One week into October, we sat down with veteran Associate Head Coach Rob Lanier for an in-depth, position-by-position breakdown of the 2018-19 Tennessee roster.

Point Guard
“We’ve got three guys who have to play the position for us this year, and it’s going to be important for us to develop depth at the position over the course of the year. Having James Daniel last year, we played a significant amount of minutes without Lamonte Turner or Jordan Bone on the floor because of James’ presence. A significant part of our rotation now revolves around how many minutes we can play with Jordan Bowden at the point without either (Turner or Bone) on the floor. It’s going to impact those other two guys because of the way we defend. We don’t want to have a point guard that’s out there playing 35 minutes. That’s critical. It’s an important year for Bone to take the next step as a player. I’m excited about the offseason that he’s had and the things that he’s shown and the maturity and growth that he’s exhibited. It’s always been about his growth and his grasp more than his ability, even though he’s improved his skill and is shooting the ball really well. With him, it’s just about his overall grasp of what we do as a team and what coach wants from him, and you see him settling into that, and that’s great to see. We expect tremendous improvement from him in terms of consistency and his overall command of the floor as a point guard. You see that happening.

“Lamonte is improved in that regard as well. We always rely on his ability to make shots and the punch that he has given us from a scoring standpoint. As a guy who’s in his fourth year in the program, he’s also established a much more comfortable and poised understanding of what coach wants and just a mastery of the offense and what we expect from that position. And it’s a key position, because everything starts on both ends with that individual. Now, we’re asking Jordan Bowden to play minutes (at the point), and it’s been a good thing for his development because he has to see more and expand himself and his understanding of everything as a player. I think the more we play him at the point, the better he’s going to be as a player overall. We are giving him more responsibility. He’s always been a kid who’s inclined to do what you ask of him, so the more you ask of him, the better he’ll get. We see that happening. So he’s been playing a lot of minutes at the point in practice. He’s capable, and it’s going to be important that as the season goes on, he gets more and more comfortable.”

Wings
“Admiral Schofield, who is going to play multi-position basketball for us, has started at the wing. The big thing for him is the game slowing down for him. We talked about that last year, but I think it’s going to be even more important for him this year. There has been a lot said about how much he works—and a lot of that is rooted in his competitive nature, but it’s also rooted in his ambition. Sometimes, he is so eager to get where he is going that things get too fast at times. He has worked so hard and developed things, but what is starting to really happen now is that the game is starting to slow down for him. That’s critical to his development, production and effectiveness. His ability to perform is going to be enhanced. If he is not in a rush, his skill will take hold. When he is in a rush, things get a little cloudy. He is taking another step as a shooter. He has really improved his mid-range, and I think the game has slowed down enough for him that he can be equally effective wherever we put him, whether it’s on the frontline or the wing. I think he is prepared to take the next step as a leader.

“We already talked about what we liked from him at the point, but Bowden at the wing… we need him to be more aggressive. He has a career-high of 21 points. That needs to go up. Wing players need to be aggressive offensive players. We can’t have passive wings. It’s like having a wide receiver who doesn’t want you to target them in an offense. We need him to be aggressive, and he’s such a good shooter that he needs to constantly be a threat. He needs to be someone who defenses really have to prepare for. He is ready for that and is ready to take that next step. We’re excited about that. The more we ask of him, the more he will do. We need him to be more aggressive.

“With Jalen Johnson and Yves Pons, I think the hardest thing for most kids when they get to college is understanding the progression that they have to make to be successful on the court. It’s pretty simple: establish the trust of your coaches so you get more playing time. The more playing time you get, the more you get to improve your offensive contribution to the team. A lot of young people come into college and have it the other way around. They think the more they score, the more they will play. It doesn’t work like that. The more we trust you, the more you will play. The more you play, the more opportunities you get on offense. I think both of those guys are figuring that trust part out. They are both much improved defensively. Their effort level has gone up. Yves has a chance to be a phenomenal defensive player. I think he has to embrace that, and a great way to get trust from a staff is to try and be great in a particular role. On the other hand, Jalen has offensive instincts, but he has to come outside of that to develop that trust. Maybe that means he shifts his focus to something that doesn’t come quite as natural to him. He’s been able to do that. You can see those guys getting better because they are both much improved from a defensive standpoint.

