Top Five Players in the Rick Barnes Era
As Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes enters year nine in Knoxville, it is time to take a look back at the great players he has had in almost a decade of being on Rocky Top.
5. Kennedy Chandler
Although it was a one-and-done season, Chandler showed how formidable of a guard he was during the 2021-22 season. He finished averaging 13.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game while on Rocky Top. He was top five in the SEC in assists and also led the Vols in scoring. He did this while shooting an astonishing 46% from the floor. He helped Tennessee make the NCAA tournament and win the SEC tournament in Tampa for the first time in 43 years. It is crazy to think about just how impactful he would have been if he played more seasons on Rocky Top.
Former Tennessee G Kennedy Chandler
4. John Fulkerson
When you want to talk about impact, few players in the Barnes era have left it like Fulkerson. In a career lasting from 2016-2022, he has played in more games than any other Volunteer ever. He also shot above 50% from the field in five out of his six seasons in Knoxville. His best season came in 2019-20 when he averaged 13.7 points, 1.3 assists, and 5.9 rebounds a game. He also amassed an incredible 64 offensive rebounds that season. Fulkerson was a member of the SEC co-regular season championship team in 2018-19, part of the SEC tournament championship team, and helped the Vols get to four NCAA tournaments and a sweet 16.
3. Lamonte Turner
Lamonte Turner had a very well-balanced career for Tennessee. The guard finished with over 1,000 career points in his four years on Rocky Top. In his sophomore season, he came off the bench to average 11 points and 3 rebounds a game. That year, he was the sixth man of the year in the SEC. He capped off his career at Tennessee during the 2019-20 season by averaging 12.3 points per game and became a very good creator for his teammates, averaging 7.1 assists per game. He also became a good on-ball defender with nearly 1.8 steals per game. He only played in 11 games due to a season-ending injury. It halted what would have been a stunning senior season in Knoxville. Much like Fulkerson, Turner was also a member of the SEC co-regular season title team in 2018-19.
2. Admiral Schofield
Schofield was an All-SEC team member, a dynamic part of the Tennessee team that brought a regular-season title to Knoxville. He was in double figures during his junior and senior seasons with 14 and 16.5 points per game, respectively. He was ultra-athletic, being a great in-game dunker, and had an incredible jumping ability which he used to rebound at a high rate. He averaged six rebounds a game in both his junior and senior seasons. Schofield's shooting was also uncannily good. He shot 48%+ from the field in his junior and senior seasons, and his three-point percentage in those seasons was 39%+. Schofield was arguably one of Coach Barnes' most dynamic players during his Tennessee tenure.
1. Grant Williams
Was there any doubt? Regarded as one of the best Tennessee players to touch the court, Williams was the leader of the electrifying SEC co-regular season title team in 2018-19. During that season, he averaged almost 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3 assists a game. He was the SEC Player of the Year that season and an All-American. Williams also won SEC Player of the Year in the 2017-18 season. Williams was in double figures in points for all three seasons at Tennessee. His breakthrough freshman season, when he averaged 12.6 points and six rebounds a game, earned him a spot on the SEC's All-Freshman team. He shot above 47% from the field in all three seasons and became a really good defender his senior season with 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Along with the regular-season title, Williams also helped the Vols get to their first Sweet 16 in five years. His impact on Volunteer basketball is up there with the greatest in program history.
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