The 2024–25 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by tenth-year head coach Rick Barnes and played their home games at Thompson–Boling Arena located in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a member of the Southeastern Conference.
As the No. 4 seed in the SEC men's basketball tournament, held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, they received a double bye to the quarterfinals. There, they defeated Texas, 83–72, to advance to the semifinals, where they secured a 70–65 win over eventual Final Four semifinalist Auburn. In the championship game, they lost to the eventual NCAA champion Florida, 86–77.
Tennessee received a bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region. There, they defeated Wofford, 77–62, in the first round, UCLA, 67–58, in the second round, and SEC rival Kentucky, 78–65, in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year. Just like last year, Tennessee's season once again ended in the Elite Eight with a loss to the eventual runner-up — this time to Houston, 69–50, denying them their first-ever Final Four appearance.
The Tennessee Volunteers drew an average home attendance of 20,026, the 3rd-highest of all college basketball teams.https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div
Previous season
The Volunteers finished the 2023–24 season 27–9, 14–4 in SEC play to finish win the SEC. As the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, they were upset by Mississippi State, 73–56, in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Mid-West Region, where they defeated Saint Peter's, 83–49, in the First Round, Texas, 62–58, in the Second Round, and Creighton, 82–75, in the Sweet Sixteen, to advance to the Elite Eight. There, they were defeated by the eventual runner-up Purdue, 72–66.
Offseason
Departures Departures Jonas Aidoo 0 F 6'11" 240 Junior Durham, North Carolina Transferred to Arkansas Freddie Dilione V 1 G 6'5" 195 RS Freshman Fayetteville, North Carolina Transferred to Penn State Dalton Knecht 3 G 6'6" 213 Fifth year Thornton, Colorado Drafted 17th overall in the 2024 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers Tobe Awaka 11 F 6'8" 250 Sophomore Hyde Park, New York Transferred to Arizona Santiago Véscovi 25 G 6'3" 196 Fifth year Montevideo, Uruguay Exhausted eligiblilty; signed with Baxi Manresa Josiah-Jordan James 30 G 6'7" 220 Fifth year Charleston, South Carolina Declared for the 2024 NBA draft; signed by the Indiana Mad Ants Colin Coyne 35 F 6'9" 238 Senior Fredericksburg, Virginia Graduated; became student assistant coach D. J. Jefferson 44 G 6'5" 209 RS Freshman Richardson, Texas Transferred to Longwood
Incoming transfers Incoming transfers Chaz Lanier 2 G 6'5" 207 Fifth year Nashville, Tennessee North Florida Igor Miličić Jr. 7 F 6'10" 225 Senior Rovinj, Croatia Charlotte Darlinstone Dubar 8 G 6'6" 220 Fifth year Charlotte, North Carolina Hofstra Felix Okpara 34 F 6'11" 235 Junior Lagos, Nigeria Ohio State
Recruiting class
Preseason On October 14, 2024 the SEC released their preseason media poll. Tennessee was picked to finish third in the SEC regular season. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler was named to the First Team All-SEC.
SEC media poll SEC media poll 1 Alabama 2 Auburn 3 Tennessee 4 Arkansas 5 Texas A&M 6 Florida 7 Texas 8 Kentucky 9 Ole Miss 10 Mississippi State 11 South Carolina 12 Georgia 13 Missouri 14 LSU 15 Oklahoma 16 Vanderbilt Source
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=""|Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=""| Non-conference regular season
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Rankings
References