Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes met with the media Thursday with the Vols’ season opener just five days away.
The Vols are ranked No. 18 in the preseason AP poll and were picked to finish fourth in the SEC by the conference’s media.
Tennessee is coming off an up-and-down season that saw the Vols’ climb as high as No. 6 in the AP poll before struggling down the stretch. 12th-seed Oregon State upset 5th-seeded Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday, Barnes discussed John Fulkerson’s thumb injury. After saying he “expected” Fulkerson to be available for the season opener during last week’s media day, Barnes called Fulkerson “questionable” for UT-Martin game.
“He’s questionable,” Barnes said. “He’s been doing everything he can with us. Obviously, he’s not in contact with us right now, but otherwise he’s doing everything he can to keep himself in the kind of conditioning he needs to be in.”
Barnes also discussed his takeaways from Saturday’s exhibition game, his team’s need to grow defensively, the challenges facing Kennedy Chandler and more.
