Tennessee basketball: Team awards for 2021-2022 season

Newcomer/Freshman of the Year: Kennedy Chandler

Being the runner-up Defensive Player of the Year contributed to Kennedy Chandler being the Freshman of the Year. Of the top-notch prospects in Tennessee basketball’s highly touted recruiting class, he was one of three who was a five-star, the only one who was a five-star across the board and the only one who played like a five-star.

Chandler became one of the greatest one-and-dones of Rick Barnes’ career when you combine his individual talent and how much it uplifted the Vols in general. At 6’0″ 172 pounds, he averaged nearly 14 points, over four and a half assists and over two steals a game.

Hitting one and a half three-pointers a game while shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc made Chandler a very efficient scorer from the field as well, and given how often he handled the ball, averaging just two and a half turnovers a game as a freshman wasn’t bad. Chandler was who Barnes turned to when everything broke down, so he makes this list.

Runner-up: Zakai Zeigler

It’s shocking that both point guards were the two best newcomers on the team. Justin Powell or one of the other elite recruits we mentioned should have been here, but Zakai Zeigler was clearly other best newcomer. He backed up Chandler and was almost just as good, and the two often played together. They were an elite freshman duo.