BY MARK VICARS
Rocky Top Reloaded
“Rocky Top, you’ll always be, home sweet home to me, Good ol’ Rocky Top…”
Rick Barnes will be singing that for years to come after signing a lifetime contract with the University of Tennessee. Entering his 11th year at the helm of the Volunteers program, Barnes, 71, has the most excitement surrounding one of his teams since since he was at the other UT – the one in Texas – many years ago when he had Kevin Durant on the roster. Meanwhile, for the Volunteers, the anticipation for the 2025-26 team is the highest since 2008 when Bruce Pearl and Chris Lofton – recently named to the Vol Network broadcast team for basketball – led the Vols to the top spot in the national rankings and arguably their most successful season in history. Barnes plans to stick around and coach for a few more years, unlike Pearl, who earlier this year basically held Auburn hostage to promote his son and then retire, surrounded by rumors he was going to run for Congress.
A Roster Built to Win
Barnes has not been afraid of making big moves in the transfer portal and that trend continued. Additions include 6-1 Greeneville, TN, native Ja’Kobi Gillespie from Maryland, 6-3 Amaree Abram from Louisiana Tech, and 6-8 Jaylen Carey out of Vanderbilt. But the prize of this year is five-star freshman Nate Ament from northern Virginia.
Ament is a consensus top 4 prospect and already projected to be a lottery pick in next June’s NBA Draft. Ament is listed at 6-10, but the rumor is he has grown since being measured. He’s an all-around scorer with a multifaceted game and few limits. His combination of length and athletic ability allows the Vols to stretch the court – something Barnes hasn’t had in abundance. The sky is the limit for Ament. As Barnes told Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook this summer about Ament, “I’m not going to put him in a box.”
Carey is battling 6-11 J.P. Estrella, who looks recovered from foot surgery, to be a day one starter in the frontcourt. Playing for Mark Byington at James Madison then following Byington to Vandy last season, Carey is a tested player with experience in the past two NCAA Tournaments. Returning 6-11 big man Felix Okpara is the smart bet at center. Okpara also is one of just four returning Vols on the squad, joined by Estrella, 6-4 Bishop Boswell, and 6-9 Cade Phillips.
Other new freshmen include 6-5 Amari Evans, 6-5 Clarence Massamba, 6-9 DeWayne Brown, and 6-1 Troy Henderson. Evans is from Pittsburgh, PA, and played at Overtime Elite in Atlanta. and Massamba is from Paris, France and was last playing for the AS Monaco Basket’s U21 team. Keep an eye on 6-3 Ethan Burg, a late addition to the roster from Israel. Burg is a strong shooter with so much international experience that the NCAA classified the incoming Burg as a sophomore.
Barnes has assembled a collection of talent that most coaches can only dream of. Expect the Vols to continue to play Barnes’ brand of hard-nosed defense, but they also have more length than in years’ past. The average height of last year’s starting five was 6’5. This season, it’s projected to be 6-7. A couple of inches might not sound like much, but can make a huge difference when it comes to rebounding, shot blocking, and defensive switches.
Prediction time …
The Vols have the talent and depth to win 28 regular season games this year and make another deep run into the NCAA tournament. Anything less than an appearance in the Elite Eight will be disappointing for this team, but my call Tennessee reaches the Final Four thanks to the addition of impact guys like Gillespie, who reportedly dropped 35 in a scrimmage against Ohio State earlier this week; and Ament.
Look for the Vols to split with Kentucky and beat Florida this year, finish second in the SEC tournament, and capture a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament. This team is ready for another deep March run.
Starting Lineup Prediction
- Ja’Kobi Gillespie
- Amaree Abram OR Clarence Massamba
- Nate Ament
- J.P. Estrella
- Felix Okpara
Depth Chart Prediction
Point Guard (PG)
- Ja’Kobi Gillespie
- Troy Henderson
- Ethan Burg
- Gavin Paull
Shooting Guard (SG)
- Amaree Abram
- Clarence Massamba
- Ethan Burg
- Bishop Boswell
- Grant Hurst
Small Forward (SF)
- Nate Ament
- Amari Evans
- Clarence Massamba
- Campbell Duncan
Power Forward (PF)
- J.P. Estrella
- Jaylen Carey
- Cade Phillips
- Nate Ament
Center (C)
- Felix Okpara
- J.P. Estrella
- Jaylen Carey
- DeWayne Brown