Team News (current roster)

[walkenvol]

There’s working hard/standards to meet, and then there’s Barnes…many kids “think” they can take it, until you have to take it 5 days a weeks 2-3 hours a day.

Understand, but don’t they show up and watch some practice? Maybe talk to some of the other players? Ain’t no bait and switch goin on

 

[cncchris33]

Jefferson isn't all that surprising. He seemed to lack some maturity on the floor, even in his highlights. There seemed to be some taunting, jawing, and hot dogging. Barnes will never be a fan of that stuff, but he'll overlook it if you work hard, play defense, and fall in line behind him. It may just be a case of the kid trying to establish his presence. I'd bet you had some of that with Admiral Schofield as a young player, as well, and he turned out fine. This program needs a guy with some edge and DJJ strikes me as that type.

 

[The Dog]

Jefferson isn't all that surprising. He seemed to lack some maturity on the floor, even in his highlights. There seemed to be some taunting, jawing, and hot dogging. Barnes will never be a fan of that stuff, but he'll overlook it if you work hard, play defense, and fall in line behind him. It may just be a case of the kid trying to establish his presence. I'd bet you had some of that with Admiral Schofield as a young player, as well, and he turned out fine. This program needs a guy with some edge and DJJ strikes me as that type.

Yeah, after one summer practice report, he's become the most likely to transfer kid. I think he is too athletic to keep off the floor and most importantly, can play defense. Hopefully, DJ buys in or learns to go all out on defense and earns some PT. I'll worry about it, when SEC play begins, until then, I have a lot of other things to worry about

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Understand, but don’t they show up and watch some practice? Maybe talk to some of the other players? Ain’t no bait and switch goin on

Absolutely, but again watching 1 practice and then getting wined and dined is much different than attending 5 of those in a row and not heading to Ruth’s Chris when you’re done to be told how great you are.

 

[The Vin Man]

So Tyreke might be able to play 1-4? Sounds a little like Gary Carter.

You’re dating yourself with the Gary Carter reference

 

[Stoked]

Not gonna lie, that Jefferson news gives me bad mojo. Hope he can fight his way through it.

I remember Admiral had a tough time buying in and was in the doghouse early. Also didn't KC have a tough little stretch too where CRB told him he needed to step up or something along those lines?

 

[Dallasbowlin]

I remember Admiral had a tough time buying in and was in the doghouse early. Also didn't KC have a tough little stretch too where CRB told him he needed to step up or something along those lines?

Yep. I hope he’s built like them, and frankly, not like BHH.

 

[rdk4121]

I’m more interested in Mashack’s development myself. He showed some strong athleticism last season and a defense that earned him so pt. He came in with a reputation of being a super hard worker. I hope that the staff has been able to help him improve his shot and he builds on last year’s experience to become a 12-15 minute type of player this season. Seems like Key might be his competition for those minutes, but we don’t know about Key’s defense yet?

I think Mashack will play more of the 3 and Key will play more of the 2. I could envision the role you mentioned for him, similar to what VJ had last year. Key will be the sixth man this year, probably taking a lot of the minutes that ZZ had last since ZZ will be starting. I think there's a good chance we will see Santi running the point this year, particularly if BJE isn't ready yet. Key will also play the 3 at times like Santi did last year in our 3 guard lineup.

 

[walkenvol]

Yep. I hope he’s built like them, and frankly, not like BHH.

In BHH’s defense, it appeared he was trying to buy in to the coaching as the season progressed. Seems like outside influences were behind the off-season change. JMO

 

[Dallasbowlin]

In BHH’s defense, it appeared he was trying to buy in to the coaching as the season progressed. Seems like outside influences were behind the off-season change. JMO

True.

 

[vol94]

Understand, but don’t they show up and watch some practice? Maybe talk to some of the other players? Ain’t no bait and switch goin on

I agree w your comment but showing up and watching practice Vs living and breathing it daily are two different things.

On a different note, I always thought coach Cal was known as a hard coach to play for, but Barnes always comes into the conversation about being “hard” on players. I wonder if they are similar?

 

[Vols till I fall]

You know this is the extremely dead part of the season when there's nothing to talk about

Wish it was November

 

[SJAVol32]

Summer workouts for the current team are in full swing. At the risk of hyping guys up too much there are a couple of players who we are consistently hearing good things about.

One of those is transfer Tyreke Key. What Key has done to impress is bring a high level of intensity to everything he does in the gym and he’s shown the ability to score at all three levels as well as get to the foul line. As someone told us this week, ‘he can just get buckets.’

B.J. Edwards has also been described to us as a pleasant surprise. That’s not to say that the staff didn’t think he would be a good player, obviously they did or they wouldn’t have taken him. He’s just been quicker to adapt to things than most seem to have expected and he’s really attacked the strength and conditioning program, making some obvious early strides from what we’ve heard.

 

[RyanWalkerPGH]

From Basilio's blog this morning

Julian Phillips:

Is the real deal. Hearing same stuff we heard on Chandler at this exact point in the summer. Phillips is an extremely prepared freshman, shoots the ball better than they expected, in great shape. Needs to get stronger but nothing holding him back to keep him off the floor. He's tracking for serious playing time from the jump of camp.

