@Vol_Hoops Position-by-Position Outlook

UTsports.com recently sat down with associate head coach Michael Schwartz for an in-depth, position-by-position breakdown of the 2020-21 Tennessee roster.

POINT GUARD

"Santiago Vescovi is returning for his second year. The biggest thing for him this year is that he is in much better physical shape and condition. That's huge. He did a great job last year of picking things up quickly. We all know how unique his situation was in (enrolling midseason). Even though we had a very unconventional offseason, training through a college offseason was something he hadn't done before. He approached it with an understanding of the parts of his game that teams tried to exploit toward the end of last season. He knows he has to be better with his right hand, and this summer he got the chance to work on that. He's now in a much better place physically and understanding what this game is about at this level. His defense also has improved. We feel really good about Santi and what he did at the point guard position last year, but I think he'll be even better this year.

"We also have a lot of other guys who can play the point. Josiah-(Jordan James) played a lot of point last year. Victor Bailey Jr. can play point. Jaden Springer has come in and can play the position. Keon Johnson as well—he's come in and coach Barnes has played him at the point a lot in the preseason. So, we've got a lot of guys who can be point guards along with Santi. Santi can also play off the ball, because of his shooting ability, which is good, but I think establishing a true second or third point guard is still up in the air. I would think Josiah at this point in the preseason still has that role, because he started for us there last year and played a lot of games there.

"Josiah has also done a lot to improve his game off the ball. He's improved his shooting, and he's developing a game to play in the paint. With his versatility, we might be losing something if we just play him at the point guard spot. His versatility to play almost any position on the floor is something that we're hoping to take advantage of, and he'll be much better this year. A big key to that is his shooting.

"For Jaden and Keon—in terms of playing the point as freshmen—they're learning it. They both have the ability to do it. They weren't dealt a fair hand this summer, though. They didn't get time with us from May or June through August, so some of the things you have to go through to play the point guard position in our system is harder for them. They both have the ability to do it, but knowing where they'll be comfortable or how successful they'll be in doing it will be determined as we get closer to the start of the season. We've never had a season like this where we don't know what exact position each guy will play because of the limited ability to execute and compete in practice during the offseason.

"With V.J., he can handle the ball well. He can play the point. He knows our offense and can handle it. The biggest thing with him will be his decision making. He's a scorer first. He plays with a scorer's mentality, which is great and makes him dangerous. But at times he's going to have to learn how to balance that while playing the point guard position.

"The good thing is that we have four or five guys who can handle those duties and play the point if someone gets in foul trouble. We've got the experience of what Santi and Josiah went through as freshmen last year, and we add three guys who also have the ability to be primary ball handlers… the one thing you can say about the point guard position is we have depth. Arguably, this is the most depth we've had since we've coach Barnes has been here. And they all have the versatility to play other positions, which I great, because you will see two or three point guards on the floor at the same time. What that does is enhance our transition game, because any one of them can lead the break."

WINGS

"On the wings, we're the deepest we've been since we've been here. It's the strongest driving team we've had, and that's attributed to the young guys. Keon and Jaden are very aggressive and attack-minded drivers, and that's really big for us. That's not necessarily an area where we've been strong in the past. We bring back Santi, who can get into the paint because of his skill level, and Josiah, who's worked really hard to get stronger so he can effectively use his 6-6 frame going downhill. I've mentioned V.J. Bailey, who has a scoring mentality and can play off the bounce. With five or six guys who can handle the basketball from the wing and can all drive the ball, this team has the potential to be the best driving team we've ever had.
Josiah is another guy who fits into that category. He's just a big guard. He's 6-6 and can play any position on the perimeter.

"Yves Pons has played minutes on the wing during the preseason and has been driving the ball a lot better. He played at the four spot last year, but he's been driving the ball better than he ever has—both directions. He's really worked on his right hand a lot. We want him to be able to be a straight-line driver, to get to the paint and feel comfortable making decisions and plays off the bounce, and he's really improved in that area.

"Davonte Gaines—who can play either the two or the three—is a blue-collar, all-around player. He can do everything, and he will do everything and that's what makes him good. He is still developing his true identity on the offensive side of the ball. He's becoming a much better shooter, and he's gaining a better understanding of what we want. The biggest thing we want from him is his defense and his rebounding. He's become a really good offensive-rebounding wing. He can also handle the basketball. He's a bit of a jack-of-all trades. One thing we all know about Davonte is that he will work as hard as any player on this team, and he puts the team first in everything he does. His impact will be as a blue-collar defender, a great offensive rebounder and a slasher who can get out in transition.

"Defensively, we have really versatile wings who can guard multiple positions and play with a mentality of pressuring the basketball—especially Keon and Jaden. They really play with an aggressive mentality on the ball. They take defense personally, and that's our culture here. We want everyone to take defense personally, but they came in with that mentality, so they bought into that right away. They not only bought in, but they've enhanced their teammates' mindset in terms of defensive pride and intensity.

"Athleticism, length, versatility and driving the basketball are the best things that describe our wings. We've got a lot of options in the way we can play defensively, and we've got guards who can play off the ball, drive the ball and shoot the ball. And coach Barnes can post them all up. Coach Barnes will post up the young guys, he'll post up Josiah… so we'll play some of those guys in the paint, and they'll play like bigger guards down there.

"Conversely—even though they are technically frontcourt guys—Yves Pons and John Fulkerson both have added an ability to shoot the ball well from the perimeter. Yves shot the ball really well from behind the arc so far during the preseason, and John has spent a lot of time there as well. Fulky's shot volume still isn't quite there yet, but he has an ability to stretch the floor, and coach (Barnes) has confidence to let him do that and we're encouraging him to do that. Yves showed it last year, and he's improved on it. John—it wasn't that he couldn't do it, but he didn't play (on the perimeter) at all last year. He knows he needs to be able to do more of that to be able to grow his game, and he put the time in to do that this summer."

FRONTCOURT

"The heart of our team in terms of returners and experience is in the frontcourt. We made strong strides last year with Fulky and Yves. Both guys have a lot of confidence after the offseasons they each had in terms of adding to what they did last year and coming in this year with an understanding of what their roles are. That's a huge piece, because last year we didn't see it coming in terms of exactly what they would accomplish statistically and production-wise. Very quickly in the first few games (last season) we saw what the statistical potential was for both John and Yves.

"It's a whole different ball game coming into this season, because now there is an expectation—and there's an even higher expectation—which is a good thing. They both know what they're getting into. They're seniors on this team, they're the vocal leaders and they both know what they need to be right from day one.

"John has developed this confidence with coach (Barnes), where coach believes he can run the offense through (John) a lot like he did with Grant Williams. He can put John at the elbow, he can put John at the top of the key and trust that John is going to make the right decisions. He'll even allow John to lead the break in practice, because we're hopeful that we can play like that.

"We're trying to play with a rebound-and-go style, where if we rebound the ball we don't always have to give it right to the point guard if we have the right lineup in there. And John is one of those guys that coach trusts to rebound and push the ball ahead.

"Again, John has established a confidence with himself and with coach that he just knows what we do. He's been here for five years. He's experienced, and coach really trusts him.

"With Yves… I mean what can't you say about Yves? In terms of defense, from the day he got here he wanted to be the best defender in the conference and the country. He accomplished one part of that goal last year in winning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. And I think he's hungry to be even better this year. He's a guy who, versatility-wise, has changed our defense because of his ability to guard every position on the floor with the same success rate whether he's guarding a point guard or a 7-foot center. That versatility is huge. We knew he was a good shot blocker since he got here, but the way he developed his timing and his ability to read and see plays… great offensive players see plays before they happen. Great point guards see things a pass or two before they happen. Yves sees that on defense blocking shots, which is a really special trait. He sees a shot attempt developing before anyone else sees that a shot may be coming. You add that to his athletic ability and control in the air—that's why he's such an elite shot blocker.

"Yves had never played the four position before last year. Then, he became a true back-to-the-basket player where coach felt like he could throw him the ball with his back to the basket and Yves could go and get a good shot. He does need to become a more consistent 3-point shooter and a more consistent free-throw shooter. Those are two areas he spent a lot of time on this offseason.

