Tennessee basketball continues its positive trajectory ahead of the 2023-24 season.

After a busy month of April in the transfer portal in which the Vols landed Harvard forward Chris Ledlum and Northern Colorado forward Dalton Knecht and announced the return of leading scorer Santiago Vescovi, the perception is that Tennessee is primed for a strong run after finishing in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 this past season.

Jeff Borzello seems to think so, too.

The ESPN college basketball analyst gave the Vols high marks in his latest Way-Too-Early Top 25 on Monday.

Tennessee made a big jump from No. 17 to inside the top 10 at No. 7.

"Tennessee is certainly one of the biggest portal winners of the offseason thus far, landing Jordan Gainey (South Carolina Upstate), Chris Ledlum (Harvard) and Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado), while also getting All-SEC guard Santiago Vescovi back for another year," Borzello wrote. "The Volunteers should have more perimeter pop than they've had the past few seasons, combined with what should be an elite defense when Zakai Zeigler is healthy."

Tennessee guard Josiah-Jordan James, forward Julian Phillips, forward Olivier Nkamhoua and forward Uros Plavsic all declared for the NBA Draft while retaining the option to return for another season, but Rick Barnes addressed needs in the front court with Ledlum and Knecht to go along with Tobe Awaka and Jonas Aidoo who are both set to return after productive seasons.

Zakai Zeigler, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear late last season is also be back after averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 assists per game.

Guard Jahmai Mashack will be back following an impressive second half of his sophomore season. He filled a void with ongoing injuries to the lineup and excelled as a defender while developing as a scorer on the offensive end.

Tennessee's 2023-24 schedule is still in development. The Vols are slated to play non-conference games against Wisconsin and Illinois and in the Maui Invitational in November.

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