Tennessee Volunteers basketball

Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee Volunteers
University	University of Tennessee
Head coach	Bruce Pearl (4th season)
Conference	Southeastern Conference; East Division
Arena	Thompson-Boling Arena ; (Capacity: 21,000)
Nickname	Volunteers
Colors	Orange and White;
Uniforms
Home	Away ;
Pre-tournament Helms champions
	1916
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1967, 1981, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010
NCAA tournament second round
	1967, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
NCAA tournament appearances
	1967, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Conference tournament champions
	1936, 1941, 1943, 1979
Conference regular season champions
	1936, 1941, 1943, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2008

The Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA men's basketball competition. (Women's teams at the school, which has a completely separate women's athletic program, are known as "Lady Volunteers".) The Volunteers currently compete in the Southeastern Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2010. The Volunteers are currently coached by Bruce Pearl.

History

The Volunteers have had 18 NCAA tournament appearances with an overall record of 12-17. A record of 9-7 in the first round, 3-5 in the second, and 0-4 in the regional semi finals. They have also been invited to the National Invitation Tournament 11 times. They have won nine regular season SEC championships in 1936, 1941, 1943, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 2000, and 2008. The 1972, 1977, 1982, and 2000 seasons were all shared championships with another team from the Southeastern conference. Their conference tournament record is 54-43 record with 4 championships in the years 1936, 1941, 1943, and 1979. Historically Volunteer basketball has produced several successful National Basketball Association players including Allan Houston, Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld, Dale Ellis, Tony White, Ron Slay, and Larry Robinson. Bernard King is one of only two players in the Volunteers history to ever have a jersey retired (the other being Ernie Grunfeld). He finished his career averaging a "double double" per game of 25.8 points and 13.2 rebounds.

In March 2009, the University of Tennessee athletic department made a statement saying that they would claim the 1916 National Championship, but would not hang a banner for such an occasion. Tennessee finished that year with a 16-0 record, the only time in Tennessee basketball history that a team has gone undefeated.

Bruce Pearl Turnaround

After the Buzz Peterson era was less than a successful endeavor, Tennessee hired Bruce Pearl from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 2005. Pearl's assistants Tony Jones, Steve Forbes, Jason Shay, and Ken Johnson round out the winning staff that has helped bring the Vols to the NCAA tournament five years in a row. In the 2006-07 season The Volunteers were ranked 4th nationally in attendance with an average of 19,661 fans in Thompson-Boling Arena, which has a capacity of 21,758. Since coach Bruce Pearl arrived in March 2005 the attendance has increased by an average of 7,436 per game. Bruce Pearl's style of fast pace, physical press defense, and up tempo game has fans waiting to watch every game.

NCAA Tournament Results

The Volunteers have appeared in 18 NCAA Tournaments.

Year	Result
1967	Regional Fourth Place^[1]
1976	First Round
1977	First Round
1979	Second Round
1980	Second Round
1981	Sweet Sixteen^[2]
1982	Second Round
1983	Second Round
1989	First Round
1998	First Round
1999	Second Round
2000	Sweet Sixteen
2001	First Round
2006	Second Round
2007	Sweet Sixteen	2008	Sweet Sixteen
2009	First Round
2010

Players of note

Template:Famous players

Bernard King - 4x NBA All-Star (1982, 1984, 1985, 1991), 2x All-NBA First Team (1984, 1985). finished career with 19,655 points, 5,060 rebounds, and 874 games played.
Ernie Grunfeld - won the gold medal in the Olympic Games at Montreal, played 9 years in the NBA.
Dale Ellis - NBA Most Improved Player Award in 1987, 1x All-star (1988). finished career with 19,004 points, 4,201 rebounds and 1,209 games played.
Allan Houston - 2x NBA All-Star (2000, 2001), won the gold medal in the Olympic Games at Sydney. finished career with 14,551 points, and 839 games played.
Vincent Yarbrough
Red Robbins - spent 8 years in the American Basketball Association with career totals of 7,703 points, 6,155 rebounds, and 586 games played.
Tom Boerwinkle - retired NBA center for the Chicago Bulls, On January 8, 1970, Grabbed a Bulls record 37 rebounds. finished career with 5,745 rebounds and 635 games played.
Marcus Haislip
Paul Walther - 1x NBA All-Star (1952)
C.J. Watson
Chris Lofton
JaJuan Smith
Tyler Smith
Wayne Chism

Also, Kevin Nash, who went on to a highly successful career in professional wrestling, is a former Vols basketball player.

Retired Jerseys

Retired Basketball Jerseys

Bernard King 53 1974-1977	Ernie Grunfeld 22 1972-1976

Notes

^ In 1967, the Volunteers lost their only two NCAA tournament games.
^ In 1981, the Volunteers received a bye into the second round.

References

Tennessee Men's Athletics

[1] In 1967, the Volunteers lost their only two NCAA tournament games.

[2] In 1981, the Volunteers received a bye into the second round.

[1]

[2]

v t e Southeastern Conference men's basketball
Teams	Alabama Crimson Tide Arkansas Razorbacks Auburn Tigers Florida Gators Georgia Bulldogs Kentucky Wildcats LSU Tigers Mississippi State Bulldogs Missouri Tigers Ole Miss Rebels South Carolina Gamecocks Tennessee Volunteers Texas A&M Aggies Vanderbilt Commodores
Future teams	Oklahoma Sooners Texas Longhorns (both joining in 2024)
Championships & awards	List of champions SEC men's basketball tournament Player of the Year Rookie of the Year
Conference challenges	Big 12/SEC Challenge (2013–2023) SEC–Big East Challenge (2007–2012) ACC–SEC Challenge (2023–present)
Seasons	1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24