SEC Basketball: 2024 offseason grades for each team

Tennessee Volunteers - Grade: A

Tennessee lost a ton of players from last year's team that made it to the Elite Eight. Dalton Knecht, Santiago Vescovi, and Josiah-Jordan James all ran out of eligibility. And Jonas Aidoo, Tobe Awaka, DJ Jefferson all hit the transfer portal. Knecht was the biggest loss for the Volunteers after he took the SEC by storm in his lone season in the conference, averaging nearly 22 points per game.

The Volunteers added Darlinstone Dubar, a 17.8 points per game scorer from Hofstra, and Chaz Lanier, a 19.7 points per game scorer from North Florida, to make up for the lost scoring this offseason. Lanier is an elite three-point shooter, making 44 percent last season on over seven attempts per game and Dubar is solid from behind the arc as well. 

To make up for the defensive hole left by the departure of Jonas Aidoo, Rick Barnes added Igor Milicic, a big man from Charlotte who averaged 12.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. As well as Felix Okpara from Ohio State. Okpara is an elite rim protector, he averaged 2.4 blocks per game last season. Plus, Tennessee has last year's SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Zakai Zeigler, returning to Knoxville. 

If Lanier and Dubar can replicate their production at the power five level, then Tennessee’s offensive will be just fine. But even if there is a dip in scoring, Rick Barnes has a solid defense waiting to pick up the slack. Tennessee did a good job bringing in players that fill the gaps left from last season, if the team meshes well then the Volunteers should once again be one of the better teams in college basketball.