Tennessee Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2021-22 season
By Matt Melton
Power Forward
Starter: John Fulkerson
Arguably the most important player to this Tennessee team will be starting power forward John Fulkerson. We saw how the Volunteers struggled to replace the senior down the stretch last season, and the return of Fulkerson is what makes Tennessee a legit SEC title contender in 2021-22.
Undoubtedly the leader of this Volunteers team, Fulkerson enters year six in Knoxville as a career 6.6 PPG scorer. A full-time starter the past two seasons, Fulkerson has averaged at-least 9/5 in both including a Second-Team All-SEC appearance during the 2019-20 campaign.
When looking around the SEC this season, you won’t find a more experienced player that means more to their team than Fulkerson. The senior will provide scoring, rebounding, defense, and almost anything you can think of to the Volunteers this season as the most important player on this Tennessee team.
Backup: Olivier Nkamhoua
The Volunteers do have experience behind Fulkerson on the depth chart in junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua. Nkamhoua had appeared in 54 combined games across his first two seasons at Tennessee where he has averaged a combined 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG.
Nkamhoua could see increased minutes as-is this season for Tennessee and will be a very important player when it comes to the Volunteers frontcourt depth this season.