“Another thing you will see from the team this year is Grant Williams playing some on the wing. A lot of that hinges on the improvement of some of our frontline guys. The better and more consistent play we get from John Fulkerson and Derrick Walker, the more we can consider other ways to utilize Grant’s abilities.”

Frontcourt
“Obviously when people talk about our team—and rightfully so—everything starts with Admiral and Grant. Admiral plays his share of minutes at the forward spots, and sometimes, we will go small and he will play the five spot. Grant is in an interesting position in terms of being a young junior who has achieved a tremendous accolade (SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore) in one of the best conferences in the country but can still improve quite a bit. He knows it, and there are a lot of ways he can improve. Some of the things that stand out are improving his outside shooting that he’s worked on and learning the balance of being an outside threat without falling in love with that part of the game. You have to make sure bread is buttered in the areas where you are most effective but also present our opponents with an added challenge because you have to respect him from the perimeter. He is starting to do that, but striking that balance will be the key for him. He also has to cut down on his turnovers. He has a tremendous basketball IQ in terms of being able to see things, but he can get a little overzealous and see too much for his own good sometimes. It is important for him to be more efficient with the basketball and cut down on the turnover opportunities because he is a leader.

“Derrick has really improved his body. He’s always been a really good competitor between the lines, but where we are really impressed by him right now is him embracing putting in the work on his skill and improving his skill level. He is becoming a better free-throw shooter. He is starting to get comfortable with taking a mid-range jump shot and being able to knock those down. He has always been a physical player and a good rebounder, but he is in better shape, playing harder and putting more time in. He is a guy who we think will bring some consistency in his role.

“I really believe this is going to be a great year for Kyle Alexander. I think he is going to step up for us this year. I think the challenge for him is to embrace the fact that he is a veteran player. He can no longer hide inside the comfort that he’s only been playing basketball for a couple of years and is relatively new to the game. He started 11 games as a freshman, and he’s a senior now, so that is out the window. He has to be a senior now, and I do think he is just beginning to realize that he has a lot of responsibility. I think he as the season goes on, he will have a dynamite year and be one of our better defenders and a much more reliable finisher. He has always been a pretty good free-throw shooter, so I think he will continue to improve upon that. He has the ability to face up and make shots, but he’s going to do everything that he is capable of doing with greater confidence as the year progresses. We’re excited about that.

“The ‘X-Factor’ for us on the frontline is John Fulkerson. John showed a lot of promise as a freshman and created a lot of excitement as a young player with everything he did. Even checking into games, he used to sprint to the table. That energy is an embodiment of what we want our program to be about, and I think he brought that energy to the arena when he came. I think he energized our team and fans. After the injury he suffered as a freshman, there was a level of reluctance in his play that he never seemed to get over during the course of last season. It now appears he has put that behind him so far. I think we will see more of that energy and recklessness that made him a fan favorite and someone we trusted from an effort standpoint this year. His improvement is really critical for our team. That is what we expect. We expect him to be a guy who fortifies our frontline and allows us to do different things lineup-wise because of what he brings to the table.

“Zach Kent just had surgery (on Oct. 5), so he is going to be out for a while. His contribution is to be determined as he goes through rehab and returns to form. He was trending as a guy who had the potential to crack the rotation. He has had a setback that we will have to evaluate and see how he progresses.

“It has been a great experience for D.J. Burns. He is a guy who left high school early to join us sooner than most people would. I think the education he is getting has been a little bit of a crash course for him. He is showing flashes of the player he will become. He can really score the basketball right now. He has a knack for putting the ball in the basket. He has a nice feel and is a good passer. He can shoot and score. He has to get in better shape and continue to develop an understanding of how long and hard you have to play to be successful at this level. You can see those strides taking place right before your eyes.”

