2018-19 Season Preview


Knoxville is buzzing with excitement for this basketball season, as Tennessee is ranked No. 6. Here is an in-depth season preview.

Grant Williams (#2): Grant, also referred to as “Peanut Butter” in the duo with Admiral Schofield, is a junior this season. After his performance last year, he was named to the 2018 All-SEC First Team and was an honorable mention on the AP All-American Team. He was also honored with being named the 2018 SEC Player of the Year. This made him only the second player in school history to win the award of SEC Player of the Year as an underclassman. The other was Hall of Famer, Bernard King. Grant averaged 15.2 PPG last season, while shooting 47.3% from the field and collecting 6.0 rebounds per game (RPG). His 44 blocks were second on the team. Grant needs just 67 more points to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career. He has only played 2 seasons for the Vols and has already almost accomplished this remarkable feat. I would be shocked if it takes him more than 5 games to score 67 points. This offseason, Grant has been named the Preseason SEC Player of the Year, as well as a Preseason All-American by Athlon Sports. The peanut butter and jelly combo of Grant and Admiral have both been named to the 2019 Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Award watch list. Grant will be a powerful force for Tennessee this season.

Admiral Schofield (#5): Admiral Schofield is my favorite player on the current roster. He brought great news to Vol Nation on May 29th, when he announced that he would return to Tennessee for his senior season. He received great experience while working out with NBA teams and that should show on the court. Last year, Admiral averaged 13.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG, while shooting 44.7% and 39.5% from 3-point range. He scored 12 more points as a junior than in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. Along with joining Grant on the 2019 Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year Award watch list, Schofield is listed on the 2018-19 Preseason All-SEC Second Team.

Jordan Bone (#0): Bone, a junior, returns as Tennessee’s starting point guard. Jordan shot 39% from the field last year, with a 38% mark from 3-point range. He scored 7.3 points per game (PPG) and took care of the ball well, with a tremendous assist/turnover ratio of 2.8, the second-best ratio all-time for a single season at UT. Bone will continue to be a key piece of the Vols’ offensive attack. When Bone does well, the rest of the team tends to follow. He is on the watch list for the 2019 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Jordan Bowden (#23): Bowden is a sharpshooter and a great contributor on both ends of the floor for the Vols. The junior can really light it up from downtown, as he made 51-129 last season, a 39.5% mark. Bowden averaged 9.1 PPG and was the leading rebounder of Tennessee's perimeter players, with 3.6 RPG. Additionally, his 39 steals were a team-high. He showed signs that he is ready to go this year, with a 16-point performance on 5-7 shooting in the exhibition win over Tusculum. If Bowden gets hot from 3-point land, opposing teams are in trouble.

Kyle Alexander (#11): Kyle is a senior this season. He is a ferocious shot blocker and grabs many rebounds every game. Last season, he averaged 5.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG. He blocked 57 shots on the year and finished sixth in the SEC with 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. Kyle is excellent at blocking shots, as well as gathering rebounds on both ends of the court. It is evident that Kyle has improved immensely over the offseason and I feel as if he has a good chance at averaging a double-double as a senior this year.

Lamonté Turner (#1): Lamonté won the 2018 SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year Award, after averaging 10.9 PPG on 39.9% shooting for the season. He made 39.5% of his shot attempts from 3-point range and held a solid assist/turnover ratio of 1.8. He attempts many 3-point shots, heaving up 177 last year. He protects the ball extremely well. In fact, at one point last season, he did not turn the ball over in over 130 consecutive minutes of action. As a junior this year, Lamonté will continue to look to provide a spark off the bench for the Vols. He understands his role and feels comfortable wth it, as he averaged the third-most points on the team in 2017.

Yves Pons (#35): Pons is by far the best dunker on the team, winning both of the Vols' past 2 dunk contests. He was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and attended INSEP Academy in Paris. He is the first player from France to ever play for Tennessee. Yves has a large frame, but is still extremely agile, as he is able to dunk from the free throw line. Last year, he averaged 5.2 minutes per game, scoring a total of 17 points on 7-14 shooting. In the exhibition against Tusculum, the sophomore knocked down a pair of 3-point shots, along with 3 rebounds and a block in 16 minutes of play. He should be one of the first Vols off the bench this year.

Jalen Johnson (#13): Jalen is an extremely athletic player who should make much more of an impact this year than he did last season. He will play as a redshirt sophomore this year. Many believe that he is so talented that he would start at many other SEC schools. He saw action in 13 games last year, playing a total of 66 minutes. Late in the regular season, he came into the Ole Miss game and played 4 minutes, making both of his 3-point attempts in that span. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Wright State, he threw down a filthy, 1-handed dunk late in the contest. I expect Johnson to have a much larger role this season.

Derrick Walker (#15): Derrick is a sophomore with a very high ceiling. He played in all but 1 game last year, averaging 8.8 minutes per game. He shot 59.6% from the floor on the season, but increased that number to 67.9% (19-28) in SEC play. Walker will be relied on for his defense this season, although he already proved that he can make an impact offensively and defensively this season. In the exhibition versus Tusculum, he recorded 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. He has put on some muscle in the offseason and I am very excited to see him add tremendous depth to the Vols. Look for Derrick to receive more playing time this season.

D.J. Burns (#32): Burns is a young, exciting player for the Vols. He just turned 18 years old on October 13 and was supposed to graduate in the Class of 2019, but reclassified and joined Tennessee a year early. The 4-star prospect was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 12 center in the nation for the 2018 class. He averaged 14.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.1 blocks per game as a sophomore at York Preparatory Academy in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He went on to average a double-double as a junior. Burns is very young, but should still be able to contribute as a freshman this season.

Last season, I said I had never been more excited about the Vols basketball team. Well, I am even more excited now than I was at the start of last season. The hype for this team is through the roof and Tennessee is ranked No. 6 in the nation, their highest preseason ranking in program history. Prior to the start of the season last year I responded to the media's pick of the Vols finishing 13th in the SEC by predicting that, "Tennessee has a better chance of being ranked No. 13 in the nation at some point this season (2017) than finishing 13th in the conference. Do you remember what Tennessee's final ranking was last year? It was 13. Nobody was picking the Vols to be ranked last year, but I called it. With that being said, I have another prediction for this season. Tennessee will make it to their first Final 4 in program history and win the national championship. You heard me. We have all the pieces needed to do it: Plenty of post players, including the reigning SEC Player of the Year, great 3-point shooting by the guards, amazing defenders, tremendous depth and one of, if not the best coach in the country in Rick Barnes. Additionally, Thompson-Boling Arena is the fifth largest college basketball arena in the nation and Tennessee fans made it the eighth in attendance numbers last season. Everything is in place for a historic season. The program's first trip to the Final 4 would be nice, but winning the National Championship would be the best thing that has happened to Knoxville in quite some time. It's Basketball Time in Tennessee!

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