In early-October, we sat down with associate head coach Mike Schwartz for an in-depth analysis of Tennessee’s scholarship personnel. 

POINT GUARD

“Kennedy Chandler is a really dynamic speed guard who makes everyone on the court better because of his ability to get where he wants to go with the ball. He’s very unselfish. He thinks pass, which is great, and he can really score the ball. But he still plays with that old-school point guard mentality. He likes to put pressure on the defense and create easy opportunities for others. Obviously, that’s something coach Barnes loves. Kennedy is very fast in transition and is going to allow us to do things we haven’t done as much since Jordan Bone was here—play off more ball screens, play in more space and play with more dribble because he’s that good with it.

“The word we keep using with him is ‘snake;’ he has the ability to snake through traffic and change direction, change speed, put the defense on his back. He just has great feel with the ball in his hands on how to keep pressure on the defense—even in tight quarters, and that’s a unique ability. He’s also a dynamic passer with both hands. 

“Defensively, Kennedy has the ability to be an elite on-ball defender. He just needs to become more consistent—every possession. His hand speed and his foot speed are elite.

“(Santiago Vescovi’s) overall presence is so strong right now. The way he’s grown this offseason… there’s a confidence about him right now. His presence with the team is different than it’s ever been. He’s playing creative, which is where he thrives. Coach Barnes is excited about that. Santi’s shooting the ball really well. His defense was a bit of a question when he first joined our program, but he’s developed into one of our best on-ball defenders. He has done an amazing job transforming his game. Even though he’s not the most athletic or the fastest, his anticipation skills, his pace, his feet, his ability to keep team’s off balance and know when to turn the pressure up is very high level. And he’s very smart off the ball, with his ability to anticipate.

“He’s leading with his communication out there, his ability to handle the pressure of practice. He’s able to be himself and is in a very good place. And he’s starting to become a teammate who impacts the guys around him and bring them with him.

“The three guys on the team we need to lead like that are John Fulkerson, Josiah-Jordan James and (Santi). Those three have the power, the voice and the mental toughness to bring other guys with them. He is definitely one of those cornerstones now.

“Zakai Zeigler… we’ve been super impressed how he stepped on campus one week into (the fall semester) and picked things up so quickly and made an impact. He’s really gritty, really tough and has a very high basketball IQ. Zakai can shoot the ball and can impact the game with his speed on both ends of the floor—whether it’s pushing the ball in transition or really pressuring the ball in the full court and keeping the defense off balance. He gets to the paint a lot. 

“The three point guards we have—Kennedy, Santi and Zakai—have all really done a good job executing coach Barnes’ transition offense. They all understand the importance of putting pressure on the paint, putting pressure on those elbows and creating off those spots on the floor. And for Zakai to pick it up so quick really says something about his basketball IQ, his feel and his seriousness. Zakai is a very serious competitor.

“He’s going to have to continue to make adjustments as people try and take advantage of him because of his size. Opponents will know he’s a really good shooter, so they’re not going to let him do certain things, so he has to establish other areas to balance that—like all freshmen do.

“(Josiah-Jordan James), at this point in his career, has played almost every position on the floor—one through four. Knowing and understanding all of those positions has helped him to become a more effective point guard. He’s able to pick his spots more now. Coach Barnes has confidence in him to rebound the ball and lead the break. Coach is confident in him making decisions with the ball in his hands, and the guys are confident in him. Josiah’s ability to not only play any position on the floor, but really know every position, speaks to his IQ and his overall understanding of our system. And coach has the confidence in him to make decisions, play with the ball in his hands and lead the break. So, he will always be a primary and secondary ball handler on the floor regardless of what ‘position’ he plays. The bottom line is Josiah has legit point guard skills, and coach Barnes has confidence when the ball is in his hand.”

WINGS

“As we start breaking down our wings, let’s start with (Victor Bailey Jr.) VJ is as hard of a worker as there is on the team. He has always been so serious about his work ethic. With his focus, his seriousness—everything he’s doing in terms of the culture of our team—he’s the standard setter, which is awesome.

