Tennessee basketball 2020-2021 preview: Frontcourt

Final take

Being undersized last year is serving Tennessee basketball well entering this year. The Vols have more experience and return their leading scorer and the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year in the frontcourt.

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Both Yves Pons and John Fulkerson are preseason All-SEC players and are even a bigger reason for the hype behind this team than the five-star guards making up the top five recruiting class. They are the stars of the team.

Adding a double-double graduate transfer in E.J. Anosike who has a ton of experience plus a four-star forward in that same recruiting class only serves to make this unit more elite. It gives Rick Barnes much more to work with.

Finally, Uros Plavsic had a full offseason and is the only seven-footer on the team. He could become a much bigger force. When you combine that with the inevitable development of Olivier Nkamhoua and Drew Pember, it’s clear that this unit is deep.

After only having two experienced frontcourt players last year, it’s safe to say Rick Barnes has a lot more to work with this year. As a result, he’ll likely be able to run the team the way he usually likes to run it: a focus on inside-out play.

This year, Tennessee basketball should be one of the most experienced teams down low and have some major size advantages. They also have players who can stretch the court and play tempo if they prefer that, and it means the frontcourt is a huge positive.