When one thinks of the Tennessee basketball program one thinks of great wings being able to fill it up from anywhere.  One would not be mistaken.  The problem is that the Volunteers seemed to have all of their eggs into one basket.  Tennessee features a trio of the finest scorers in college basketball.  Juniors Ernie Grunfield, Bernard King and Sophomore Dale Ellis combine to give the Volunteers one of the most effective offenses in the tough Southeastern Conference. Yes, all three of these kids are wings.  That is great if the small forward and shooting guard position was the whole team but it is not.  There are three other positions on the basketball court and the Volunteers had nowhere near as good as players there.  They weren’t bad players just not to the level of this group.  The Volunteers and Coach Ray Mears never did work out how to get all of these guys on the court together though he tried and the Volunteers who should have competed for the upper echelon of the SEC.  Good but not quite good enough for the fans of Rocky Top.  

Junior Bernard King was heavily recruited from the Big Apple by Mears and this has changed this program.  He is that good.  One of the best offensive players in the country, King has averaged over 20 points and 10 boards both years he has been here.  He can do it all on the court with amazing moves under the basket and a superb mid-range jump shot.  He just has an ability to get his shot off and either make it or get fouled.  He can finish on the break and he can post up seven footers.  King is quite arguably the best player in the SEC and might be the best forward in the south.  He is all of that and a bag of chips. 

Ellis and Grunfield are perfect compliments to the complete game King brings to the table.  Both are incredibly gifted shooters who open up the court for King to do his magic.  Neither has any conscious and will fire up the ball any chance they are given.  The best thing is that it usually goes in and it does not matter what area code it was sent from.  Ellis may be one of the most underrated players in the country playing alongside King and having Grunfield next to him but he is one of the great scorers in the country.  If Ellis was on a lesser team he could easily get twenty a game. He would without question be the primary offensive weapon of 80% of the teams in the country.  Ellis is just that kind of a scorer.  He can flat light it up from behind the arc but is a much more complete player then he is given credit.  Houston, on the other hand, is also a gifted ball handler who can get to the hoop with regularity.    

The supporting cast for the Volunteers is asked to do many things that led to the success of the team.  Defense, rebounding and getting the ball to the scorers were all primary responsibilities of the players who played alongside the trio of scorers.  Senior Tom Boerwinkle is the perfect complimentary center on a team with a multitude of offensive weapons.  Boerwinkle is a no frills monster of a force in the middle.  He does not score a lot but plays solid low post defense, sets tremendous screens and rebounds with the big boys.  He also may be the best passer on the team and got a triple double versus Alabama.  Oh and he goes 7’0 245.  Boerwinkle has solid depth behind him with Seniors Auston ‘Red’ Robbins and ‘Mean ‘ Gene Tormerhlin giving the requisite solid minutes when called upon.  Both are similar players in style to Boerwinkle and love the physical aspects of the game in the paint.  Robbins is also a gifted shooter.  Both were also called on for significant minutes at the power forward position.  Junior Reggie Johnson got most of the minutes at the four spot next to King and tackled his job with the type of attitude that is needed in a power forward.  The Volunteers were a much more physical team than their persona would lead one to believe.  They were not just a team that relied on their big three to score points and hope to win games by outscoring opponents.  Tennessee had as many players who could bang and get physical with opponents as any team in the SEC. 

The point guard position turned out to be the biggest question mark for Coach Mears.  And will be again.  Mears had a carryover of seniors and Juniors vying for the lead Dog but none of them had the athleticism to match up with the Big Dogs of the SEC.  Senior Billy Hahn is the incumbent and has size at 6’3 and can run a team.  He can also defend but is not ultra-quick.  He used to team up with fellow senior Bill Justus in a super old-school back court but the new guys changed that.  Juniors Jimmy England and Johnny Darden will get the first shots.  England is a terrific shooter and can run the show but has problems on defense.  Daden is cat quick and superb passer but cannot hit a 15 footer if he was on fire.  

One player who made a huge impact on the fortunes of the Volunteers was the aforementioned junior forward Ernie Grunfield.  Grunfield is an intelligent player with the heart of a lion who always came in and gave the team a needed lift when they needed.  Tough as nails but with a soft touch for a brute, Grunfield was as much of a team leader as anyone on the team.  Not only did Grunfield do the dirty work but he was a leader on and off the court who probably had as much impact as any of the scoring stars of the Volunteers.  He teamed so well with King (The Ernie and Bernie Show) and the two have bonded so well that Mears kept him in the starting lineup so that they could play together.  The two are tremendous friends and really complement each other well.  Other guys who had productive but limited roles off the bench included senior Ron Widby. Widby is a 6’4 forward who lost his starting role to King as soon as Bernard walked on campus but this multifaceted kid doesn’t mind.  He is also the punter on the football team who hopes to get drafted in the spring.  Fellow Seniors A.W. Davis and Lefty Walther and Sophomore Tony White were in the same boat.  Not the football things, just playing behind the great talent of Ernie and Dale.  Dang, maybe they should have been the combo they promoted, with those names they could have been legends in the south.  These Vols are deep at shooting guard I tell ya. 

The Tennessee Volunteers were a diverse group of offensive superstars and workmanlike role players.  The players ranged in background from the big cities of the east to the small towns of Tennessee.  A healthy offense combined with some physical play led the team to an invite to the NIT where they made a nice run. The NIT should stand for Not in Tennessee so that these Vols quit settling for trips to the backup tourney. This team has the talent to go much further.  Still, the team returns much of their offense and if they can find a little more perimeter defense, they could challenge powerhouse Kentucky for the conference title next year.  We have heard that before in Knoxville.  Time for the boys from Tennessee to step and do what they have to do to get to the next level.