Tennessee basketball 2020-2021 preview: Backcourt

Here are the Tennessee basketball Volunteers guards Rick Barnes’ sixth year.

Despite all the hype surrounding Tennessee basketball entering this year, there is legitimate uncertainty in a few areas. They have to be able to address those issues to prove they are a legitimate title contender.

At guard, the Vols have to replace their leading scorer in Jordan Bowden from last year. We should also note that things began to fall apart for the team that went 17-14 once Lamonte Turner surprisingly ended his career in December due to nagging shoulder injuries.

So with Turner still not back and Bowden gone, can Tennessee basketball make guard play a strength? Well, as we get set to preview the guard play for the Vols heading into the 2020-2021 season, that’s exactly what we’ll try to address.

For reasons we’ll get into, there’s lots of hype behind the guard play on Rocky Top, but not a lot of it is evidence-based. Rick Barnes has a youth movement here that he’ll have to address, and if he’s not careful, that’s something that can derail him.

However, it also provides lots of excitement for everybody involved. Assuming he can get everybody to play together, he gives fans lots of reasons to be encouraged. Although he likes an inside-out game when he can have one, elite guard play is key to that.

Our preview will look at returning talent, newcomers and the biggest questions surrounding the units. We’ll close with a final take. While we don’t yet have any projections on who will start, we can address some of the favorites and the positions players are most likely to occupy.

Taking all of that into account, let’s go ahead and dive in with the first part of our preview for the Vols heading into Barnes’ sixth year on the job.. This is our look at the Tennessee basketball backcourt entering the 2020-2021 season.