Tennessee is a mostly healthy basketball team as they officially begin preseason practice but do have a few minor injuries.
“JP (Estrella) had come back and was doing really well, turned his ankle and got it pretty good but again we made sure that we wanted to bring that along slow,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said Tuesday. “Amari Evans is still not quite back 100%, but otherwise it’s the things that everybody deals with and we deal with it and we think that every day we’re going to have enough to do what we need to do and we’ll keep that philosophy.”
Estrella had worked himself all the way back from the foot injury that cost him the vast majority of his sophomore season before turning his ankle.
Despite the minor setback, Estrella was pretty close to full-go during the open portions of Tennessee basketball’s Tuesday practice. The 6-foot-11 big man was working off to the side with strength and conditioning coach Garrett Medenwald towards the end of practice but was otherwise full-go and participating in five-on-five full court portions of practice.
More From RTI: What Rick Barnes Said About Auburn HC Bruce Pearl Retiring
Estrella has impressed over the offseason as he’s gotten back to full speed. Tennessee has a deep and talented front court but Estrella gives them an offensive look that they don’t otherwise have and could have a big impact on Barnes’ 11th team in Knoxville.
Evans is a true freshman shooting guard who is competing for a role this season. The 6-foot-4 guard is dealing with a lower-body injury and worked off to the side during the entirety of the open portions of Tuesday’s practice.
The former four-star recruit has battled a handful of minor injuries during his short time at Tennessee. An ankle injury sidelined him for a short amount of time in June before he spent time in concussion protocol in July. Evans is amongst a large group of Vol guards competing for playing time this season.