​

BJ Edwards:

has been a real pleasant surprise in camp thus far. Edwards is drawing some Jordan Bowden comps. A little more comfortable at PG and smaller but that comp has come up multiple times with various sources. Edwards is the definition of a combo guard. The prevailing thought is that BK will be a nice 4 year player. That said he's not ready to play PG though he will play some here in a pinch. I'm told that thus far Zeigler is eating him alive when he has to play PG. In great shape and plays extremely hard defensively. Overall my belief is Tennessee is pleasantly surprised with BJ Edwards. Should turn into a very very solid college guard who may be able to slide over to PG in time.


Tyreke Key:

Boom! Key is all about basketball and is better than Tennessee thought he would be. Key's mental acuity has caught Tennessee off guard. Put this in stone ... Tyreke Key a lock to be a rotation guy. Key can score against Tennessee's better defenders in summer stuff. I hear he really knows how to play the game. Takes the game extremely seriously which is big for Barnes and the veterans around Tennessee's program that feel like they have tremendous potential for next season.

​

Tobe Awaka:

is absurdly active thus far in his short time in Knoxville. Has no idea what he's doing on either end but rebounds or gets his hand on everything near him. I'm going to report here that those inside the program believe Awaka has the makings to become the best rebounder of the the Rick Barnes era. Probably strictly an energy guy/guy they put in out of principle if they're not rebounding. They think he will be a nice player in time and the rebounding ability is something they haven't had here and apparently really pops. Awaka is going to play.


DJ Jefferson:

is really struggling. Seems destined for the Corey Walker/DJ burns outcome. Hope not but I have to keep it real here.


Jahmai Mashack:

Simply hasn't taken the next step. Seems like he's tracking to be outside looking in for decent rotation minutes. Phillips, Key, Edwards seem to all be ahead of him. Probably gets spot duty due to defense but heading down Davonte Gaines path as of now.


Jonas Aidoo:

Keeps getting better. Has been mostly healthy and Barnes is even letting him shoot the ball from 3 some. They think if he stays healthy he's going to be an all league type guy in time.


Olivier Nkamhoua:

As always getting practice hype. Has to learn to take it to games. Will he? We're rooting for him. He has raw ability but runs hot and cold.


Triple J:

has been limiting his reps to stay healthy. He also spent portion of his summer on a trip to Africa as part of UT's Student Leadership group.


Santi Vescovi:

by far the best player on the team. Has taken it to another level. Was told he looks like a pro out there. He's going to have a monster season it seems.


Uros Plavsic:

What you've seen is what you're going to get from him. Not much has changed since the last time we saw him.


ZZ:

Is the clear cut PG which he's taken to. He's been very good on both ends but there's a huge drop off when he's not on the floor which is a concern. If there was a meaningful game tomorrow he would probably have to play 40 minutes at PG. They are still looking to add someone to help him out.

 

[RyanWalkerPGH]

Disappointing to hear that about Mashack. Really had high hopes for him.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

The Good:

Very excited about Santi. Can’t wait to watch him play this year. Good news about Phillips, ZZ, and Key, too.

The Bad:

I would hate to see Maschack be unable to put it together. A Top 50 player with extremely athletics tools. Just hope he can find a way to get some semblance of an offensive game. Sucks to hear about DJ Jefferson, too. But it’s early.

The :

PG. About what we expected. But Basilio does hint here they are looking to add someone else. Hopefully this Dillone rumor turns out to happen. Would be massive.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

Some very exciting nuggets, and some very concerning nuggets. (That’s what she said?)

 

[swchandler1988]

him presuming that DJ is destined not to work out is pretty absurd. He’s been here 1 month. Honestly if Mashack can play good defense and be at minimum serviceable that’s fine. Would be awesome if he could continue to improve, but again, he’s been here 1 year. Barnes has a giant resume of developing players. Most recently Uros actually. Obviously he’s not a star but he’s more than capable

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Met and spoke to Uros, JJJ, and ZZ over the weekend. I asked them who were the newcomers that fans would be seeing and surprised by.

Key, BJE, Tobe were the names mentioned outside of Phillips (obviously).

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Why is DJ Jefferson not destined to work out?

Does he have personal issues?

 

[vols 30]

Some very exciting nuggets, and some very concerning nuggets. (That’s what she said?)

Or that's what I said after going to McDonald's

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Why is DJ Jefferson not destined to work out?

Does he have personal issues?

Think he's more project than expected and those typically only work out when they are humble enough to put in the effort. I'd say at this point the jury is still out on him. As it was pointed out he has only been here a month, even if he's working his ass off that's not enough time to close the gap if the other guys are as far ahead of him as speculated.

 

[Vol49er]

My biggest excitement from that post is the news about Aidoo staying healthy. I’m his second biggest fan on here; I think the only thing standing between him and being a future first round pick and big time contributor is his knees holding up

Also like everyone said, very worried about backup PG minutes. Could Key do it in a pinch? Lots of players would /can/ run point behind Z (BJ, Santi, JJJ, Key maybe), so maybe not a complete disaster. But certainly they’re all better off elsewhere

Oh and Z and BJ gonna be an awesome guard duo for the next three years. Will be fun to watch them grow together

 

[swchandler1988]

ZZ/Key BJ or Santiago
Santiago/Key/DJ
JJJ/Phillips/Mashack
Uros or Aidoo
Olivier/Awaka

Does that look right

 

[bleedingTNorange]

ZZ/Key BJ or Santiago
Santiago/Key/DJ
JJJ/Phillips/Mashack
Uros or Aidoo
Olivier/Awaka

Does that look right

I think you see Phillips start alongside JJJ…

Zeigler/BJE
Vescovi/Key
Phillips/Mashack
James
Nkahmoua/Aidoo/Plav

don’t see much for Awaka & DJ