UT Sports Information
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• The Vols’ 2023-24 roster features 16 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing 13 states, as well as Uruguay.
• There are two Vols who hail from the state of New York, two from North Carolina and one each from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
• UT has three fifth-year players, one senior, four juniors, three sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and three true freshmen.
• Nine Vols stand 6-5 or shorter, and seven players are 6-6 or taller.
VOLS DOMINATE DURING THREE-GAME EXHIBITION TOUR OF ITALY
• Tennessee went a perfect 3-0 during a three-game exhibition tour of Italy that saw the team visit Milan, Como, Florence and Rome from July 31 through Aug. 9.
• The Volunteers posted back-to-back wins over the Lithuanian U21 National Team in Florence, winning 97-57 and 116-90. The Big Orange closed out the competitive portion of the trip by defeating Rome-based professional club A.S. Stella Azzurra, 97-51, in the Blue Stars’ home gym.
• Fifth-year wing Dalton Knecht was UT’s top scorer in Italy, averaging 16.3 points per game. He shot .529 from the field and .480 from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore forward Tobe Awaka averaged a double-double through the three games—with 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds.
• Junior guard Jordan Gainey shot .391 from 3-point range while averaging 12.7 points per contest. And fifth-year All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi shot .556 from long range while averaging 12.0 points and 5.0 assists per game.
• Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V—who enrolled early and joined the program midseason last year—saw his first action as a Vol and impressed with averages of 11.0 points and a team-high 5.3 assists.
• Vols head coach Rick Barnes allowed associate head coach Justin Gainey to serve as acting head coach during all three games.
• To view Tennessee’s cumulative stats from the three wins in Italy, click HERE.
VOLUNTEERS COMING OFF FIFTH CONSECUTIVE NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE
• Tennessee has appeared in every NCAA Tournament dating to 2018. Those five consecutive berths tie for the second longest-streak in program history. The Vols appeared in six straight NCAA Tournaments from 2006-11 and made five straight trips from 1979-83.
• The Volunteers’ current streak includes a pair of Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2018 and 2023.
• The Vols have earned a top-five seed in each of their last five NCAA Tournament trips—No. 3 in 2018, No. 2 in 2019, No. 5 in 2021, No. 3 in 2022 and No. 4 in 2023.
VOLS AIM TO CONTINUE RECENT TOP-FIVE ATTENDANCE TRADITION
• For each of the last four full-capacity seasons, Tennessee finished in the top-five nationally in average home attendance. The Vols drew an average of 18,781 fans to 16 games at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center last season—fifth-most in the country.
• The Vols have ranked among the top 20 in average home attendance for 18 consecutive years (no attendance rankings were compiled in 2020-21), including 11 seasons ranked in the top five nationally.
• Tennessee’s total number of season tickets sold last year (14,387) exceeded the average home attendance of all but 11 Division I programs. In other words, before selling any single-game tickets, the Vols were already assured of finishing at least 12th in average home attendance for 2022-23 (they finished fifth).
IN MULTIPLE METRICS, TENNESSEE IS SEC’s WINNINGEST PROGRAM OVER LAST SIX YEARS
• Over the last six seasons, Tennessee leads all SEC programs in total victories (144), winning percentage (.716) and postseason wins (15). During that span, the Vols have captured a pair of SEC championships, winning the regular-season title in 2018 and the tournament crown in 2022.
• The Volunteers during that six-year span are one of only two SEC programs to boast an overall winning percentage better than 70 percent, joining Auburn (.715).
• In regular-season SEC play over the same six-year period, the Vols own a league-best .706 winning percentage and stand alongside Kentucky as the only programs to log at least 70 league wins.
• As proof that Tennessee is showing no signs of slowing down, the Vols are 52-19 (.732) over the last two seasons. No SEC team has more wins—or a higher win percentage—during that span.
TENNESSEE LEADS ALL SEC PROGRAMS WITH 15 RANKED WINS OVER LAST THREE YEARS
• Tennessee has racked up 15 wins over opponents ranked in the AP Top 25 at tipoff over the previous three seasons. That includes six ranked wins a season ago.
• That impressive collection of victories includes seven top-10 triumphs over No. 1 Alabama (2/15/23), No. 3 Kansas (11/25/22), No. 3 Auburn (2/26/22), No. 4 Kentucky (2/15/22), No. 5 Kentucky (3/12/22), No. 6 Arizona (12/22/21) and No. 10 Texas (1/28/23).
• Over the last three years, Tennessee has played a league-most 26 games against AP Top 25 opponents, going 15-11 (.577) in those contests. The Vols are one of only two SEC programs to own a winning record against ranked foes during that span, joining Alabama (13-12, .520).
• Tennessee (26), Alabama (25), Arkansas (25) and Kentucky (22) are the only SEC teams to play more than 20 ranked opponents dating to the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
RELENTLESS DEFENSE ALSO A TENNESSEE TRADEMARK
• Last season, Tennessee spent 15 weeks with the nation’s best defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com. After a dominant win over Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game, the Vols posted the best defensive efficiency rating in the history of Pomeroy’s database, which began in 1999-2000.
• Four times in the last six years, Tennessee has finished among the top 10 nationally in KenPom’s year-end defensive efficiency ratings: sixth in 2018, fourth in 2021, third in 2022 and first in 2023.
