All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee basketball’s top five players who won the most

By Caleb Calhoun

9 Mar 2001: Tony Harris #14 of the Tennessee Volunteers moves with the ball during the SEC Tournament game against the Ole Miss Rebels in Nashville, Tennessee. The Rebels defeated the Volunteers 86-73.Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport
9 Mar 2001: Tony Harris #14 of the Tennessee Volunteers moves with the ball during the SEC Tournament game against the Ole Miss Rebels in Nashville, Tennessee. The Rebels defeated the Volunteers 86-73.Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
Dale Ellis
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images /

1979-1983. 5. player. 534. Pick Analysis. Forward. Dale Ellis. Scouting Report

Well, the suspense of which All-American was on this list ended pretty quickly. Dale Ellis is the winningest Tennessee basketball All-American in history. Ellis joined the Vols as a freshman one year after Don DeVoe took over, and after averaging seven points that year, the sharpshooter turned into the best scorer in the SEC.

In addition to his successes individually, Ellis was part of an elite run with the program. From the end of the Ray Mears years through the first five years of DeVoe, the Vols made seven NCAA Tournaments in eight years, won two regular season SEC Championship and won an SEC Tournament championship.

Ellis was part of one of those regular season titles in 1981-1982. He also helped the Vols reach their first Sweet Sixteen ever in his first year as a starter in 1980-1981. During his four years on Rocky Top, he never failed to advance in the NCAA Tournament, and he hit the 20-win mark three out of those four years, all years he started.

As a result, Ellis is one of the most successful players on Rocky Top. If you factor in individual accolades and team success, he may be the most successful of anybody. Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Grant Williams and Chris Lofton all failed to make the tournament their first year starting. Ellis did not. Him shooting as high as 65 percent his junior year certainly helped this.

Home/Vols Basketball