Tennessee’s 2021-22 basketball season is less than 24 hours away as the Vols open their season Tuesday night against UT-Martin.
The Vols went 18-9 (10-7 SEC) a season ago on their way to earning a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee started the COVID-19 riddled season well, climbing as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll before sputtering down the stretch and losing to Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Rick Barnes’ seventh Tennessee team is looking to bounce back with a plethora of new faces. The Vols signed the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class, bringing in seven prep prospects. Tennessee also brought in Auburn transfer Justin Powell.
Barnes has been happy with the development and team camaraderie of his team ahead of Tennessee’s grueling non conference schedule.
“Well, I think when you talk about chemistry, I think it starts with if there is a genuine love and likeness for each other,” Barnes said earlier this fall. “I do know this, this group likes each other. I know they like being together. They would tell you to the man that a year ago was really hard. We’ve done some team type of things whether it’s going to paintball or something like that. They would tell you how good that feels to them and how much they missed doing things as a team in the past year. That part of it has been fun.”
Tennessee released its season hype video Monday night ahead of the season opener with UT-Martin.
The show is about to begin. pic.twitter.com/fihpqCfDro
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) November 9, 2021
