Tennessee Basketball: Who is the Vols’ most important player in 2017-18?

The Tennessee Volunteers have the potential to be an NCAA Tournament team or at the bottom of the SEC in 2017-18. Which player could make the difference?

The Tennessee Volunteers were in the NCAA Tournament discussion for a brief period last season before their youth caught up to them, but could find themselves even more prepared to make the Big Dance in 2017-18.

The Vols’ problem next season is going to be scoring the basketball.

Sure, it’s nice to have a bunch of players who average seven or eight points a game on a defensive-minded, Rick Barnes-coached team, but, at the end of the day, you are not beating the top teams in the SEC unless you can score 80 points.

We saw this as the Vols’ fluctuated from a fun offense (beating Kentucky 82-80) to about as stagnant as a team can get (losing to South Carolina 82-55). When the ball does not go through the net, you will not win in college basketball.

That being said, it will be several players who need to pick up the scoring slack that a player like Robert Hubbs leaves behind. However, the player who I think is the most important to the Vols’ success will not be a guard but instead be Grant Williams.

As a freshman, Williams averaged 12.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.9 blocks over 25.9 minutes per game. He will likely add a few more minutes per game next season and must improve across the board if this team is to make its way into the 2018 NCAA Tournament discussion. He found himself in foul trouble a lot which probably accounts for his low minutes on the year, but he represents everything that Barnes loves in a basketball player — defensively tough, consistent, and can score when called upon.

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Tennessee has the potential to sneak into the NCAA Tournament, but it could all rest on the shoulders of their younger players like Williams taking a step forward.