Busting Brackets
Fansided

Tennessee Basketball: Tennessee Volunteers 2015-16 Season Preview

By Bryce Bennett

facebooktwitterreddit

Tennessee Volunteers

2014-2015 Record: 16-16 (7-11, SEC)
Postseason: None

A word to describe the Tennessee Volunteers 2014-15 season: “turmoil”. Former coach Donnie Tyndall had an NCAA investigation hanging over his head the entire season while as a coach at Southern Mississippi and the Vols suffered on the court, never consistently getting it together.

This summer, that investigation cost Tyndall his job and Tennessee wasted no time in picking up former Texas coach Rick Barnes. And while Barnes also has a potentially damaging scandal hanging over his head, it appears Barnes will be able to bring stability to a program with its third coach in four years.

The good news to this challenge is that Tennessee returns most of its rotation from a year ago. The bad news is that leading scorer and best player, Josh Richardson, is in the NBA. If there is a word to describe the 2015-16 Volunteers, it would probably be “unknown”.

 Newcomers

C – Kyle Alexander
F – Ray Kasongo
F – Admiral Schofield
G – Shembari Phillips
G – Lamonte Turner (ineligible for 2015-16 season)

Key Non-Conference Games

Nov. 27 – 28 Barclay’s Center Classic (George Washington and Cincinnati or Nebraska) – Tennessee heads to New Jersey in this non-conference clash between teams from the A-10, American and Big Ten conferences. The first match-up is against George Washington (22-13, 10-8), an upperclassmen-heavy team who was 16-4 at one point last season.

More from SEC

The Colonials will be looking for a statement win and the opportunities will be there at Barclay’s. The second match-up will be either against NCAA-tournament team Cincinnati or Nebraska.

A common thing to look for in this set of games will be: is Tennessee’s offense improving? With the loss of Richardson, Tennessee needs scoring help.

These three opponents project to be stingy defensively. All three were in the top 25% in allowed points per game last season. The Vols will have their hands full in this tournament, but all three are still winnable.

Dec. 12 at Butler – You better believe the Butler Bulldogs have this game circled. One of the surprise teams of 2014-15 was ranked and rolling when it came into Knoxville last season.

That success continued for over half of the game against the Volunteers. With only 18 minutes remaining, the Bulldogs were in firm control, up 37-25. That’s when the Volunteers staged a frantic comeback. Aided by 20 points from Josh Richardson and 18 from Kevin Punter, the Volunteers outscored the Bulldogs 42-18 the rest of the way for the season’s signature victory.

The match-up this season will be in Indianapolis at Hinkle Fieldhouse and the Volunteers have to replace Richardson’s production. A victory over the (probably) ranked Bulldogs would be huge for Tennessee’s confidence and pedigree. Expect a slugfest in this one.

Dec. 19 Battle in Seattle (at Gonzaga) – Well, at least their RPI will improve. In one of the SEC’s toughest non-conference games, Tennessee will travel to the west coast to square off against 2014-15 Elite Eight team Gonzaga. The Zags will be poised to make another run come March as they return key players such as Kyle Wiltjer and Domanatas Sabots.

There is no other way to slice this one: this one will be tough. Tennessee’s best hope is to place physical, grind-it-out basketball and try to make some plays at the end. Even so, I think Gonzaga probably has too much firepower in this one.

Key Players

Armani Moore – The Volunteers expect to be a physical, tough-minded team this season. The player who embodies that mindset is Armani Moore. The 6′ 5″ do-it-all guard from Georgia, will play power forward to point guard this season for the Vols. In the 2014 – 15 campaign, Moore averaged over 10 points per game and almost 7 rebounds. He seems to have handled his third coach in four years reasonably well and will be the Vols’ foundation this season.

Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee Volunteers /

Tennessee Volunteers

Robert Hubbs III – This is Hubbs’ team now. With the departure of Richardson, Hubbs needs to have a big year to answer the Vols’ questions about offense. Hubbs, who was a five-star recruit in 2013, has not quite lived up to potential as of yet. If the Vols want to even think about dancing in March this season, Hubbs needs to step up his two-year career average of only 6 points per game this season.

Season Outlook

The Vols will struggle this season. The loss of Josh Richardson, its lack of a true point guard, and lack of size will be with them all season.

This team will do well defensively, but struggle mightily on the offensive end. It can reasonably be expected for Rick Barnes’ squad to compete hard and go to the NIT. Anything beyond this should be cause for celebration in Knoxville. Overall, it is hopefully an end to a turbulent time for a program that reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2013.

Rick Barnes was a good hire and should have the Vols back to that point in a few years. For now, supporters of the program will have to wait.

Next: Vanderbilt Commodores 2015-16 Season Preview

More from Busting Brackets

Home/SEC