When Tennessee Basketball put their 2026-2027 roster together this offseason, there was a clear emphasis on offense. The Vols brought several highly-skilled scorers from the transfer portal, opting to spend their resources on transfer portal production as opposed to previous roster retention.
What it manifested into was an eight-man class that ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings. The Vols brought new starters and depth pieces alike, but the common trend amongst the class is the addition of microwave offense to the court.
With the pieces that Tennessee landed, it’s going to present a real challenge to opposing teams when creating a scouting report. Are you going to try to limit the two 6-foot-7 guys in Juke Harris and Jalen Haralson? Are you going to put your stock in Tennessee’s new perimeter shooters with Terrence Hill, Tyler Lundblade, and Dai Dai Ames?
These are the questions that VFL Mark Griffin thinks will present immense challenges for Tennessee’s foes this offseason. Griffin detailed his thoughts while speaking on Sunday night’s episode of The RTI Low-Down with Bob Baskerville and Chris Low.
“The one thing that’s hurt Coach Barnes’ teams in the past is that guy that, at the end of the game, your go-to guy, like a Dalton Knecht. And have another Dalton Knecht right there next to him,” Griffin said. “Scouting reports? You can stop one shooter. You can. You can limit one shooter. You can’t limit three. And then you can’t limit two that come off the bench when the others are tired of you’re in foul trouble. You can look down that bench and go, I got options.”
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Tennessee had three players average double-digit points per game last year: Ja’Kobi Gillespie at 18.4 PPG, Nate Ament at 16.7 PPG, and J.P. Estrella with 10.0 PPG. And while it’s not a perfect comparison considering many of Tennessee’s newcomers were the top option at their previous schools, the Vols did bring in five players who averaged more than 15.0 PPG last season.
It’s a different animal than what we’ve seen in the past. Tennessee has guys who can sit back and knock down threes, guys who can drive to the basket and finish inside, and guys on the wing who can take you to a spot on the court and find their shot. Some of Tennessee’s players, like former Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris, can do all three.
Say a team really wants to limit Tennessee’s small and power forwards in Harris and Haralson. They’re sending extra help from the weak side, trying to shrink the floor, or denying a drive from the wing. Well, now you’ve left yourself vulnerable to talented guards who can drive to the basket or hit threes from the kick-out pass. Terrence Hill can do both. And just when you think you’ve got a break with Tennessee going to the bench, the Vols trot out three-point shooters like Tyler Lundblade or Dai Dai Ames to keep you honest.
And as Griffin mentioned, Tennessee’s got options when it comes to how they want to attack a defense. It’s a roster, and certainly a coaching staff, that’ll be plenty intelligent enough to figure out how to best attack what an opposing defense is doing.
Check out VFL Mark Griffin’s full interview on The RTI Low-Down below:
