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Tennessee basketball: Vols finish season ranked 16th, potentially top 10 next year

By Caleb Calhoun

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Rick Barnes the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers gives instructions to his team against the Arkansas Razorbacks during the semifinals of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 10, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball finished the 2017-2018 season ranked No. 16 in the Coaches Poll. The Volunteers are looking at early Top 10 rankings for next year.

Related Story: Final grades for Vols 2017-2018 season

An unexpected early first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament did not drop Tennessee basketball from the Top 20 in the final rankings of the season. One day after the Villanova Wildcats captured their second national championship in three years, the Vols finished a season in the Top 25 for the first time since 2014.

After starting the year picked to finish 13th in the SEC, Rick Barnes’s team finished as the highest ranked team of anybody in the conference in the final Coaches Poll. The Vols came in at No. 16, one spot ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats, who finished No. 17.

It was the first Top 20 finish for Tennessee basketball since 2010, when they came in at No. 9 in the nation after an Elite Eight run. With all their starters coming back, such a finish was something to be proud of, even if it came after a second round upset loss in the NCAA Tournament to No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago.

And that’s where the early expectations come. After all, with the end of the season comes the look ahead to next season.

Tennessee basketball is already making an impact there. With only one scholarship player leaving, James Daniel III, they are in the running for three solid players to replace him.

One is four-star point guard James Akinjo. The other two are transfers averaging double-figures where they’re at: Utah State Aggies transfer guard Koby McEwen and Houston Baptist transfer forward David Caraher.

Both players shoot in the high 30s from the three-point line and would immediately come in to further help this team stretch the floor. The likelihood of getting one player to do that along with all the players returning is why the Vols already have high expectations for next year.

The Vols are ranked No. 8 in the Sporting News way-too-early Top 25 for next year. Kentucky is the only SEC team higher at No. 3. And that’s due to the fact that they, in a rare year, cold have most of their team back.

Simply put, what’s clear is that Tennessee basketball has serious expectations after such a strong finish to the year. And they deserve praise for shocking everybody and exceeding all expectations this year.

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