Tennessee basketball up in both polls; Freshman recognized by SEC

Jaden Springer is standing out for the Tennessee basketball Volunteers.

Two dominant defensive performances last week, albeit against Power Five schools, helped Tennessee basketball on a regional and national level when it comes to recognition. Rick Barnes’ team continues to get more and more love.

The Vols moved up to No. 8 in both the AP Poll and the Amway Coaches Poll. That’s two spots up from their No. 10 ranking in both polls last week, four spots above their No. 12 AP preseason ranking and six spots above the No. 14 Coaches Poll ranking.

In addition to moving up in the rankings, Tennessee basketball had the first of what is likely many weekly recognitions for one of its two heralded freshmen, Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson. Springer got it the first time.

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Despite coming off the bench, Springer earned SEC Freshman of the Week due to his elite offensive play. He averaged 16.5 points a game, scoring 21 points with six assists, six rebounds and a steal in his most recent outing against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

Efficiency was a huge reason for Springer’s recognition, as he shot 14-of-18 from the field. In his last game, he was 2-of-3 from the three-point line, and he’s now 4-of-5 from beyond the arc on the year. To be fair, he shot only 3-of-5 from the free throw line, but the 6’4″ 204-pound five-star is living up to his hype early on.

There’s no doubt that Springer continues to develop by the game. He has scored more points than he did in his previous outing every single game this year so far and has hit double figures in the Vols’ last three matchups.

Clearly, Springer is the offensive firepower among the two five-stars. However, don’t sleep on Johnson, as he has become a defensive specialist and came away with five steals and a block in Tennessee basketball’s two games last week. Both of these guys are showing a ton of promise moving forward.