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Tennessee basketball: Ranking Vols by landing spots following 2019 NBA Draft

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 29: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers and Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate on the bench during the second half of the game between the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 29, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 96-53. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 29: Grant Williams #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers and Admiral Schofield #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate on the bench during the second half of the game between the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on December 29, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 96-53. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee basketball had three players drafted and one player sign with a Summer League team. Here is how those Volunteers rank by landing spots.

Coming off it’s best NBA Draft of the modern era, we can look at Tennessee basketball and say the program is heading on the right track under Rick Barnes. One thing that could certainly help it is the success of those former Vols in the pros.

After all, NBA success helps coaches recruit top-notch talent. With all four key contributors from last year who entered the draft inking deals with teams, three of whom were drafted and one of whom went in the first round, there are lots of opportunities to showcase that.

But who’s in the best position to succeed? After all, professional success, similar to college success, is as much about being in the right situation as it is having the right talent. So who’s got the best chance to represent Tennessee basketball in the NBA with that factor?

In this post, we’re going to break that down. Again, this isn’t about talent. It’s about the competency of the organization a player is going to and the needs that the franchise has at the moment. We’ll also weigh the specific goals of each player.

What’s clear at this point is Barnes could claim that he had four guys in 2018-2019 who made NBA rosters if things go right. But we have to analyze the situation each of those guys are in at this moment.

After all, the NBA is far and away the hardest professional sports league to make it in when you factor in the global brand of basketball and the limited roster spots for each team. A lot of luck goes into it for numerous athletes.

So let’s go ahead and break down each former Tennessee basketball player’s chances for success at the next level given where they have gone. This is our ranking of Vols by landing spots following the 2019 NBA Draft.

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