Tennessee basketball has made three straight Elite Eight appearances. The one hill left to climb? Making the Final Four.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Tennessee basketball.
Tennessee basketball has been one of the stronger SEC basketball programs during the 2020s. One feat they have yet to accomplish that five SEC programs have in the past decade, however, is to reach the Final Four. The Volunteers are one of five teams in the conference that have never sniffed the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. That could change this year, as Tennessee basketball has quite the portal class and motivation to travel far in March.
Last year’s blowout defeat to Michigan in the Elite Eight was the aforementioned third straight loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, but this season’s Tennessee basketball team won’t look at all similar. In fact, only two players from last year’s roster return as Rick Barnes retooled in the portal and through the 2026 class.
One may remember VCU’s comeback against UNC in last season’s March Madness. The architect of that comeback was new Tennessee starting point guard Terrence Hill Jr., who joined the Volunteers in the offseason through the portal. Hill earned A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honors last season but the offensive microwave will almost certainly begin the season opener on the court.
Backing up Hill will be one returnee, Troy Henderson, who saw reserve playing time last season as a freshman, and freshman recruit Marquis Clark. Neither will likely see more than 10 minutes per game, but will be useful depth for the Volunteers at the one.
The shooting guard position will be filled by California transfer Dai Dai Ames, entering his fourth season with his fourth school. Ames’ production jumped from his sophomore season to last year, where he led the Golden Bears with an average of 16.9 PPG. Ames will be integral for the Volunteers this season and backed up by Belmont sharpshooter Tyler Lundblade. Lundblade hit over 40% of his shots from deep last season and figures to operate in a sixth-man type of role.
Perhaps the biggest pickup in the offseason for Tennessee basketball was wing Juke Harris. Harris, the 2026 ACC Most Improved Player, improved his scoring average from 6.1 PPG as a freshman to a 21.4 PPG rate last season as a sophomore. That ranked third amongst ACC players, but we’ll have more on Harris later. For now, he doesn’t have much competition for playing time on the wing. Freshman recruit Manny Green will serve as his primary backup.
Moving into the frontcourt, the Vols scored big with a portal pickup from Notre Dame forward Jalen Haralson. As a freshman last season, Haralson paced the Fighting Irish with a 16.2 PPG average. He has a light touch with playmaking as well, averaging 2.6 APG and adding a 22.9% assist percentage that placed second on his team.
Two solid backups will help out Haralson, one being freshman Chris Washington Jr., a Gainesville, Florida native who might be the most talented of a solid freshman class for the Volunteers. Kennesaw State transfer Braedan Lue is a talented defensive forward who will likely score a handful of points every outing for Tennessee basketball as well.
And at center, assuming Vanderbilt transfer Jalen Washington remains ineligible, returnee DeWayne Brown II will likely win the starting nod. As a freshman last season, Brown had some solid showings, notably in a win against Auburn where he tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. If he can repeat that type of performance on a daily basis, Tennessee basketball will be in good hands.
Rick Barnes also brought in Loyola Chicago transfer Miles Rubin, who averaged 2.3 BPG last season in the A-10. Rubin is an under-the-radar pickup that could see time starting at some point this season, and he has needed experience, with 100 career starts under his belt.
Tennessee basketball has reloaded once again, and they could be dangerous in March. However, the Volunteers have struggled in two Power Five scrimmages so far, getting blown out by Duke. If Tennessee wants to make some waves, and the Final Four, that type of result cannot happen.
