KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee men's basketball comes into the 2021-22 season as a much different team. The Vols lost their top-two scorers and top blocker from last season. Keon Johnson, Jaden Springer and Yves Pons are all currently in the NBA.
Veterans, Josiah-Jordan James, John Fulkerson and Santiago Vescovi each return with starting experience. However, there are ten underclassmen on the roster, including seven freshmen.
Albeit, James told media members on Thursday that the 2021-22 Vols have had camaraderie since "day one."
"I'll definitely say this is the closest team that I've been on since being here, and that's not a knock on any of the other teams," he said. "This unit is definitely close. We've done a lot of activities outside of basketball and we really just like each other."
Freshmen Jonas Aidoo, Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield come to Rocky Top as three of the top prospects in the 2021 recruiting class. They are expected to become big contributors as the season progresses.
The Vols have a handful of NCAA Tournament teams on this year's schedule, including Texas, Texas Tech, Villanova and Alabama. Their first game is scheduled for Oct. 30 against Lenoir-Rhyne at Thompson-Boling Arena.