"E.J. Anosike is such a hard-nosed player—a rugged and physical player. He plays so physical and hard. He's got a tenacity and a desire to rebound. That's why he's already been a double-double guy in college, which is really impressive. There aren't many of those guys in the country. And he's brought great energy and focus to our team right from the jump. He knows the University of Tennessee from when his older sister played for the Lady Vols, so he's not your typical grad transfer. Grad transfers are great, but they only get one year to try to fall in love with their new university, the culture and everything that comes with switching schools. He had that love for Tennessee before he ever transferred in, so he came in immediately playing for the name on the front of his jersey. A lot of times—not all the time—grad transfers play for the name on the back of the jersey. They're looking for a quick fix or something to improve their situation for one year. E.J. has come in with a different mentality. He's come in with a love for Tennessee already, because of his sister. Before he even arrived here, he was one of us. But the day he stepped on campus you would have thought he had been here for four years—and we would have loved to have coached him the whole time.

"Rebounding has been a bit of an Achilles heel for us, but his ability on the boards should help that, especially defensive rebounding. There's going to be a real emphasis on offensive rebounding with this team—from backcourt to frontcourt—and E.J. will be as much a part of that as anyone. But where E.J. has a chance to really go to another level is as a defensive rebounder. That's an area where we know we need to be better in, and we're counting on him for that. He also takes a lot of pride in being a leader and bringing energy to practice. He talks about it a lot and if he's flat, he'll say it.

"When it comes to Uros (Plavsic) and Olivier (Nkamhoua), those guys need experience and minutes, and they're going to get it, because they've both made huge strides this offseason. The only problem for them is that they have two guys ahead of them (in Yves Pons and John Fulkerson) who are 30-plus-minute-a-night guys.

"Uros is learning where he can really be successful. One of those areas should be the ability to establish deep post position and trust his right jump hook. We need him to play over top of the defense, because he's a good passer out of the post. He's a guy you can run some offense through because he can make decisions, he can dribble handoff and he's got skill. His ability to be a guy to establish a catch any time he wants will make the defense respect him and shrink toward the paint. That's where he can bring impact. If he can play over top of the defense and keep it simple, he can be really effective.

"Olivier's got as much athletic ability as anyone on the team. He's got the ability to rebound as well as anyone on the team, too. He's working to develop an understanding of what his path is. If he does that, he can be as successful as any player in the country. What we're excited about with Olivier is his athleticism and his ability to make plays when plays aren't called for him. He should be a guy who can go and make plays without needing a single play called for him. That's doing things like offensive rebounding, getting out in transition and blocking shots defensively. He's one guy outside of John and Yves that we hope can impact the game by blocking shots. When we lose those two seniors, we'll need Olivier to step up and average two blocks a game while changing another two shots a game.

"Coach really wants to see Olivier let his athleticism take over on offense to where he can run the floor, play above the rim, offensive rebound, finish on drop-offs—keep it simple. On the defensive end, he's got to want to be an elite defender and an elite rebounder. We really need that from him.

"Drew Pember has been hit unfortunately hard by contact tracing this offseason. I believe he spent a total of 52 days in quarantine because he was knocked out multiple times by contact tracing. Drew spent a lot of time this summer shooting the basketball. He needs to be an elite shooter for us, and he has a strong desire to be that. He really does have a great feel for the game, he's a really good passer and he has a really high skill level. He knows he needs to get stronger and push himself out of his comfort zone. As he makes gains in those areas, with his skill level—passing and shooting—he could make an impact for us.

"And rounding out the frontcourt is another true freshman, Corey (Walker Jr.). Corey has good size, he's really versatile on offense and he's got a knack and a skill level to score the ball. We all really wish he could have had a normal summer with us development-wise, but he has a high upside. He has done a lot of really good things in practice. He's got a natural feel for the game, and he's shown flashes of what he can be capable of at this level."

University of Tennessee Athletics

POINT GUARD

WINGS

FRONTCOURT

Players Mentioned

E.J. Anosike

Victor Bailey Jr.

John Fulkerson

Davonte Gaines

Keon Johnson

Drew Pember

Yves Pons

Jaden Springer

Santiago Vescovi

Grant Williams

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