Tyler Lundblade is back in the mix for Tennessee, and Rick Barnes made it clear Thursday that the transfer sharpshooter is expected to be ready for the regular-season opener against Wofford.
“Yeah, unless something happens between now and then, he’s good, yeah,” Barnes said while speaking to the media on Thursday.
That’s welcome news for the Vols after Lundblade missed the exhibitions against Xavier and Duke following back surgery late in the offseason. He did get on the floor in a closed-door exhibition against Davidson last weekend, where he reportedly put up 24 points, giving Tennessee an early glimpse of what he can add to the offense.
Barnes said Lundblade’s value goes well beyond shooting. The coach pointed to the way defenses have to stick to him, which can open up space for everyone else.
“Well, for instance, we got a lob in a game one time, strictly because of him, because his guy just stayed hugged up to him, and we lifted him on the backside, and the lob was there,” Barnes said about Lundblade. “And people aren’t gonna give him much separation.
They’re gonna stay pretty glued to him. So that really opens up the court, take advantage of that space, do some things if they are gonna stay hugged up to him.
He knows how to play with it, too. I mean, he’s an excellent screener.
He knows when he’s being taken out. He moves extremely well without the ball.
He’s not gonna just stand and let them just stand there. He’s very active, he’s just very active moving.”
Even when Lundblade wasn’t able to practice fully, Barnes said his influence showed up on the sideline. In that sense, he took on something close to a student-coach role, helping lead vocally and keep teammates engaged.
“I think anybody that, I mean, he did a terrific job Saturday for a guy that hadn’t played at all, he did a lot of things,” Barnes said. “But it was more probably leadership as much as anything that, for him to step out there, but he’s, even while he’s been out, he’s been very active on the sideline. He’s a great encourager with those guys, trying to get him to, again, understand, because he’s been in the game a long time, and so that part of it was good, and we’ve had some good work since then.”
Sophomore forward DeWayne Brown also saw the impact Lundblade made when he returned to action.
“He brought a lot,” Brown said about Lundblade. “He was able to space the floor.
He shot it very well. And, I mean, he guarded.
He just brought a lot of energy and I’ll say that he’s a great piece to have back.”
Lundblade’s track record suggests why Tennessee is eager to have him available. Last season at Belmont, he averaged 15.6 points per game while shooting 43% from the field and 40.6% from three.
He added 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Now in his fourth college season, Lundblade spent two years at TCU and two at Belmont before arriving in Knoxville.
No. 8 Tennessee opens the regular season on Nov. 3 against Wofford at the Food City Center.
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