Tennessee is bringing in five new players to the men’s basketball program this offseason. The Vols are losing five players off last year’s roster, and they’re replacing those five with five new additions. On Wednesday, UT announced the jersey numbers for Tennessee’s newest additions.
Five-star guard Josiah Jordan-James, four-star forward Olivier Robinson-Nkamhoua, three-star forward Drew Pember, and three-star small forward Davonte Gaines all signed with the Vols in their 2019 signing class in the fall and spring, and seven-foot center Uros Plavsic joined the Vols a week and a half ago as a transfer from Arizona State. Now, all five players officially have their jersey numbers at Tennessee.
Here’s a look at the new jersey numbers for the newest Vols:
Drew Pember – No. 3
Josiah Jordan-James – No. 5
Davonte Gaines – No. 11
Olivier Robinson-Nkamhoua – No. 21
Uros Plavsic – No. 34
Numbers for the new guys ??
? @DrewPember7
? @jjjames30
?? @TheRealTicket35
?? @orn_tw
?? @urosp34 #GBO pic.twitter.com/UEY98Yiokm— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) May 29, 2019
As you can see, Jordan-James is embracing the high expectations already placed upon him by taking on the No. 5 jersey. Admiral Schofield just wore that number for the last four years, and Vol legend Chris Lofton donned the No. 5 for his four years at UT as well. Lofton owns several Tennessee records, most notably for three-point field goals made.
The last “big man” to wear the No. 3 for the Vols was Derek Reese in the 2012-2013 season. Bobby Maze and Robert Hubbs III are the most well-known modern day Vols to wear the No. 3, Maze did so as UT’s point guard from 2008-10, and Hubbs wore it from 2013-17 as a starting guard for Tennessee.
The great Tony White wore the No. 11 as a Vol, and Kyle Alexander just wore that number for the last four years as a Vol. Now, Davonte Gaines will take his turn wearing the No. 11 jersey. Steve Hamer and Carl Widseth both donned the No. 21 during their respective stints as Vols, and Olivier Robinson-Nkamhoua will be the first Vol since Lew Evans in the 2016-17 season to wear that number.
As for Plavsic, he’ll be wearing the same jersey number as Jeronne Maymon and Tennessee’s other famous seven-footer, Tom Boerwinkle, did when they were Vols. Boerwinkle, who measured in at 7-feet, 265 pounds, was a First-Team All-American and averaged a double-double in his junior and senior seasons. He was the No. 4 overall draft pick in the 1968 NBA Draft and played for 10 years with the Chicago Bulls.
Tennessee’s basketball team will look drastically different next season compared to the last two years, but it’s clear that even the newest Vols aren’t backing down from expectations.
