Rick Barnes faces perhaps his biggest challenge going into his 12th season with the Volunteers. Barnes lost all five starters this offseason along with six other players. Reaching a program-record three straight Elite Eights made finding talent in the transfer portal easy. The defensive-minded coach focused on bringing in proven scorers to juice up Tennessee's offense after being routed a win away from the program's first Final Four berth. Seven of the transfers averaged scoring in double figures last season.
Junior guard Juke Harris was Barnes' top portal addition. The 6-foot-7, 200-pound Harris has two years of eligibility remaining after scoring 21.4 points per game last season at Wake Forest. Harris led the ACC in total minutes. ... Sophomore G Jalen Haralson led Notre Dame in scoring with 16.2 points per game, and he averaged 4 rebounds and 2.6 assists. The 6-foot-7 Haralson also shot 51.5% from the floor. ... Terrence Hill Jr. was both the Atlantic 10's Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year. He scored 15 points with 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game for VCU.
Nate Ament was the 13th overall pick by Milwaukee Bucks. PG Ja'Kobi Gillespie was a late-round NBA draft pick after leading the Vols in scoring with 18.4 points a game. J.P. Estrella transferred to Michigan. Jaylen Carey transferred to Missouri. ... Chris Washington Jr. leads four freshmen this season at Tennessee with the 6-9 forward ranked 33rd nationally by Rivals.com. PG Dai Dai Ames averaged 16.9 points and 2.2 assists at California last season.
Tennessee hosts Michigan State on Nov. 17 and opens the Players Era tourney playing Maryland on Nov. 24 in Las Vegas. The Vols play NC State on Dec. 6 in Nashville in the Bad Boy Mowers Series before going to Purdue on Dec. 11. SEC play starts Jan. 2 with Vanderbilt, and the annual trip to Kentucky is Jan. 23. Florida is in Knoxville on Jan. 30 followed by Kentucky on Feb. 13.
Barnes has led the Vols to seven of its 10 25-win seasons, and Tennessee are one of five teams with at least 25 wins each of the past five years. ... Tennessee leads the SEC in both total wins (134) and a .740 overall winning percentage over the past five seasons. ... G Tyler Lundblade, a transfer from Belmont, led the nation shooting 93.4% (85 of 91) from the free-throw line last season. The 43.5% shooter from 3-point range made 115 last season to lead the Missouri Valley Conference but is recovering from August back surgery.
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