With less than three months remaining until regular season play tips off, the Tennessee men’s basketball team finds itself in a comfortable spot heading into the school year.
Following a short trip to Europe in which the team went 3-0 against teams made of local professional players, the Vols returned to Knoxville on Saturday with classes set to begin on Wednesday.
Not only did they notch an undefeated record while traveling in cities like Barcelona and Valencia, Spain, they were able to tour the sights as well, also visiting the likes of Paris, France.
Head coach Rick Barnes appeared satisfied with both the trip and his team’s effort overall when he took the podium for a press conference on Tuesday, praising the educational experience each player obtained while overseas.
“I think we did it the right way, and reminded them when we got there that we were going to play one game,” Barnes said. “We’d talk a bit after that, then got on to the educational things we were there to do.”
Barnes did not want to treat it as specifically a basketball trip, and scratched usual postgame activities such as walk-throughs and film studies in favor of visits to local eateries and world-renown landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower.
Led by sophomore Grant Williams (19 points, 10 rebounds,) the Vols powered past the Paris All-Stars in their final contest of the tour, hanging on to win in the final seconds following a blocked 3-pointer with Tennessee clinging to an 80-77 lead.
“We need him to be the kind of player that you know what you’re going to get from a rebounding and scoring standpoint,” Barnes said. “We need his intensity on defense, and I felt the trip helped him understand that.”
One of the more standout players on Tennessee’s roster, there will be plenty of weight on Williams’s shoulders entering this season, and his performances in Europe may help to solidify those expectations.
Barnes emphasized on Tuesday that this group had moved on from the disappointment that was the final game of last season season against Georgia in the SEC Tournament.
Down three with under 20 seconds to go, the Vols had a chance to go for overtime. Admiral Schofield then launched a desperation attempt from beyond the arc that fell well short, crushing the team’s future in that tournament.
However, the Vols will enter the 2017 season with a potentially well-rounded roster. They have players that can shoot the basketball, others that excel at rebounding and defense, and a point guard in Jordan Bone who has the potential to be a lethal combo-guard.
Not only does Barnes believe that this group can get to March, he firmly believes they will make some noise once there.
“I think defensively, we’ll be a much better basketball team, and we really have quality depth,” Barnes said. “We’ve seen what all of them can do and I know we can sustain that energy we brought here.”
Tennessee will open the regular season on November 10 at home against Presbyterian.
