes can steer UT to the Final Four for the first time in program history, it’d be against that familiar face on the opposing sideline.
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Tennessee’s matchup with the Wolverines is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET. It will air on CBS. The Vols enter as 7.5-point underdogs with Michigan one of the favorites to cut down the nets.
“Their size defensively is a factor,” Barnes said about the Wolverines. “They just impact the game on both ends of the court, and they seem like they have a team that — doesn’t seem like. When you win the games they’ve won, obviously, there’s a buy-in there with each one of them on their team. I have the utmost respect for them.”
Awaka played two seasons at Tennessee before transferring to Arizona. As a sophomore, he was a part of the Vols’ team that lost to Purdue in the Elite Eight. That group was led by stars Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler. He also made the Sweet 16 as a freshman.
The forward recorded 5.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during his sophomore season in Knoxville. As a freshman, Awaka averaged 3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Awaka was teammates at Tennessee with current Vols JP Estrella, Cade Phillips and Grant Hurst.
