Tennessee Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Volunteers

The Volunteers could have a short bench

When you look at Tennessee’s potential bench one thing jumps out, they have some serious length available to them coming off the bench. While the length is a good thing to have, outside of Anosike and the numbers he put up at Sacred Heart, that length doesn’t have a good track record of production.

There is a quartet of returning sophomores all measuring 6’7 or taller that averaged a total of 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Uros Plavsic has the length at 7’0 but doesn’t necessarily play to that size, Olivier Nkamhoua and Drew Pember are shorter at 6’8 and 6’10 respectively but they have the more potential to be impactful on defense. Having the options is good, but it is unclear how much these three will play behind Pons, Fulkerson, and Anosike.

The fourth sophomore is more of an athletic swingman, 6’7 Davonte Gaines, while Gaines flashes some athleticism, he may have the same issue as his taller brethren, there are talented players ahead of him.

Victor Bailey, Jr. is a 6’4 guard who is eligible this season after leaving Oregon in 2018-19 where he averaged 7.4 points. He is likely to come off the bench to provide some quick offense as he knocked down over 38% of his three-point attempts, which is six percentage points higher than the Vols as a team last season.

The other reserve in the backcourt will be Barnes’ other gem in his recruiting class, 6’5 Keon Johnson. Johnson comes in as a five-star recruit who unlike Springer, should excel on the defensive end right away.