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Tennessee basketball: Ranking all Vols NBA Draft classes this decade

By Caleb Calhoun

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: Tobias Harris of the Tennessee Volunteers greets NBA Commissioner David Stern after he was selected #19 overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round during the 2011 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 23: Tobias Harris of the Tennessee Volunteers greets NBA Commissioner David Stern after he was selected #19 overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round during the 2011 NBA Draft at the Prudential Center on June 23, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

4. 2015

Players drafted: 1

Josh Richardson – Miami Heat; Round 2, Pick 40

Tennessee basketball came off a .500 season in 2014-2015 and then had a tumultuous offseason. Dave Hart was forced to fire Donnie Tyndall after just one year because of major NCAA violations that came to light.

As a result, the Vols were rebuilding again with Rick Barnes coming into town. However, hidden under all that was one guy taken in the 2015 NBA Draft who may be one of the greatest developmental stories in school history.

Josh Richardson committed to Cuonzo Martin as a three-star shooting guard in 2011. In four years, he went from averaging to less than three points to averaging nearly eight points and then averaging over 10 points his junior year, helping the Vols to the Sweet Sixteen, before averaging 16 points as a senior.

The Miami Heat took notice. That was a franchise built around an athletic two-guard who spent at least three years in college and had an elite midrange. We’re talking, of course, of Dwyane Wade. As a result, they took a chance on Richardson in this draft.

Having one player taken in the second round is going to make this the worst of the draft years for the Vols. But looking back in hindsight, production would move it up. Richardson truly has become Wade’s heir apparent and averaged over 16 points a game in 73 starts for the Heat this past year. He’s one of the greatest overachievers in school history.

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