• The Vols are coming off a 25-win campaign during which they finished the year ranked first in Division I in 3-point defense (.265), third in scoring defense (57.9 ppg) and third in field-goal defense (.373).
• Tennessee was a perfect 22-0 last season when holding its opponent to fewer than 60 points.
• And 12 times last season, Tennessee’s opponent failed to score more than 50 points. No team in Division I held its opponent to 50 or fewer more times than Tennessee (Houston also had 12 such outings).
• Associate head coach Justin Gainey enters his second season serving as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator in 2023-24.
SEVEN VOLS DRAFTED SINCE 2019
• Over the last five NBA Drafts, seven Tennessee Vols have been selected. That includes three first-round selections.
• It marks the most picks over a five-year span in program history, and Tennessee’s seven picks over that span are tied for fourth-most among all schools nationwide.
• This past June, forward Julian Phillips was selected with the 35th pick and landed with the Chicago Bulls.
• Three Vols (Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone) were drafted in 2019. Two one-and-done phenoms were then selected in 2021 (Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer). And in 2022, one-and-done point guard Kennedy Chandler was selected.
• To add context to the “Rick Barnes effect” on Tennessee’s talent influx, only six Vols were drafted in the 20 years preceding Barnes’ arrival on Rocky Top.
WINNING IS A HABIT FOR VOLS AT FOOD CITY CENTER
• Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center has proven to be one of the most difficult venues for opposing teams to win at in recent years. Over the last three seasons, the Vols are 43-5 (.896) at home.
• Fifth-year Vols Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi own a 54-11 (.831) mark at Food City Center during their career. More than half of those home setbacks (six) came during their freshman year in 2019-20.
• During eight seasons under head coach Rick Barnes, the Vols are 108-22 (.831) at Food City Center. Twice during the Barnes era, UT has posted a perfect record at home, going 18-0 in 2018-19 and 16-0 in 2021-22.
BARNES STEADILY APPROACHING 800-WIN MARK
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes enters his 37th season as a Division I head coach just 21 wins shy of reaching 800 victories in his Hall of Fame career. He enters the year with 779.
• The exclusive 800-win club currently includes just 10 names, with Barnes contemporaries Bill Self (787) and John Calipari (790) also poised to join that group.
• Barnes currently ranks tied for 15th on the all-time Division I wins list—two shy of tying the late Lute Olson (781) for 14th place.
TENNESSEE’S TWO TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS BROUGHT NEARLY 2,000 DIVISION I POINTS WITH THEM
• Tennessee added two players via the NCAA Transfer Portal during the offseason in guards Jordan Gainey (USC Upstate) and Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado). That duo has scored a combined 1,848 Division I points in 128 games—14.4 ppg.
• Each of those first-year Vols has a very real shot at scoring their 1,000th Division I point this season. Knecht enters the year with 959 points, while Gainey has 889.
• Returning fifth-year Vol Santiago Vescovi hit the 1,000-point milestone last season and now has 1,318 points. And fellow fifth-year returner Josiah-Jordan James enters the season with 968 points to his credit.
SHOOTERS PREVALENT ON THIS VOL ROSTER
• Four different players on this season’s Tennessee squad made at least 50 3-pointers last season. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler made 91 and 51 as Vols, respectively. Dalton Knecht drained 74 3-pointers at Northern Colorado, while Jordan Gainey hit 64 at USC Upstate.
• That quartet of explosive guards combines for a career 3-point shooting percentage of .376 (640/1,704).
• Josiah-Jordan James made 56 3-pointers as a junior in 2021-22, but injury limited him to just 24 games played last season, when he made 40 triples.
ZEIGLER WORKING TO RETURN FROM INJURY
• Junior point guard Zakai Zeigler suffered a season-ending left knee injury three minutes into Tennessee’s Feb. 28 home game against Arkansas last season. He underwent surgery on March 13 and spent the entire offseason rehabbing under the collaborative direction of athletic trainer Chad Newman, director of sports performance Garrett Medenwald and director of rehabilitation John Dean. Rick Barnes and his staff will be conservative with Zeigler’s return to full-speed basketball work.
• Zeigler, who led the SEC in assists last season (5.4 apg), has earned SEC All-Defensive Team honors in each of his first two years as a Vol.
• With two years of eligibility remaining, Zeigler already has more than 250 career assists and owns a 1.98 assist/turnover ratio.
AWAKA DOMINATED PAINT AT FIBA U19 WORLD CUP
• Sophomore forward Tobe Awaka was a top contributor—and a rebounding juggernaut—for Team USA during its fourth-place showing at the 2023 FIBA Men’s U19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary in late June and early July.
• Awaka started six of seven games for Team USA and was the squad’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.6 points while shooting .600 from the field. His 10.6 rebounds per game led Team USA and were the second-most among all players in the tournament. Awaka’s 20.4 rebounds per 40 minutes far and away led all players who logged significant minutes during the tournament.
• Awaka—who averaged just 20.7 minutes per game—was the only player in the field to record four double-doubles. And he was one of only three to average a double-double.
• His 18.1 FIBA efficiency rating for the tournament was the best on Team USA and fifth-best among all players at the elite global event.