There was little predictability to Tennessee’s 2020-21 men’s basketball season.
Multiple COVID-related cancellations to start the year, including a scratch against top-ranked Gonzaga. A 26-point loss at Florida. Double-digit wins over Kansas in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and Kentucky inside Rupp Arena. A promising display at the Southeastern Conference tournament followed by a complete flame out against Oregon State in the NCAA tourney.
It all added up to an 18-9 season that was highlighted by the talents of one-and-done standouts Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer, but seventh-year coach Rick Barnes has turned the page with another stacked roster that will start its own journey Tuesday night (7 on the SEC Network) against UT Martin inside Thompson-Boling Arena. As always, Barnes has an open door for those who want to earn quality minutes.
“I actually think we might have played 11 guys at Texas when we went to the (2003) Final Four,” Barnes said last week in a news conference. “It was a group of guys who totally sold out in their roles, and the time on the court was where every possession mattered. We could not take time off defensively, and it was a tag-team mentality.
“There is not a guy on our team we don’t think can help us. It is just a matter of consistency. Can they truly comprehend and grasp the role we need them to play?”
Barnes allowed plenty of play time during Tennessee’s Oct. 30 exhibition, when the 17th-ranked Volunteers overwhelmed Lenoir-Rhyne 103-62. The Vols shot 51.3% from the floor, with five-star freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler scoring 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting with six assists, five rebounds and a lone turnover.
Sophomore guard Justin Powell, the transfer from Auburn, came off the bench to score 14 points in a little less than 14 minutes.
“This was great to see where we are,” Powell said afterward. “It was like a baseline for us. We moved the ball really well, which we’ve been doing in practice, and it was fun.”
Forcing turnovers was a staple of last season’s Vols, who racked up 17 against Lenoir-Rhyne.
Chandler joined veterans Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Olivier Nkamhoua and former Hamilton Heights standout Uros Plavsic in the starting five for the exhibition, but Tuesday night could have a different look should sixth-year senior forward John Fulkerson get cleared from his recovery of a broken thumb. Freshman forward Jonas Aidoo also didn’t play against Lenoir-Rhyne due to an illness.
UT Martin is coming off an 8-16 season in the Ohio Valley Conference and has Chattanooga tie-ins as well under first-year coach Ryan Ridder. UTM associate head coach Matt Sligh is a 2005 Covenant College graduate, while freshman guard Grant Hurst and sophomore forward KK Curry played at Cleveland High School.
Hurst was a huge part of Cleveland’s 106-19 run the past four seasons, averaging 18.7 points per game last winter.
Tuesday night will contain a healthy audience unlike last season, when Thompson-Boling crowds were limited to 4,191, and it is sure to include a spotlight on Chandler, who not only has to guide things out on the floor but vocally provide leadership to older teammates as well.
“He is getting better,” Barnes said. “He has to learn to say what needs to be said as opposed to just talking to talk. The fact that he is willing to talk is a major breakthrough for any player, because when players get here in general, they do not talk a lot when they are playing.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.