Tennessee basketball’s top five players who won the most
Pick Analysis. 2. player. Scouting Report. Forward. 1978-1982. Steve Ray. 534
Few millennials probably know of or have ever heard the name Steve Ray. He was a four-year role player with the Vols in the early 1980s who averaged between six and seven points each of his final three years on Rocky Top. His four years with Tennessee basketball were Don DeVoe’s first four years as well. DeVoe’s first four years was the greatest run in UT history before Bruce Pearl.
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Ray had all the success Ellis had with one year swapped out. Take away the 1982-1983 season, in which UT went 20-12 and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and put in the 1978-1979 season, when UT went 21-12 won the SEC Tournament and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament. So add a championship and one extra win.
Those two things vaulted Ray all the way up to No. 2. What else can you say about a guy who won a conference tournament championship, a conference regular season championship, made the Sweet Sixteen, never missed the second round of the NCAA Tournament and never failed to win 20 games? That spells success for this 6’4″ forward.
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Funny enough, Gary Carter could have joined Ray. Carter and Ellis were supposed to make an elite group of superstars as seniors in 1981-1982. However, Carter, who was averaging 20 points at the time, was booted from the team six games in due to academic issues. As a result, he didn’t make the list.