Tennessee finished with 21 victories last season, but more was expected from the Volunteers, who lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Looking back, those expectations may have been a bit overblown since the Volunteers were looking to replace Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith, their top two scorers from the 2007-08 campaign.
The inexperience showed at times.
That shouldn't be the case this time, as the Vols bring back almost everyone of note.
The returnees include Tyler Smith, one of the conference's top scorers at better than 17 points a game. His decision not to enter the NBA draft makes all the difference for the Vols.
"If you look at Tennessee's team without Tyler Smith, I think there would be those having us picked somewhere in the middle of the East, the middle of the SEC," coach Bruce Pearl said.
"With Tyler coming back, we're in the discussion of being in the upper half of the league."
Smith is joined by 6-9 Wayne Chism, who averaged 13.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and bullish 6-10 junior Brian Williams, who averaged 5.0 and 5.6 coming off the bench.
The Vols won't have promising sophomore Emmanuel Negedu, however, after he collapsed during an offseason workout.
Also back is Scotty Hopson, a sharpshooter whose freshman season -- which included 36 percent 3-point shooting and 9.2 points a game -- probably was underrated since he was seen as the second coming of Lofton. That's a role he wasn't ready for, but he might be closer this season.
Senior J.P. Prince has done just about everything for the Vols and will take over the low post. He began his career as a point guard at Arizona. In addition to scoring -- he was a total of three points shy of averaging in double figures -- he gives the Vols energy with his fast-paced play.
Bobby Maze returns as the starting point guard after finishing with 109 assists last season, about double his 54 turnovers. Newcomer Marvin Goins, who likely will be slowed early after having knee surgery, and Josh Tabb will back him up.
Overall, it's a well-balanced, experienced, deep team that expects to win and is capable of making a deep run into March.
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