Tennessee basketball: Vols top 10 greatest players in the 2010s decade

He’s helping to lead Tennessee basketball into the next decade, but Jordan Bowden already established himself as a key player for the Vols’ emergence as a program under Rick Barnes. As a result, he has earned his way on this list, and what he does beyond now will only be icing on the cake to what has been an incredible career.

A three-star member of the 2016 class, Bowden has been an amazing development story. He has been a regular since joining the program, and he went from averaging just under eight points a game on 37.1 percent shooting as a freshman to over nine a game on 39.5 percent shooting just from three as a sophomore. But as a junior, he had to make a sacrifice.

With Barnes’s rotation using six players, Bowden had to move to the bench and be the sixth-man scoring punch. How did he respond? Well, he upped his average to 10.6 point a game on 45.9 percent shooting. With so much attrition this year, he has been responsible for taking a leadership role and becoming the go-to player for Rocky Top.

So far, all he’s done is average 13.5 points a game, and he surpassed the 1,000-career points milestone. The 6’5″ senior guard helped UT to two straight NCAA Tournaments, a No. 1 ranking, an SEC title and a Sweet Sixteen. His development has been great, and being a four-year guy with Barnes earns him a spot on this list.