No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers: Projected Rotation & Season Outlook
Rick Barnes will have a ton of pressure on him going into this season. I say that because the overall collection of talent he was able to pull in the transfer portal is second to none. He landed seven double-digit scorers from last season, five of which averaged at least 15 PPG. Feeding all those mouths is going to be incredibly difficult, but the days of Tennessee struggling offensively for long stretches of games should be in the rearview mirror.
Juke Harris was the biggest fish that Barnes was able to catch. He averaged 21.4 PPG last season for Wake Forest and has serious NBA upside at 6-7. Harris might be Tennessee's best player next season, but Jalen Haralson could be the most important. He had a dynamic freshman season at Notre Dame where he showed that he can play anywhere on the court. Haralson will make coach Barnes' job a lot easier to be able to use him wherever no matter what other players are on the floor with him.
VCU transfer Terrence Hill and Cal transfer Dai Dai Ames should battle for the starting point guard job. Hill was one of the best sixth-men in the entire country last season averaging 15 PPG. Tyler Lundblade seems like the best option at shooting guard. He has been one of the best shooters in the country the last two years at Belmont averaging 3.2 and 3.6 treys per game, respectively.
The big question is who the Vols decide to go with at center. Miles Rubin was brought in to take over that role. He has averaged exactly 2.3 blocks per game each of the last three seasons at Loyola-Chicago. There were reports in camp that Rubin has struggled to hold up physically, however. One returning big man that has really flashed in camp was DeWayne Brown. He started 10 games as a freshman, and despite being a bit undersized, he definitely has the strength to compete with some of the top centers in the SEC.
Barnes wanted to build a roster to be able to keep up with all the dynamic offenses that have taken over the SEC over the last handful of seasons. Consider it mission accomplished. Now his task will be figuring out how to get everyone to come together on the defensive end.
Following another active transfer portal period, RotoWire's college basketball depth charts are updated with the latest in roster movement.
2026-27 Tennessee Basketball Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Terrence Hill (15.0 points, 2.3 3PM at VCU)
SG: Tyler Lundblade (15.6 PPG, 3.6 3PM at Belmont)
SF: Juke Harris (21.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.5 3PM at Wake Forest)
PF: Jalen Haralson (16.2 PPG at Notre Dame)
C: DeWayne Brown (4.8 PPG)
Key Reserves: Dai Dai Ames (16.9 PPG at California), Miles Rubin (11.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.3 BPG at Loyola-Chicago), Braedan Lue (10.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG at Kennesaw State), Christian Fermin (Redshirt at VCU), Chris Washington Jr. (No. 58 in SC Next 100), Ralph Scott (No. 63 in SC Next 100)
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