Tennessee basketball’s five biggest preseason storylines for 2021-2022

4. Will the seven newcomers gel with returning talent?

As we mentioned in our introduction, there are tons of questions as to how Rick Barnes is able to coach talent new to his system. Given what he’s bringing in this year, that’s a huge question. Tennessee basketball has six true freshmen making up its top five class plus a transfer.

Among the freshmen are five-stars Kennedy Chandler and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. It’s hard to be sure what will happen with Huntley-Hatfield, but we know that Chandler will likely take over at point guard immediately. How will he mesh with the returning rotational guys in Victor Bailey Jr., Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James and John Fulkerson?

Beyond Chandler, where will Huntley-Hatfield fit into the rotation? Beyond the four main returning guys we named, Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic are expected to see larger roles, but Barnes still needs more depth for a full rotation.

Then there’s Auburn Tigers transfer Justin Powell, who can play any position from the one to the three. What will his role be? Will four-stars Jonas Aidoo and Jahmai Mashack get into the rotation? The rotation is as big a question here as to how all the newcomers will gel with the players, as only Chandler and Fulkerson are sure bets right now. We still don’t know how other guys will work out.