Believe it or not, basketball season is here as Tennessee prepares for its preseason exhibition matchup against Duke.
The No. 6 Blue Devils will make the trip to Rocky Top and will face a new-look Vols squad in front of a sold-out Food City Center.
This will be our first look at this year’s Vols squad in a game-like situation. It will also be the first time in a few years that Tennessee will have some different players running Rick Barnes’ system after graduating six seniors last year.
Tennessee has released its projected starters with Senior Jacobi Gillespie running the point, followed by Sophomore Bishop Boswell as the other guard, and Freshman Nate Ament, Junior Jaylen Carey, and Senior Felix Okpara as the Vols’ three forwards.
Vols fans will be familiar with Boswell and Okpara’s game as the only two returning players from last season. Ament will also be an exciting player to watch as a standout freshman who has already led conversations on campus about his potential.
Duke’s projected starting five features Junior Caleb Foster at point guard, Sophomore Isaiah Evans at guard, Freshman Nikolas Khamenia at the three, Freshman Cameron Boozer at forward, and Sophomore Patric Ngongba II at center.
Tennessee is a top-20 team, landing at No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the coaches poll. Notably, the Vols will start the season at No. 9 in the KenPom rankings, and Duke comes in at No. 7 in KenPom and No. 6 in the AP Poll.
This will be a great preseason test for the Vols as they get to see how they matchup against a top ten team and a program that made the Final Four last season.
The exhibition game is set to begin at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2. Tom Hart, who called Tennessee’s football game last night, will be on the call with Jimmy Dykes. The Vol Network will also be broadcasting the game with Mike Keith and John Wilkerson on the call.