Tennessee wrapped up its final media-open practice of the summer on Thursday afternoon at Pratt Pavilion, with the Vols now down to one more week of summer work.
The injury picture remains worth watching. Tyler Lundblade is still out with a back injury, and Rick Barnes addressed it before practice, though there’s no clear timetable yet.
Troy Henderson is still limited to individual drills and has not been taking part in 5-on-5 action. Marquis Clark went down early with a left groin injury, and Ralph Scott banged up his left leg on the final play of 4-on-4 shell work.
Neither player returned to team work, but neither injury is expected to be a long-term issue.
Christian Fermin will miss the rest of the summer because of a left-hand injury, though he was doing cardio work off to the side.
On the floor, Juke Harris had his strongest showing of the three summer practices I’ve watched. In 5-on-5 work, he knocked down several midrange jumpers, buried a three off a pin-down screen and showed off the passing touch Barnes mentioned earlier in the day. Harris didn’t finish practice because of a minor left leg issue, but he still got through about 85% of the session at full speed.
Even better than Harris was Terrence Hill Jr., who looked like the best player in the gym and put on a show. He hit four three-pointers, scored at all three levels and, by my count, finished with a team-high 18 points in the 5-on-5 portion, along with several assists.
Two Hill plays stood out in particular. On one, he took the ball on the wing with DeWayne Brown setting a screen toward the baseline, rejected it, attacked the middle and finished with a finger roll. On another, he slipped past a defender with a hesitation move, drew help and zipped a pass to Braedan Lue, who pump faked on the left side of the basket, stepped through and finished with a right-handed layup.
Lue keeps standing out, too, and it’s getting harder to ignore the role he may carve out this season. He scored around the rim, knocked down an open three and looked especially dependable defensively, with the kind of versatility to guard both inside and on the perimeter.
The 5-on-5 groups weren’t exactly even, and the injuries to Scott and Clark may have played a part. Jalen Haralson was on the white team with Manny Green, Miles Rubin, Chris Washington, Campbell Duncan and Gavin Paull, while the black team featured Hill, Harris, Dai Dai Ames, Lue and Brown.
Haralson helped his side get out in front early with buckets and assists, and he also created transition chances with multiple deflections. The Notre Dame transfer had two especially eye-catching plays: a drive into the paint that ended with a nice feed to Miles Rubin for a dunk, and an acrobatic tip-in after coming out of nowhere for an offensive rebound.
As the scrimmage went on, though, the black team took control and separated. Hill was central to that stretch, showing the kind of feel and command that made him so difficult to handle.
Ames also had a notable run. Playing alongside other high-end guards seemed to ask him to adjust a bit without the ball, but he stayed in rhythm, hit open shots when they came and looked comfortable as a pick-and-roll ball handler.
If he’s not Tennessee’s best in that role, he’s right there with Hill. His pace and poise stood out.
Brown continued to look like Tennessee’s best big man, even if he wasn’t as overwhelming as he was in the last practice I saw. He still looked steady, passed well and got a few baskets by running the floor.
Rubin had his moments, too. He finished the pass from Haralson, blocked a shot at the rim and stripped Brown inside. Even so, the Loyola (Chicago) transfer didn’t quite deliver the kind of paint presence defensively that would really jump off the page.
In Other News...
Tennessees New Speed Standard Is Turning Heads Before Fall Camp
Tennessees offseason work has taken on a different feel under Derek Owings, the strength coach hired from Indiana to lead a program that has made speed a central point of emphasis. The Volunteers did not just add a new voice in the weight room, they invested heavily in it, bringing in the nations highest-paid strength coach and signaling that the standard in Knoxville is now about more than size and strength.
What has turned heads is how quickly the approach has shown up on the field. Tennessee has seen a major jump in the number of players reaching top-end speeds of 21-plus miles per hour, and the plan is to keep that edge from fading once camp and the season get rolling. The staff is using regular speed work and ongoing tracking to make sure the roster stays fast, which gives fall camp a different kind of urgency as the Vols try to turn that offseason gain into something lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Rick Barnes Addressed Growing Concern Around Key Tennessee Transfer
Tyler Lundblade arrived in Knoxville as part of Tennessees nine-player transfer class, bringing the kind of veteran presence Rick Barnes has leaned on in past roster overhauls. The Belmont graduate transfer has still found ways to stay connected to the group, remaining involved around practice and team leadership even as the staff works through his summer ramp-up.
Barnes has tried to calm any concern around the new addition by stressing that Tennessee is being careful with how it handles Lundblade. The Vols want him ready for the long haul, and the tone around the program suggests this is more about patience than alarm as summer work continues. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Looks Poised For Another In-State Recruiting Win
Tennessee has spent the summer working to keep another in-state prospect close to home, and Westview High School running back Asa Barnes looks like the next name to watch. The three-star back from Martin has been on campus multiple times, has been in contact with running backs coach DeRail Sims, and has had a Tennessee scholarship offer on the table for more than a year, all signs that the Volunteers have stayed firmly in the mix.
The momentum around Barnes has only grown as his decision approaches on July 29, with a couple of national recruiting voices already leaning heavily toward Tennessee to land him. For a program that has made a point of chasing top local talent, Barnes would fit the kind of in-state win the Vols have tried to stack up, even if the final word still has to come from the prospect himself. [Read more 🡒]