Tennessee basketball’s plan for power forward Cade Phillips’ freshman year was simple and straightforward.
“There was no doubt when Cade came that we, we said from the beginning, we talked to him about he was gonna redshirt,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said earlier this week.
That plan made even more sense when Phillips missed the entirety of the summer and Tennessee’s three exhibition games in Italy with a shoulder injury.
But over the course of a few months, multiple personnel factors have stepped in and changed the outlook of Tennessee’s front court ahead of the 2023-24 season. First, Chris Ledlum re-entered the transfer portal after two months in Knoxville.
Then, right around the time Phillips was returning from his shoulder injury fellow freshman big man JP Estrella fractured his finger sidelining him for part of the fall.
Those two developments opened the door for Phillips but neither would have mattered if the Jacksonville, Alabama native hadn’t taken the opportunity and ran with it.
“I’ve just played my game,” Phillips told RTI earlier this week. “Don’t try to do anything I’m not supposed to. Play my game and show what I can add to the team. Missing the whole summer is tough. That’s a lot of conditioning. … Lot of time missing so it was just taking those mental reps during the summer and incorporating them into the live, in game (situations) of scrimmages and practices. It’s just go and play your game.”
What’s Phillips game?
The freshman is a versatile forward who can do a lot of things defensively and is effective on the glass for a 6-foot-9, 197-pound forward. On the offensive end, Phillips is a good passer for his size and understands his game and his role as his skillset continues to progress.
“He’s showed his value as far as him being a really active rebounder, playing with a lot of energy,” Tennessee assistant Rod Clark said of Phillips. “Being a springy, athletic big for us which his athleticism and movement is reminiscent of a Fulky (John Fulkerson) as far as his activity but his toughness and his grit is important for us. As far as our identity. He matches it.”
Phillips rebounding has most impressed Barnes to this point especially after the power forward’s performance in the Vols’ first preseason scrimmage last weekend. Tennessee had just nine scholarship players active and despite missing valuable conditioning time over the summer, Phillips energy and effort was consistent.
“I think actually in the scrimmage the other day when we scrimmage Tobe didn’t scrimmage,” Barnes said. “And if I’m not mistaken, Cade was our leading rebounder. He had nine or 10 rebounds, and he gets things done. He’s understanding what we want to do offensively, you know he’s picked it up quicker than we thought.
You watch him every day in practice and I go home and watch the tape he’s productive, you know? And he might not even score a basket the whole day.”
With Tennessee’s season opener against Tennessee Tech just over a month away, the Vols are unsure of their plans for Phillips in his freshman season. Phillips growth as well as Estrella’s once he returns from injury will factor in the decision.
But if you ask the Vols’ veterans, Phillips can help a deep Tennessee team this winter.
“I don’t know if we can redshirt him,” Barnes said. “Because if you ask Santi and Josiah, they would say, you can’t.”
