| Mode: | Basketball |
| Sex: | none |
| Year: | 2019–20 |
| Prev Year: | 2018–19 |
| Next Year: | 2020–21 |
| Team: | Tennessee Volunteers |
| Conference: | Southeastern Conference |
| Short Conf: | SEC |
| Record: | 17–14 |
| Conf Record: | 9–9 |
| Hc Year: | 5th |
| Asst Coach1: | Michael Schwartz |
The 2019–20 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Volunteers were led by fifth-year head coach Rick Barnes.[1] The team played its home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 17–14, 9–9 in SEC play to finish in eighth place. They were set to take on Alabama in the second round of the SEC tournament. However, the remainder of the SEC Tournamament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vols finished the 2018-19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 31–6, 15–3 in SEC play to earn a share of the SEC regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament, they defeated Mississippi State and Kentucky before losing to Auburn in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South region. There the Volunteers defeated Colgate and Iowa in the Second Round before being upset by Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | F | 6'6" | 241 | Graduated; selected 42nd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers | ||||
| 11 | F | 6'11" | 215 | Graduated | ||||
| 12 | G | 6'1" | 177 | Graduated | ||||
| 24 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Graduated | ||||
| 0 | G | 6'3" | 174 | Declared for the NBA draft; selected 57th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans | ||||
| 2 | F | 6'7" | 236 | Declared for the NBA draft; selected 22nd overall by the Boston Celtics | ||||
| 15 | F | 6'8" | 236 | Transferred to Nebraska | ||||
| 32 | F | 6'9" | 272 | Transferred to Winthrop |
In April 2019, associate head coach Rob Lanier was hired as the new head coach at Georgia State.[2] Barnes hired Kim English as a replacement later that month.[3]
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Transferred from Oregon. Under NCAA transfer rules, Bailey will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. | |||
| 34 | C | 7'0" | 240 | Sophomore | Transferred from Arizona State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Plavšić will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
The SEC media poll was released on October 15, 2019.[4]
| Media poll | ||
| 1 | Kentucky | |
| 2 | Florida | |
| 3 | LSU | |
| 4 | Auburn | |
| 5 | Tennessee | |
| 6 | Alabama | |
| 7 | Mississippi State | |
| 8 | Ole Miss | |
| 9 | Georgia | |
| 10 | South Carolina | |
| 11 | Arkansas | |
| 12 | Texas A&M | |
| 13 | Missouri | |
| 14 | Vanderbilt | |
The Volunteers had one player selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.
Second Team
Lamonté Turner
|-!colspan=12 style=|Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=|Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=| SEC Tournament|- style="background:#bbbbbb"| style="text-align:center"|March 12, 2020
1:00 pm, SECN| style="text-align:center"| (8)| vs. (9) Alabama
Second round| colspan=5 rowspan=1 style="text-align:center"|Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[5] | style="text-align:center"|Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN|-
See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings