Tennessee basketball: Ranking all nine returning players for 2022-23

6’11” 234 pounds

Both Jonas Aidoo and Uros Plavsic make up the center rotation with John Fulkerson and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield gone. They’re almost interchangeable, as it seems like they’ll share time at center. Plavsic was actually the more productive player for Tennessee basketball last year in terms of minutes and scoring.

However, Aidoo brings the potential. Like Huntley-Hatfield, he was a cusp five-star post player in the Vols’ 2021 recruiting class. Now, an injury early on slowed his development, which allowed Huntley-Hatfield to emerge in the rotation, but now, Aidoo should be prepared to take a huge leap forward. He’ll be needed to do just that.

Last year, Aidoo appeared in 19 games. He averaged nearly eight minutes, and in that short amount of time, he averaged over two points and two rebounds. That’s pretty good production and a nice teaser of what he could be, but there are some issues that arose with his game too.

For starters, Aidoo was an abysmal 32.5 percent from the field. It’s not because he was a stretch post player either, as he took no three-point shots. That’s got to improve dramatically. Now, he was 14-of-17, or 82.4 percent, from the foul line, so he’s got some finesse to go with his athleticism. If he can be more aggressive under the basket, he’ll become a star.