Walk-Ons
“We addressed the team before preseason practice once everyone got back to school, and we talked about leadership. Everyone always tends to attribute the leadership responsibility to Grant and Admiral. The reality is that the responsibility of leadership doesn’t fall on just those two guys. To me, leadership is about the guys who understand and grasp what it takes to win and what our program is about and being able to communicate those messages to others. We should have multiple leaders in our program. Brad Woodson and Lucas Campbell are as responsible for that as anyone in the program. In some way, it is even more so since they have an objective view; because they don’t play as much, they see more. They also have the respect of their teammates. If Brad or Lucas have something to add, it will be well received. As a result of that, we expect those guys to inject themselves as leaders. We respect them as such as coaches. They are an extension of coaches to a degree, but those guys are full-fledged members of the team who have been here since day one. As much as anyone, they have seen the progression of the program. They get it. They get coach. They get everyone inside the program. They understand what makes us good and what makes us bad. They are as good of walk-ons as we have ever been around. I have never been around guys better in terms of how hard they work and how much time they put in. We really struck gold with those guys.

“Jacob Fleschman has really been a great addition. He is right on those guys’ heels. He has the added advantage of knowing Coach Barnes since he was really young. He came in with both headlights on and understood what he was getting into. The fact that he has been right there next to Brad and Lucas hasn’t allowed him to be as vocal as them. Those two have a little bit more to say, but he has been tremendous. He is a good player. All four of our walk-ons are good basketball players. Part of being a walk-on is what you bring to the quality of practice. He is such a good shooter. He is a tough kid with good size and is a good athlete. We really don’t lose anything in practice when those guys are out there. He has been a tremendous competitor and rock-solid program guy from day one. He makes us a better program.

“Brock Jancek has been a really pleasant addition. Within the first week of the summer, it felt like he had been here for a year or two already. The guys already knew him. He is physical and tough, and he competes really hard. He is really humble like all those other guys. To be a walk-on, you have to humble yourself and say you want to be a part of something special. He comes in and punches the clock. You can tell that mentality has been instilled in him as the son of a coach. He really does understand coaching and what it’s about. He understands the team. He really fits right in with our team. He has been a tremendous addition to the team. We got lucky with him as well.”

The Team’s Most Important Intangible
“I would say mental toughness is going to be huge for us. We are in uncharted waters in terms of the expectations and hype leading into the season. The mental toughness is being able to compartmentalize that stuff and go about our business each day like we want to be a great team and haven’t done anything yet this season. That is easier said than done. If we want to become a great program and have sustained success as opposed to just a good program that had a good year, we have to be able to function in a world where expectations are high. That is the world we created for ourselves, and we have to be able to handle what comes with that. Can we put aside what everyone thinks and do the work? That is the challenge. The other part of that is maintaining success when we have it but also turning the page and getting back to work with a focus on each day if we hit some valleys. That is the challenge. We experienced that in a short period of time last year after Christmas at the start of the SEC season. We were ranked after initially being picked 13th in the league. We went home for Christmas after beating Wake Forest and came back with everything rosy. We went to Arkansas and lost, and we came back and had a very tough loss at home where we were outplayed, outcoached and outworked against Auburn. We were sitting in the locker room waiting for Kentucky to come in. We went from the top of the world to the end of the world in a very short period of time. How we came out of that experience was a great exhibition of our character. Those kinds of challenges are in front of us again. We talked to them before the season about the feeling in that locker room after Auburn. Not about the game or the opponent but about the feeling. We are going to have that again at some point. The mental toughness is going to be us being able to compartmentalize those things and go about our business each day. Then when we get into actual games and have disappointments, how we handle that is going to be important. Our league is so good, and having the mindset that things will be easier because we are picked higher would be a fatal flaw on our part.”