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Tennessee basketball: Five preseason storylines for 2019-2020 Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 24: Lamonte Turner #1 and Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers react after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 83-77 in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 24: Lamonte Turner #1 and Jordan Bowden #23 of the Tennessee Volunteers react after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes 83-77 in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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4. Who is the go-to scoring option?

The playbook for Tennessee basketball last year was clear. Jordan Bone goes inside to Grant Williams first. He can either go up with it or pass it to either Bone or one of the off-guards, either Lamonte Turner or Jordan Bowden. If everything broke down, Admiral Schofield would be the guy to clean it up by finding a way to score with his versatility.

However, this year, Williams and Schofield are gone. Kyle Alexander is not there for offensive rebounds to help clean things up. And Jordan Bone is no longer a scoring option. So who’s the go-to guy overall?

It’s going to come down to three players. Bowden is a pure two-guard and averaged 10.6 points per game last year. The senior could take a lead role as the main scorer at 6’5″, similar to what Robert Hubbs III did a couple of years ago, and he’s a very efficient three-point shooter. So that could work overall.

Otherwise, it comes down to two combo guards. One is obviously Turner, a redshirt senior, who averaged 11 points a game last year despite being hurt early on. When he’s not too aggressive, he can shoulder the scoring load if he’s smart with it and uses his passing skills first.

Beyond either of them, however, is the newcomer Josiah-Jordan James. He’s another combo guard, and he is a five-star recruit. It could be that Rick Barnes will turn to him to do the immediate scoring this year while Turner and Bowden supplement him. We’re not sure yet, but Barnes has a back-court of three potentially elite scorers. Who will step up?

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