The 2025–26 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by eleventh-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 (SEC).
This was the third consecutive season that Tennessee has made it to the Elite Eight. Prior to the 2024 season, they had only made it one other time.
Previous season The Volunteers finished the 2024–25 season 30–8, 12–6 in SEC play to finish in fourth place. 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 in 2024, 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.
Offseason Departures Departures Chaz Lanier 2 G 6'5" 207 Graduate Student Nashville, TN Graduated/2025 NBA draft; selected 56th overall by Detroit Pistons Zakai Zeigler 5 G 5'9" 172 Senior Long Island, NY Graduated, signed with Nanterre 92 Igor Miličić Jr. 7 F 6'10" 225 Senior Rovinj, Croatia Graduated/undrafted in 2025 NBA draft; signed with the Philadelphia 76ers Darlinstone Dubar 8 G 6'6" 220 Graduate Student Charlotte, NC Transferred Jordan Gainey 11 G 6'4" 190 Senior Tucson, AZ Graduated Jahmai Mashack 15 G 6'4" 202 Senior Fontana, CA Graduated/2025 NBA draft; selected 59th overall by Memphis Grizzlies Ben Linnemeyer 35 G 6'6" 205 Freshman Columbia, MO Walk-on; transferred to Harding Cameron Carr 43 G 6'6" 189 Sophomore Eden Prairie, MN Transferred to Baylor Zakai Zeigler initially pursued a federal judiciary appeal for an exemption to the NCAA's new eligibility rules in an attempt to play a fifth season of Division I basketball in a five-year span, but withdrew the appeal on July 1, 2025.
Incoming transfers Incoming transfers Ja'Kobi Gillespie 0 G 6'1" 188 Senior Greeneville, TN Maryland Jaylen Carey 23 F 6'8" 267 Junior Southwest Ranches, FL Vanderbilt Amaree Abram 77 G 6'3" 200 Senior Port Arthur, TX Louisiana Tech
Recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
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!colspan=9 style=""| Non-conference regular season
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For the third straight season, the team sold out all 14,500 season tickets.
Rankings
References