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Tennessee basketball: Remembering all 4 Vols seniors by their production

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers, Brad Woodson #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers, and Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers walk off the court after their game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 83-64. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 22: Yves Pons #35 of the Tennessee Volunteers, Brad Woodson #12 of the Tennessee Volunteers, and Kyle Alexander #11 of the Tennessee Volunteers walk off the court after their game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 83-64. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

Tennessee basketball will have an emotional Senior Night against the Mississippi State Bulldogs Tuesday. Here is a look back at all four Volunteers seniors.

When four Tennessee basketball seniors take the court for their final game at Thompson-Boling Arena Tuesday, they’ll be remembered in a way different from most classes. This unit is part of one of the greatest rebuilding periods the Vols ever enjoyed.

They were there with Rick Barnes from the beginning, and only one of them actually committed to play for Barnes on scholarship. Two were walk-ons, and the other one committed to Donnie Tyndall. So this is probably not how they saw their four years going initially.

Other guys who committed in 2015 like Ray Kosongo and Shembari Phillips ended up transferring, but these guys stuck it out. And the program improved every year under them. It went from a losing season in 2015-2016 to a .500 year in 2016-2017 to an NCAA Tournament berth and Top 25 finish in 2017-2018 to a No. 1 ranking in 2018-2019.

As Barnes built the Vols into a program, these guys were at the root of it. So now, it’s only fitting for us now to look back on them and remember how great they were for the university. In this post, we’re going to do just that.

It’s Senior Night, so all four seniors deserve attention for their contributions, even the ones who barely played in their careers. We’ll devote one page to each senior and remember some of their finest moments with the university. Just for a quick note, Lamonte Turner is in his fourth year and also committed in 2015, but we’re leaving him out since he redshirted that year due to injury.

For two of them, the list of defining moments will obviously be a heck of a lot longer, and they all have more to accomplish. But there’s no way to ignore the overall success of this class and how it continually improved over time. The key players improved each year with the program as well, and that’s a testament to them and Barnes.

So with still much to play for and lots to focus on, let’s reminisce for a minute. Let’s look at the people who are the original reasons UT is in the position to play for what it’s playing for. Here is a look back at the contributions all four Tennessee basketball seniors made to the Vols.

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