Tennessee Basketball’s upcoming roster will look completely different from what it did last season. The Vols revamped their team through the transfer portal, adding ESPN’s top-ranked transfer class throughout the offseason. This eight-man class included six players in the Top 100 of 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings, including Juke Harris (No. 8), Terrence Hill Jr. (No. 19), Jalen Haralson (No. 25), Dai Dai Ames (No. 53), Tyler Lundblade (No. 59), and Miles Rubin (No. 95)
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein took a look at Tennessee’s updated roster on Tuesday and gave his take on the Vols’ projected starting five. He’s got a four-guard lineup with Terrence Hill, Dai Dai Ames, Juke Harris, and Jalen Haralson, along with Miles Rubin at the center position.
Rothstein’s projected Tennessee bench includes freshman Marquis Clark, DeWayne Brown II, freshman Manny Green, freshman Chris Washington Jr., Tyler Lundblade, Braedan Lue, Christian Fermin, Troy Henderson, and freshman Ralph Scott.
With all of this insight, Rothstein has Tennessee tagged as the No. 12 team in his offseason rankings. He’s got the Vols as the third-highest team from the SEC, behind No. 1 Florida and No. 11 Texas.
Other notable SEC teams in his Top 25 include No. 15 Arkansas, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 21 Vanderbilt, No. 22 Alabama, and No. 24 Missouri.
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After three straight trips to the Elite Eight without a Final Four appearance, Rick Barnes and his staff are hoping that this newly assembled roster can be the one to break through the glass ceiling. The Vols clearly targeted offensive production in the portal this season, with five of its eight newcomers having averaged 15.0 points or more per game for their previous schools.
While ESPN’s Jeff Borzello tagged Tennessee as the No. 6 team in his offseason rankings, bracketologist Joe Lunardi still doesn’t appear to be that sold on the Vols’ new roster. In a recent bracketology update for ESPN, Lunardi gave Tennessee a 5-seed projection, which is only one seed higher than it had last season.
Regardless, there’s a ton of buzz around Tennessee’s team. For a program that has emphasized defense so much during Rick Barnes’ tenure, the switch to an offense-heavy unit is a bit of a new look for the Big Orange.
VFL and SEC Network analyst Ron Slay isn’t losing sleep over the lack-of-defense conversation, though.
“I think when you walk into this situation and you’re trying to find what the missing piece is, it’s easy to point at offense,” Slay said on The Sports Animal in May. “Because the defensive part is non-negotiable. We don’t even get to make it to the table and sit down and talk numbers, or strategy, or what your role on this team will be, if you don’t know coming into this that you’ve got to play defense… You walk into a situation with Coach Barnes, and a lot of people are thinking and asking, man, how’s this staff going to get these guys to play defense? You know what Coach Barnes is probably doing? (Leans back) Hands behind his head, interlocked, like yeah. (Laughs) So, y’all telling me this is my problem? Imma get my team to play defense. Rick’s probably like, aye, y’all wild, boy. Y’all think we finna get to this point now, and I’m finna switch up everything? That’s easy. If that’s my hardest job, thank you Good Lord. Because Deacon Barnes is about to deliver.”
“The defensive part is non-negotiable.”@TheRonSlay explained why he’s not concerned about Rick Barnes maintaining the Vols’ defensive standard with his new-look Tennessee basketball team.
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— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) May 6, 2026
