Tennessee Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24

Center

Starter – Jonas Aidoo (30 mpg)

Jonas Aidoo returns with an opportunity to emerge as quite the anchor at the center/forward spot for Tennessee this upcoming season. With the departures of Olivier Nkamhoua and Julian Phillips, there’s a ton of opportunity for Aidoo to play a ton of minutes at the center spot. He was their first player off the bench this past season, appearing in 35 games in 2022-23, who put solid numbers in his reserve role.

He produced 5.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 1.3 bpg on 50.7 percent shooting from the floor in his second year in the rotation. He finished seventh in the SEC in blocks (44) and his 86.5 defensive rating ranked 20th across all of college basketball. As he enters Year 3, look for him to turn a corner and emerge as a potential SEC Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Bench – J.P. Estrella (10 mpg)

J.P. Estrella joins the Volunteers as a highly-coveted recruit in their 2023 class looking to make a splash right away at the backup center role. He’s a 6-foot-11 big man who’s shown he could contribute right away following their exhibition tour in Italy back in August.

He put up 5.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg on 63.6 percent shooting from the floor in their three victories. He’ll have his opportunities to show off what he can do when Aidoo needs rest or gets in foul trouble.