The Impact Of Chris Ledlum's Departure
On Wednesday, Tennessee commit Chris Ledlum announced he would play at St. John's next season. Ledlum came to Knoxville through the portal in the spring after a big season in the Ivy League at Harvard. With this departure, Tennessee is back down to 13 scholarships for next season.
There is no doubt that Ledlum is a good player, but did Tennessee need him? They already have an undersized post in Tobe Awaka who could be in for a huge jump in development. Awaka averaged a double-double this summer playing for Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Cup, and with the flashes we saw last season, Vol fans could be in for a treat with how good he ends up being.
Ledlum was also just a 30% three-point shooter, and Tennessee needed to fix its shooting problem. At just 30%, playing Ledlum at the 3 in a relatively big role would not have solved that problem, and playing a 6'6 kid at the 4 in the SEC isn't always the best idea. As good as a defender as he is, it's a tough ask for Ledlum to guard guys like Trevon Brazille, Tyrese Samuel, and Noah Carter.
With Ledlum out of the picture, we will likely see many more lineups with Santiago Vescovi and Dalton Knecht, two guys that light it up from distance. Jahmai Mashack could also be the defensive anchor off the bench that Ledlum would've been, and that's fine, given what we saw from him last season. Sometimes it just so happens that the minutes aren't there for everyone. Ledlum, without a doubt, was talented enough to transfer up and play on a really good team. It just so happens that Tennessee had a ton of guys they liked, and maybe Ledlum didn't anticipate Josiah-Jordan James returning. Now, the roster is pretty much set, and I still feel that the Vols should be ranked among the best in the country to start the season.
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