Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes met with the local media on Thursday morning as the Vols’ summer practices roll on into late June. It’s a completely new look Tennessee team with 11 new players practicing and meshing together for the first time.
Following a practice open to the media, Barnes discussed the ball handlers on the roster, the growth of returning players and more. Here’s everything Barnes said.
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On if he has found his starting five with his new-look Tennessee basketball team
“Not yet. We haven’t even started putting any of that together. Really pleased with the effort. The guys, we have thrown a lot at them here these four weeks. We like them a lot. They’ve responded to it. They’ve grown together as, as a group of guys and I feel like we’re putting together a good team. But happy with all of them.”
On Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Felix Okpara all being picked in the NBA Draft
“Well it’s awesome. It really is. And so proud of those guys. You go back to a year ago and look at the analytical side of what we do, those three guys put in more work than anybody in terms of the distance they ran, the reps they put in. And it’s always great when you see guys getting rewarded for their hard work. And obviously all of them meant so much to our program and had so much to do with our success. And we’re just proud of them. And again, I think they’re just getting started in what their journey through professional basketball. It was a fun couple days.”
On Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s draft party Wednesday night, taking pride in how he represents East Tennessee
“Well, it was really neat. I heard people there talking about he’s certainly the pride of Greenville. And they said he’s, he’s opened the door for a lot of young people there to dream about it because Ja’Kobi is a tough kid in so many different ways. And they all have a different journey in how they get where they go. But yeah, not only is Greenville proud of him, we’re all proud of him. I wish we could’ve had him much longer. But he’s with a great organization, one of the great organizations with people that really loved him and wanted him. And I think if you ask him where he wanted to go, he would’ve told you he wanted to be at Spur.”
On the chain Ja’Kobi Gillespie was wearing at his draft party
“Well, I thought it was a cookie. That’s why I was wanting to bite into it to see. But I’m not sure it was real. But I think Felix had on one too. They must’ve gotten two-for-one deal or something like that. But yeah, it’s a great night. It’s a special night not only for them, but for their families and the people that have watched them grow up to get to that opportunity. And like we all know, it’s a dream to have your name called by the NBA. And for them to have that happen is something they should be proud of and something they’ll hold onto for a lifetime.”
On the progress Tennessee sophomore forward DeWayne Brown has made since the end of last season
“So much. He had a great spring when all the portal was going on. He was here every day working to get better. He’s added a lot to his game. He’s continuing to add his outside game to it. But physically he’s in great shape and he’s really been a terrific leader so far with these guys and he’ll do that. But he’s going to have a great year just because of his work ethic.”
On the practice habits he’s seen from Tennessee guard Terrence Hill Jr.
“Well, Terrence is a smart player. And I think he would tell you this is all new to him, but he’s picked it up pretty quickly. And I would say he and DeWayne have been probably the two biggest vocal leaders along with Campbell Duncan. And with Campbell obviously know what’s going on. But Terrence has done a lot, not just picking up the system, what we want to do, but talking to his teammates and encouraging them and trying to get them to understand where we’re trying to get to.”
On what he’s seen from the frontcourt
“Well, we’re definitely different. We’re long in a different way this year. We’re very long on the perimeter. We’ve got great length out there. And our front guys, maybe not as tall, but their length, they have good length. Their quickness and, again, them learning a new system. Their effort’s been there. We haven’t had to talk about going hard with any of those guys. It’s just a matter of them still understanding what we’re trying to do and where they’re reacting as opposed to overthinking things. But we’ve been impressed with one, their energy level. Their conditioning’s been good. And they’ve probably, the post guys probably progressed more in the last week and a half more so than what they did earlier.”
On if the team as a whole is progressing the way he wants
“Yeah, I think so. Because we’re throwing a lot at them. We’ll get back in after the fourth (of July) break and we’ll dive into some other things. But we’re wanting to play with speed obviously. Yeah, we’re pleased with them. Because we have thrown a lot at them and they’ve done well to handle it.”
On if this is as many ball handlers as they’ve had on a roster
“Well, this is the most. I can show you film where we’ve had six, seven different guys get a rebound and lead the break, run the break, and get the ball down the floor, and we like that a lot. We like to be able to move people around as much as we can. But it’s difficult when you come in in four weeks to learn, let alone one position, but we’re asking guys to learn two or three of them. And again, they’ve done well. They really have.”
On Jalen Haralson’s skillset
“Well, he’s a terrific.— we have some guys that can really pass the ball. They see the floor well. But his length is big and he handles the ball well. He’s got great speed and he’s continuing. He can shoot the ball, it’s just his mindset has been more of a playmaker. But really happy with him. All these guys, they’ve improved so much after a month. I’m excited to see where we’re gonna be in another month.”
On if ball handling was a point of emphasis in the portal after putting so much on Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s plate a season ago
“Skill, skill. Again, we talked about it, production over retention is what we were looking for, and that’s what we feel like we got.”
On if there’s still a chance Tennessee could add to the roster
“We have a spot available, and if we find the right guy, we can do that.”
On where Tennessee freshman guard Manny Green is at
“I think Manny would tell you — Manny is a great, great kid — and he thought it was gonna be easier, like they all did. But he would say the same thing, once you get out there and get put in the mixer, it’s a lot harder than you think. But the younger guys are learning when it means to be cardio tough. When fatigue sets in, they have a tendency — because they’re young, they’ve just never been through it. Where the older guys, that’s the one area I think they’ve done well. There hasn’t been a drop-off there so much as we’ve progressed each week. But you’ve seen a little bit of that with the younger guys, just because they’ve never done it before.”
On how difficult summer practice is for the players
“I love this time of year. I think that when you got a group of guys that wanna be good, I think they embrace it, too. You talk about being forged in fire, you know, you gotta turn it up every day. You gotta get the furnace hot, and you gotta get ’em to understand what’s coming. We know what’s coming. Our schedule, what we have in front of us. But yeah, I think they’ve embraced it. We haven’t had any type of attitude situation. Guys are doing what they’re doing, not only out here, but in the weight room, where there’s a lot of team bonding going on there, and just looking out for each other. We’ve got a good group of guys, but we got a long ways to go, like you’d expect this time of year. But up to this point, I would say we’re very pleased with them.”
On how Tennessee sophomore point guard Troy Henderson (shoulder surgery) is doing
“He’s doing good. He’s probably ahead of schedule. We’re trying to slow him down a little bit. He wants to — he’s chomping at the bit to get back out there. We had to slow him down a little bit, but he’s doing good.”
On if Belmont transfer guard Tyler Lundblade (back) has been practicing
“No, he hurt his back. Tyler is terrific, another guy that’s been a leader. But he has had some back issues that he’s dealing with. He goes about it in such a professional way. He’ll be fine. But once we get him out there, he’ll pick it up quick ’cause he’s got a great basketball IQ, and he’s understanding what we’re trying to do.”
