Tennessee’s preseason injury picture is starting to clear, and assistant coach Amorrow Morgan said Thursday that three Vols are moving in the right direction.
Morgan met with reporters and gave updates on Belmont transfer guard Tyler Lundblade, returning guard Troy Henderson and VCU transfer forward Christian Fermin. Lundblade has been working back from a back injury that kept him out of summer practices, Henderson is closing in on full contact after shoulder surgery, and Fermin is already back in action after fracturing his left hand over the summer.
For Lundblade, Morgan said the progress has been steady and the finish line is near.
“As with Tyler, he’s just putting one foot in front of the other, step by step, just trying to continue to improve, and just work towards getting healthy. He’s very close to being there, for sure. ”
Lundblade’s Belmont numbers show why Tennessee is eager to get him fully healthy: 15.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, along with shooting splits of 43% from the field and 40.6% from 3-point range in 2025-26.
Henderson, meanwhile, is almost all the way back from the shoulder injury he suffered last season. Morgan said he’s already working at full speed, even if the final step hasn’t arrived yet.
“I think he’s very close, just the same. Like, if you watch him work out, he’s out there full throttle, full head of steam, hadn’t really done anything direct contact yet, but he’ll be out there very, very soon. ”
His 2025-26 line includes 1.8 points, 0.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists, with shooting marks of 32.1% from the floor and 33.3% from deep.
Fermin appears to be the furthest along of the three. Morgan said the forward is fully active again and has already practiced earlier this week.
“ Christian, he’s back. He’ll be in practice today.
He practiced earlier this week. He’s been great.
He’s actually one of our leaders in rebounding leading up to this week. So he’s great.
He really put the time in over the summer and got stronger. He came in and put on, I think, 12 or 13 pounds in his time here even with the setback that he had.
So he’s gonna be a great addition for what we do.”
Fermin’s 2025-26 stats at VCU across four games were 0.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Last season, he averaged 4.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists while shooting 54.4% from the field.
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