2020–21 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

2020–21 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
2020–21 Tennessee Volunteers basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 11
Record	12–4 (5–4 SEC)
Head coach	Rick Barnes (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Michael Schwartz; Desmond Oliver; Kim English;
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Alabama†	16	–	2	.889	26	–	7	.788
No. 10 Arkansas	13	–	4	.765	25	–	7	.781
LSU	11	–	6	.647	19	–	10	.655
Tennessee	10	–	7	.588	18	–	9	.667
Florida	9	–	7	.563	15	–	10	.600
Ole Miss	10	–	8	.556	16	–	12	.571
Missouri	8	–	8	.500	16	–	10	.615
Kentucky	8	–	9	.471	9	–	16	.360
Mississippi State	8	–	10	.444	18	–	15	.545
Georgia	7	–	11	.389	14	–	12	.538
Auburn^*	7	–	11	.389	13	–	14	.481
South Carolina	4	–	12	.250	6	–	15	.286
Texas A&M	2	–	8	.200	8	–	10	.444
Vanderbilt	3	–	13	.188	9	–	16	.360

† 2021 SEC tournament winner ^* Ineligible for postseason due to self-imposed postseason ban.

The 2020–21 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by sixth-year head coach Rick Barnes, and play their home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

Previous season

The Volunteers finished the 2019–20 season 17–14, 9–9 in SEC play to finish in eighth place. They were set to take on Alabama in the second round of the SEC Tournament. However, the remainder of the SEC Tournament was canceled amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All further postseason tournaments were likewise canceled.

Offseason

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Keon Johnson SG	Bell Buckle, TN	The Webb School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 6, 2018
Keon Johnson SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Corey Walker PF	Jacksonville, FL	Hargrave Military Academy	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Mar 3, 2019
Corey Walker PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Jaden Springer SG	Charlotte, NC	IMG Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Oct 23, 2019
Jaden Springer SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Rivals.com 2020 Tennessee Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on November 12, 2020.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team
Media poll
1	Tennessee
2	Kentucky
3	LSU
4	Florida
5	Alabama
6	Arkansas
7	Auburn
8	South Carolina
9	Ole Miss
10	Missouri
11	Texas A&M
12	Mississippi State
13	Georgia
14	Vanderbilt

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Volunteers had two players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.

First Team

John Fulkerson

Second Team

Yves Pons

Schedule and results

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the start of the season was pushed back from the scheduled start of November 10.^[2] On September 16, 2020, the NCAA announced that November 25 would be the new start date.^[3]

On November 23, it was announced that head coach Rick Barnes had tested positive for COVID-19 and that the school had paused all basketball activities while further tests were conducted within the program.^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
December 8, 2020* 6:00 pm, SECN+	No. 12	Colorado	W 56–47	1–0	11 – Tied	10 – Pons	5 – Vescovi	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
December 12, 2020* 12:30 pm, SECN Alt.	No. 12	Cincinnati	W 65–56	2–0	15 – Fulkerson	12 – Fulkerson	3 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
December 15, 2020* 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 10	Appalachian State	W 79–38	3–0	13 – Bailey Jr.	8 – Bailey Jr.	4 – Vesocvi	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
December 19, 2020* 8:00 pm, SECN+	No. 10	Tennessee Tech	W 103–49	4–0	21 – Springer	6 – Tied	6 – Springer	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
December 21, 2020* 6:00 pm, SECN	No. 8	St. Joseph's	W 102–66	5–0	18 – Bailey Jr.	9 – Pons	5 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
December 23, 2020* 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 8	USC Upstate	W 80–60	6–0	18 – Bailey Jr.	8 – James	8 – Vescovi	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
SEC regular season
December 30, 2020 9:00 pm, SECN	No. 7	at No. 12 Missouri	W 73–53	7–0 (1–0)	15 – Vescovi	6 – Tied	4 – James	Mizzou Arena (3,164) Columbia, MO
January 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 7	Alabama	L 63–71	7–1 (1–1)	16 – Bailey Jr.	8 – Tied	2 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
January 6, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 9	Arkansas	W 79–74	8–1 (2–1)	17 – Tied	9 – James	3 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 9	at Texas A&M	W 68–54	9–1 (3–1)	23 – Vescovi	5 – Tied	6 – Springer	Reed Arena (1,298) College Station, TX
January 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 10	at Vanderbilt	Postponed					Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
January 16, 2021 6:00 pm, SECN	No. 10	Vanderbilt	W 81–61	10–1 (4–1)	16 – Johnson	8 – Fulkerson	5 – Springer	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 6	at Florida	L 49–75	10–2 (4–2)	8 – Fulkerson	5 – Tied	5 – Fulkerson	O'Connell Center (2,280) Gainesville, FL
January 23, 2021 8:30 pm, SECN	No. 6	No. 19 Missouri	L 64–73	10–3 (4–3)	20 – Pons	6 – Fulkerson	4 – Vescovi	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
January 26, 2021 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 18	Mississippi State	W 56–53	11–3 (5–3)	13 – Pons	7 – Vescovi	5 – Springer	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
January 30, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 18	No. 15 Kansas SEC/Big 12 Challenge	W 80–61	12–3	17 – Pons	11 – James	4 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
February 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 11	at Ole Miss	L 50–52	12–4 (5–4)	13 – Pons	6 – James	4 – Tied	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (895) Oxford, MS
February 6, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 11	at Kentucky						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 10, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN2		Florida						Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 13, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2		at LSU						Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
February 16, 2021 8:30 pm, SECN		South Carolina						Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 20, 2020 1:00 pm, CBS		Kentucky						Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 27, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN/ESPN2		at Auburn						Auburn Arena Auburn, AL
March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2/ESPNU		Georgia						Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[5]^[6]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	12	12	13	12	10	8	7	9	10	6	18	11
Coaches	14	14^	16	10	8	8	6	8	10	6	17	10

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

^ "Media picks Vols to win 2021 SEC Men's Basketball title". SEC Sports. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
^ "NCAA committees pushing for Nov. 25 as the start date for the 2020-21 college basketball season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
^ "NCAA: Men's, women's hoops can start Nov. 25". ESPN.com. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
^ "Tennessee pauses activities, Barnes tests positive". ESPN.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
^ "2020-21 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

[1] "Media picks Vols to win 2021 SEC Men's Basketball title". SEC Sports. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2021.

[2] "NCAA committees pushing for Nov. 25 as the start date for the 2020-21 college basketball season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-09-04.

[3] "NCAA: Men's, women's hoops can start Nov. 25". ESPN.com. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-23.

[4] "Tennessee pauses activities, Barnes tests positive". ESPN.com. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

[5] "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 21 November 2020.

[6] "2020-21 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

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v t e Tennessee Volunteers basketball
Venues	Alumni Memorial Gym (1934–1958) Stokely Athletic Center (1958–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal "Rocky Top" Smokey
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 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 2024–25