Head coach: Rick Barnes (40th season overall, 12th at Tennessee)
2025-26 record: 25-12 (11-7)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to Purdue (95-62) in Elite Eight
Notable departures:
- All players except for DeWayne Brown II and Troy Henderson
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Michigan State (Nov. 17)
- vs. Maryland (Nov. 24) – Players Era Championship
- vs. Iowa State OR San Diego State (Nov. 26) – Players Era Championship
- TBD (Nov. 27) – Players Era Championship
- vs. Florida State (Dec. 1)
- vs. NC State (Dec. 6) – Nashville, TN
- at Purdue (Dec. 11)
Projected Rotation
PG: Terrence Hill Jr. (6-2, 186, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 15.0 PPG, 2.8 APG, 2.7 RPG, 37.0 3P% (VCU)
SG: Dai Dai Ames (6-2, 199, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 16.9 PPG, 2.2 APG, 2.0 RPG, 37.6 3P% (California)
SF: Juke Harris (6-7, 205, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 21.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, (Wake Forest)
PF: Jalen Haralson (6-7, 222, So.)
2025-26 stats: 16.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.6 APG (Notre Dame)
C: DeWayne Brown II (6-8, 248, So.)
2025-26 stats: 4.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 0.9 APG, 58.6 FG%
6: Tyler Lundblade (6-6, 216, Gr.)
2025-26 stats: 15.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.8 APG, 40.6 3P% (Belmont)
7: Braedan Lue (6-8, 243, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 10.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.4 BPG, 0.9 SPG (Kennesaw State)
8: Chris Washington Jr. (6-9, 214, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 53 ranked recruit
9: Miles Rubin (6-10, 224, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.3 APG, 2.3 BPG, 58.5 FG%
10: Troy Henderson (6-1, 188, So.)
2025-26 stats: 1.8 PPG, 1.0 APG, 0.4 RPG
11: Manny Green (6-6, 212, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 118 ranked recruit
12: Christian Fermin (6-10, 234, Gr.)
2025-26 stats: 0.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.8 APG, four games played
13: Marquis Clark (6-2, 211, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 226 ranked recruit
Tennessee basketball team MVP: Juke Harris
Juke Harris was named the Transfer of the Year in this year’s CBB Review SEC Preseason Preview. Crucially, that’s because of his offensive output. The Demon Deacons offense ran through Harris, whose usage percentage ranked in the top five amongst ACC guards. If Wake Forest had the ball, there was a good chance that Juke Harris would be the one taking the shot. In fact, he paced the ACC and ranked 12th in all of D-I with 527 total shot attempts last season.
Obviously, a decent percentage of those shots went in, or else Harris wouldn’t have garnered the media buzz that’s surrounded his arrival in Knoxville. There are some things he could work on, such as ball distribution, but he’s a wing and we’re just nitpicking. Harris has decent on-ball defense, length, and he takes care of the ball. And, of course, there’s the aforementioned 21.4 PPG. This is an all-SEC type of talent.
Tennessee basketball make-or-break player: Dai Dai Ames
Sharing the court with Harris will be California transfer Dai Dai Ames, and the senior guard might be in his best situation yet. Ames had an inconsistent first two collegiate seasons with Kansas State and Virginia but found his footing in Berkeley last season. He’s a reliable shooter who can help solve Tennessee basketball’s offensive woes. He takes care of the ball most of the time, but Ames isn’t a good rebounder and likely needs better on-ball defense. Ultimately, however, he’s a net-plus and should add some much-needed buckets to this squad.
Key statistic: Points per game
If you polled Tennessee basketball fans and asked them all what the biggest problem was with last season’s team, they would likely say offense, or at least something that would fall under that umbrella. Tennessee basketball could not score the rock last year. Of the five SEC basketball teams with 25 or more wins last season, four averaged at least 85.0 PPG. The other was Tennessee, who only managed 78.8 PPG, 13th in the SEC and worst in the conference amongst teams that made the NCAA tournament.
Whether it comes from Juke Harris, Dae Dae Ames, Terrence Hill, or one of the frontcourt pickups, Tennessee basketball needs offense. It doesn’t matter if they hold opponents to 65 points if the Volunteers only score 60. If Rick Barnes’ squad truly wants to break their historical trend, they need to score at least 80 points per game this season.
Tennessee basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 2nd in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Final Four appearance