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Tennessee basketball may have deepest team ever when fully healthy

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) dribbles the ball with North Carolina Tarheels guard RJ Davis (4) defending during the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) dribbles the ball with North Carolina Tarheels guard RJ Davis (4) defending during the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The most important takeaway of this past weekend for Tennessee basketball at the Hall of Fame Tip-off in Connecticut wasn’t the fact that the Vols at least got one quality win, losing to the Villanova Wildcats before beating the North Carolina Tar Heels. Instead, one player’s emergence suggests they could truly go two-deep at every position.

Zakai Zeigler’s 18 points and five assists against UNC proved one thing: UT has two true point guards in the rotation, which is two more than they had last year. As a 5’9″ 167-pound three-star, it was hard to project the role Zeigler would play as a true freshman.

However, as a backup to freshman phenom Kennedy Chandler, who has lived up to his five-star billing with Tennessee basketball through its 3-1 start, Zeigler has proven he can provide the depth there needed. That means Rick Barnes should have at least 10 players he expects to use in the rotation regularly.

At the two and the three positions, the Vols have four guys who can rotate in and out of all of them in Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Victor Bailey Jr. and Justin Powell. Vescovi and Bailey alternating at the two is a huge help.

Olivier Nkamhoua has settled in as a starter at the four, and Brandon Huntley-Hatifled was a five-star power forward, so you know Barnes will use him. John Fulkerson speaks for himself at the five. Uros Plavsic has become capable of spelling him.

Looking at that roster, Barnes can actually go 10-deep easily, and the only question is is Plvasic can shoulder a larger role at backup center. However, Zeigler’s emergence at point guard now likely gives Tennessee basketball the deepest team it has ever had.

Don’t forget about Jahmai Mashack on the wing and Jonas Aidoo at the five. Both were at least four-stars across all recruiting services, and Aidoo had some five-star recognition but was also injured earlier in the year. They could allow Barnes to go 12-deep by the end of the year.

There is only one factor that could change this: injuries. Fulkerson missed the start of the season due to recovery from a broken left thumb. James played this past weekend against Villanova with a torn ligament in his finger and then missed the UNC game due to an illness.

For Barnes to be able to run such a deep rotation and maximize his talent, he needs both of those guys fully healthy. They are two of the most irreplaceable players on the team, as Fulkerson’s backups are the least proven and James is the one true defensive specialist on the wing.

Even with each of them missing a game, though, nobody on the team is averaging more than 28 minutes a game, and eight guys have played all four games while averaging at least 10 minutes a game. All 10 main guys we named are averaging at least 10 minutes a game so far.

This is all a huge deal. Tennessee basketball has two players capable of logging significant minutes and being effective at every single position. None of them in this rotation would be forced out of position either. Depth like this could be the key to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

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