Busting Brackets
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Tennessee Basketball: 2017-18 season preview for the Volunteers

By Richard Gnann

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 11: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the game against the LSU Tigers during the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 11: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team during the game against the LSU Tigers during the quarterfinals of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Basketball
KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers players react in the second half of the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Tennessee basketball was picked to finish 13th in the SEC in the preseason. What can they do to overachieve on that ranking?

The SEC Tipoff media picked the Tennessee basketball team to finish 13th in the Southeastern Conference in 2018. Tennessee players don’t like the prediction, but they get it. The Washington Post reports this from Jordan Bone:

"“I could kind of see it coming,” sophomore guard Jordan Bone said. “They ranked us (13th) last season and we didn’t really do anything special last year. We had a couple of nice wins, but we didn’t make the tournament last year when we could have.”"

After beating Kentucky at home and a two-point loss to eventual national champions North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Tennessee faded down the stretch last season for a 16-16 record. The downfalls turned out to be youth and a shallow roster. Despite the loss of key contributors, the 2018 Tennessee team is older and deeper entering this season.

Roster Losses

Tennessee basketball lost to graduation guard Robert Hubbs III (32 mpg, 14 ppg). Hubbs’ departure is where concerns for Tennessee begin as he was a major part of the rotation last season. In addition, the Vols lost guards Kwe Parker and Shembari Phillips to transfer. The departure of Parker and Phillips gave head coach Rick Barnes the roster space to remake the Volunteer team.

Sophomores Must Rise Up

The 2017 Volunteers were led by the highest scoring freshman class in Tennessee basketball history. Those freshmen are now sophomores and improvement is expected. Tennessee also added two high scoring transfers and, among its three-man freshman class, a promising overseas recruit. The remake also includes the retooling of Admiral Schofield from undersized power forward into a small forward as well as the return from injury of John Fulkerson.

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