05. Tennessee Volunteers
2024-25 Record: 30-8 (12-6 SEC)
Consistency is key in a college basketball team's long-term success, and over the past 20-plus years, there has been few coaches more consistent than Rick Barnes. Since taking over at Tennessee in 2015, the Volunteers have finished a season with a losing record once and have only missed the NCAA Tournament three times. Much of Tennessee’s success in recent years has been Barnes’s ability to assemble elite defenses.
Tennessee's big concern is how the defense performs without elite defender Zakai Zeigler, who led the defense for the past four seasons. And that’s not to mention the fact that Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack were also solid defenders. So chances are the Vols aren’t the lockdown defense that we’ve come to expect, though the additions of Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Carey (8.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Maryland’s Jacobi Gillespie (14.7 ppg, 1.9 spg) give Barnes two solid defenders to play alongside elite shot blocker Felix Okpara (1.7 bpg).
The offense should be fine this season. While Tennessee did lose its top four scorers, Gillespie should be able to provide a good portion of the scoring. Each of the last three seasons, Tennessee has turned to a high-profile transfer to lead the scoring attack, and it looks like this year it will be Gillespie’s turn. The Vols also added solid scoring pieces in Louisiana Tech transfer Amaree Abram (12.4 ppg), Ethan Burg from overseas, and heralded freshman Nate Ament, which should allow Tennessee’s offense to keep up with the rest of the SEC.
I’m really excited to see what Gillespie can do this season. He proved last season that he is one of the best players in college basketball and was arguably the top transfer this offseason. His two-way prowess makes him one of the most indispensable players in the SEC. If he can build on his previous seasons and if Ament is an All-Conference talent, then Tennessee will be just fine this season. However, if either of them fails to play to expectations, the Vols will most likely fade a little, more towards the middle of the SEC standings.