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The afternoon of Tennessee’s football media day, I met a couple of friends for a late lunch. I was prepared for quarterback questions.
I wasn’t prepared for basketball questions.
Throughout most of the South, a basketball discussion in early August would be blasphemous. Football takes center stage now, and there’s no room for anything else – unless, of course, you cast your allegiance with Kentucky.
Tennessee fans can’t match their basketball fervor. But they care more about basketball than most SEC fans.
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Nonetheless, I was caught off guard by a basketball reference on the day before Tennessee football kicked off preseason practice.
There was a newsy peg to my friends’ out-of-season interest. UT had just announced that former Vanderbilt power forward Jalen Washington had committed to the Vols.
Tennessee already had bolstered its roster with quality and quantity in the transfer portal. And the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Washington was just what a team rich in perimeter players needed. He averaged 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and made 56.3% of his shots for Vanderbilt last season. He also blocked 56 shots.
Coach Rick Barnes previously had loaded up on scorers. A defensive stopper completed what shapes up as his most formidable Tennessee roster.
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The Vols have been to the Elite Eight three consecutive seasons. They have averaged 25 wins per season for the past nine years. But fans have more reason than ever to be optimistic about UT basketball.
Fan optimism reflects the changing time. An abundance of returning starters once raised high expectations for any college sports team. Now, fans can become more enthused with an influx of new players – particularly when those players have as much potential as the ones Barnes and his staff have landed in the transfer portal.
The Vols signed three post players – Washington, Braeden Lue and Milen Rubin – to fill an obvious void. But their most noteworthy additions were guards.
Tennessee signed Dai Dai Ames, Terrence Hill,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dont-usually-write-tennessee-basketball-090215023.html
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Publish date : 2026-08-19 09:02:00
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