Breaking down how much production Tennessee basketball is losing, returning
Tennessee basketball has a much firmer look at what its roster will look like next season with the transfer portal window closed.
The Vols will return a large group of players while others will depart due to a lack of eligibility and the choice to transfer.
Here's what Tennessee is statistically returning and losing ahead of the 2024-25 season.
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POINTS
Nearly half of the Vols scoring from a year ago is out of eligibility. The veteran squad that went to the Elite Eight had 46.1% of its points on the year scored by players who can't return.
This was led by Dalton Knecht who dropped 27.5% of all points scored for Tennessee that year. Behind him, Josiah-Jordan James and Santiago Vescovi combined for 18.4% of points scored.
The Vols' second leading scorer will be back, though. Zakai Zeigler was responsible for 15% of points scored a year ago and is returning for his senior year. Transferring out is production from both Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka. The pair of bigs combined to score 20.8% of Tennessee's points.
REBOUNDS
Where Tennessee is taking the biggest blow in lack of returning production is rebounding. The Vols' pair of center transfers in Aidoo and Awaka are taking 32.8% of the team's rebounds with them.
James, Knecht and Vescovi also did a good job on the boards. The trio of seniors were responsible for 17.7%, 13.6% and 9.9% of rebounds a year ago.
The Vols will return 24.9% of their rebounding. This is led by Jahmai Mashack who pulled down 8.6% of the team's rebounds last season. Zeigler and Jordan Gainey are behind him with 7.8% and 4.8% of the rebounding.
ASSISTS
The Vols aren't losing much of its playmaking. With Zeigler returning, that includes 36.3% of its assists from last season. Mashack and Gainey also contributed a combined 15% to help boost the total percent of returning assists to 53.8%.
There will be some production missing from the players who are out of eligibility, though. Vesovi tallied the second-highest mark on the team with 14.3% while James and Knecht were both also over 10%.
There isn't much leaving from the transfers, though. Aidoo notched 5.8% while Freddie Dilione V reached 2.3% in limited time. Awaka didn't contribute much at just 1.5%.
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