“In practice and in all of our individual workouts, he shoots the ball as well as anyone. He routinely puts up some remarkable percentages in game-simulation shooting drills, and we’ve seen that shooting accuracy translate to games last season several times. We have a lot of confidence in VJ as a shooter because we see what he does every day. Where VJ has really improved this preseason is his desire to be a complete player. He’s trying to be a great rebounder, a great offensive rebounder, he’s taking defense very seriously—on the ball and off the ball. He’s probably grown into one of our top-two or top-three on-ball defenders, in terms of on-ball disruption. He’s taking it very seriously. He spends a lot of time watching film. And he’s grown a lot as a complete basketball player. When VJ takes the shots that are in his wheelhouse—the shots that come to him naturally—he’s a really talented scorer.

“VJ has reached a point, as a veteran, where he has a thorough understanding of our system and has displayed an impressive commitment to expanding his all-around game.

“Justin Powell has been a big-time addition. He has high feel, high IQ, is a very good shooter and a really good passer. He picked up the offense really quick. Coach Barnes, and our entire staff, is really excited about Justin’s ability to play off ball screens. And Justin was excited to (transfer) here for that same reason. He can really handle and pass the ball, but he’s got a natural gift with his ability to move without the ball off screens and read defenses. There’s a lot of that in our offense, so he’s excelling in that area. Justin can really shoot it.

“We also have to mention Justin’s willingness to accept coaching. He makes adjustments quick, and he’s really eager to learn and understand concepts. That is another impressive trait about him. He is just a great, great teammate.

“Guys like Josiah, Santi, Justin—there are several—they’re always helping someone else, even when coach is getting after them, or even when they’re getting their butt kicked. The culture of the team is really neat.

“Josiah also needs to be mentioned among the wings. His ability to play multiple positions, his ability to play with or without the ball, his ability to play inside/outside… his versatility and the mismatches he can create in this offense is game changing for us. He has the skill and size to take advantage of both bigger players and smaller players on both ends. Losing a defender like Yves Pons, that’s difficult to replace. Josiah will help fill that void—not necessarily the shot-blocking, but his versatility of switching, guarding multiple positions and being able to quarterback our defense with his voice.

“The confidence we have in Josiah as a shooter right now—regardless of what position he is on the floor—is as high as anybody we’ve had (since coach Barnes has been at Tennessee). That’s a fair statement. Coach has been pushing him for two years to (shoot it). Josiah deserves all the credit for the way he’s worked and the time he’s put in to become an elite 3-point shooter. He’s showing that in practice. Coach is drawing plays up for him and really encouraging him to shoot the ball and keep the floor stretched—regardless of what position he’s playing at any particular moment.”

“Jahmai Mashack is a natural winner. He elevates our toughness, and he’s our best offensive-rebounding guard. He dominates on the offensive glass in practice. He’s a very physical player on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he’s more of a slasher and driver right now. He gets the ball to the rim a lot. He’s a selfless player who is all about winning, and he’s very serious about wanting to learn; he’s excited about learning and development. He’s so coachable, but he’s still a fierce competitor. Early on, he needs to be a blue-collar type of player for us. He has really worked a lot since he got here on improving his shot, and he has improved it. His biggest impacts for us right away will be his defense and offensive rebounding. He reminds us a lot of a player named Royal Ivey that we coached at Texas and ended up playing in the NBA for a long time.”

“Quentin Diboundje is a strong, athletic guard with a scoring mindset. He’s only been in the United States for about a year now. He’s got some experience with his (French) national team, but he’s still making the transition from the international game to the American college game. Quentin plays extremely hard and is very physical, He’s more of a shot-maker than a true shooter right now.  We’re really excited about his future.”

FRONTCOURT

“In the post, we’ll start with (John Fulkerson). As a sixth-year guy, he knows our system and understands what coach wants and expects. We absolutely need John to be a vocal leader, and he’s doing it more this fall, but he has to want to do that at a really high level. We’re fortunate and excited to have him back because he knows everything he needs to know in our system.

“The word we always use to describe John is ‘slippery.’ He’s just unbelievable in some of the things he does. He’s athletic and smart, savvy, slippery—he’s just so crafty. He plays like a veteran, and he’s worked so hard to master these certain spots on the floor—certain moves he’s worked on for five, six years now. What he does 15 feet and in, he’s put so much time into those specific shots and specific moves. He has an established identity in his game. And he works really hard to try and perfect it. His high release, his ability to play over either shoulder, his footwork, his ability to play in isolation situations, we have really high confidence in him with all of that. He’s got a large bag that he can go into. But it’s stuff he’s worked on meticulously.

“Defensively, John understands scouting report defense as well as anybody. We’re counting on him to help all five guys execute at a high level when it comes to team defense.

“We need to Olivier Nkamhoua to take that step—similar to how Yves Pons took his game to another level his junior year. You’re hoping to see a similar progression scoring-wise, defense-wise, rebounding-wise. Olivier has a lot of talent as a scorer, but when he is at his best, he’s rebounding the ball and he’s an imposing presence on defense. That’s when his offense is at its best. When he just focuses on offense, the other areas diminish. When he brings those areas up, his offense goes up. He’s worked really hard on his face-up game, back-to-the-basket game and his 3-point shooting. Coach Barnes has confidence in him to play in the paint, mid-range, and behind the 3-point line, and is encouraging him to shoot. But it’s important for Olivier to not get too wrapped up in that, but wanting to dominate in other areas. We need him to be a dominant rebounder at both ends of the floor, we need him to bring a real post-defense presence and we need him to emerge as a weakside shot blocker now that Yves is gone. If he does that—with his offensive talent and the way he’s worked—coach is going to get him the ball and he’ll score.”

“(Uros Plavsic) has really improved his ability to score the basketball using specific moves. He’s worked really hard to improve and establish his hook, and we have confidence in him taking that shot. He’s working on a high-release turnaround shot that has improved. His feel as a passer and his ability to connect our offense and keep it moving is as good as any post player we’ve had—along with Fulky. Uros gets the ball from side to side, creating ball screens, creating handoffs, creating high-percentage opportunities for our guards as a passer away from the basket. He’s done a great job with it—it’s naturally in his game—and he’s helped our offense be better this fall. He’s rebounding the ball at the highest level of all our bigs in practice right now, which we need him to do. We need him to continue to grow as a solid post defender. He’s not going to be a shot blocker, but we need him to be a great physical position post defender. He always plays hard.

“Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is a very young but very skilled player. His size and skill level got him to this point, but he’s got the potential—if he buys in to the work and physicality that’s required—to be really special. Brandon’s a really unselfish, talented passer on the perimeter at 6-10. He needs to use his physicality more and take advantage of his body more. He has the ability to play above the rim. He has the ability to play through the defense and over the defense, but he doesn’t always recognize it. We’re working to develop that with him.

“Brandon came in highly rated—and there’s a level of pressure that comes with that—but he’s really humble, and he’s very accepting of coaching. His willingness to ask questions and his ability to communicate is very impressive. He’s hungry to learn. 

“Now to Jonas Aidoo… he is the best rim protector we have right now. He’s battled some injuries, but when he has practiced consistently, he has been a really good shot-blocker. He changes our interior defense with his ability to block and change shots. He has a very solid skill level for a player his size. He’s a skilled mid-range shooter, he has a nice left-hand hook and when he gets a chance to finish around the basket, he usually does. When he’s healthy and moving well, he’s shown ability to do things that can help us.

“Handje Tamba enrolled late in the summer, and he’s a really neat story. Think about what he’s accomplished academically… he comes over to this country three years ago and goes from not knowing English to being a valedictorian-type student. He’s shown that same ability as a quick learner on the basketball court, too. His ability to pick up new things quickly and continue to improve on them is really incredible. It’s impressive. We love his hunger to learn and his coachability. He’s driven to figure things out. And when he doesn’t know something, he knows how to communicate. He’s a great listener as well. He’s so serious about doing things right, and his work ethic is so strong. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice very often. That’s a unique skill.”

-UT Athletics