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Tennessee Basketball: 3 reasons why Vols will be tourney team in 2019-20

By Andrew Clark

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 09: Lamonte Turner #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers defends KeVaughn Allen #5 of the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 09, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 09: Lamonte Turner #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers defends KeVaughn Allen #5 of the Florida Gators at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 09, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – MARCH 28: Head coach Rick Barnes of the Tennessee Volunteers reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during the first half of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Tennessee Basketball is coming off of one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. Last year was Rick Barnes first trip to the Sweet Sixteen with the Vols and expectations are high for this year.

Losing just three games in conference play, Tennessee Basketball surprised a lot of people this season finishing second in the SEC standings and making the conference tournament championship where they lost to Auburn 84-63.

Unfortunately with this success, Admiral Schofield, Jordan Bone and Grant Williams declared for the NBA Draft. Many saw the decision for Williams as an obvious one following a great season averaging 18.8 points on the year. However, many fans were hopeful that Jordan Bone would return to school to continue his success from his Junior year. The top three players for the Vols will be gone this season.

Will the Vols be able to able to replace the massive amount of production from last season? The core of Williams and Schofield were the catalysts of the program getting back to the NCAA Tournament. And while there are is some returning talent, plenty of questions remain.

Despite the loss of all three stars to the NBA, there is still reason to be optimistic. Here are three reasons why I believe the Tennessee Volunteers will return to the National Championship in 2020.

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