Tennessee basketball: Four potential breakout Vols for 2019-2020

If any role player showed the most dramatic improvement in the exhibition, Jalen Johnson was actually that guy. He averaged nine points and four rebounds, hitting two three-pointers on nine attempts coming off the bench. It looks like there’s a very good chance he’ll be the top backcourt player off the bench for Tennessee basketball this year.

That would be a dramatic improvement over last year, when Johnson averaged one and a half points in under six minutes a game in just 26 games. To be fair, maybe he just didn’t have enough chances to score, as he did hit nine of 20 three-point attempts, good for 45 percent from beyond the arc. So the guy looks like he has some real potential.

Given all of that and his size at 6’6″ 196 pounds, it’s probably legitimate to ask why he’s at No. 4 on this list. The answer, to be honest, is because of how loaded the Vols are in the backcourt this year and the fact that Barnes looks like he’ll play small.

Lamonte Turner, Jordan Bowden and Josiah-Jordan Hames will all be starting over Johnson, and when one of them goes to the bench, he has an experienced four who is naturally a wing and can move over there. So Johnson will be limited with his chances to play, and he still has to compete with Davonte Gaines, a freshman who didn’t look too bad himself.