Josiah-Jordan James left his seat and began to exit the stage.

He stopped for a moment, draped his arms around Rick Barnes and rested his head on Barnes' shoulder.

This was among the final, lasting images of James’ five-year career and Tennessee’s historic basketball run, which ended moments before in a 72-66 loss to 1-seed Purdue one game shy of the program’s first ever Final Four.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

The final game played by this Vols’ team was always going to be emotional, whether it ended in the Final Four or not.

A veteran-laden roster that made a lot of memories over the last 4-5 years and a newcomer who made a lifetime more in just four months had reached the end of the road in Detroit on Sunday, short of its ultimate goal but nonetheless memorable.

"I can’t tell you how much and how special this team was for us as a coaching staff to coach," Barnes said. "The tough part is when you know where we started five years ago with Josiah (Jordan James) and Santiago (Vescovi) with a class behind them to where we are today. I think when people think of college basketball, they know that Tennessee is going to be in the fight. The hardest thing is when it ends and we have a special year with a special guy like Dalton (Knecht) coming into the program. Certainly I’ve said no one’s changed our program more than Zakai Zeigler. His DNA has changed everything. That’s the tough part of where we are right now.

"Just a blessing of having a chance to be with a group of guys...I can tell you this, when they look back on it, right now it’s very difficult, but they’ll look back and know they went after it and have no regrets.

In a somber locker room down the hall from the stage where Dalton Knecht had just tried to put into words what his lone season at Tennessee meant, he tried to muster up the words again as he sat in his locker inside the depths of Little Caesars Arena.

Knecht had a lasting impact in a short amount of time, finishing as the SEC Player of the Year and the program's fourth consensus All-American while setting a bevy of other records that will likely stand for a long time.

In his final outing he scored 37 points, displaying the same kind of confidence that helped carry Tennessee through the regular season, but as had been the case after every stellar performance, Knecht talked about his teammates instead.

"All these guys are my brothers for life," Knecht said. "They accepted me for one year and I can't thank them enough that they let me come here and be exactly who I am. All those guys are my brothers."

The memories will linger, as they should.

Any conversation going forward about the best of Tennessee basketball will have to include what the 2023-24 team accomplished: the first outright SEC title in 16 years, just the second Elite Eight run in the history of the program and all of the comebacks and heroic moments that got them there.

Here is a look at the five games that defined this season.

Josiah-Jordan James was no stranger to the moment.

Less than a minute into his fifth trip to Rupp Arena, the fifth-year guard laced a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Tennessee never trailed.

The Vols picked up a key conference road win over rival Kentucky in their quest for the SEC Championship and in the process, proved that they were more than Dalton Knecht, who had averaged 32 points in previous six games.

But on this night in Lexington, it was Tennessee's veterans that headlined a 103-92 victory. James and guard Zakai Zeigler scored 26 points each--a career high for James, while Santiago Vescovi and forward Jonas Aidoo tallied 11 a piece.

The win also insured that James and Vescovi would finish their college careers with a winning record over the Wildcats.

"It means the world (scoring a career-high vs. Kentucky)," James said. "Coming to Tennessee, I took so many visits. I know what this rivalry means to us as a program. There's so much rich history between us. Ending it the way that I did tonight, the way that we were able to tonight...It was a full team effort. It was great to go out that way."

It was starting to slip away.

The momentum in the first game of a daunting final stretch for Tennessee on its SEC title path was shifting towards Auburn in the second half on the Vols' home floor. The Tigers upped their lead to eight as part of a 10-1 run with 12 minutes, 17 seconds left.

Then Knecht took over.

It had almost become routine by that point; the Vols on the ropes and their superstar guard rattling off a commanding stretch to pull them out of a hole. But his performance against Auburn stands out the most.

Knecht hit a three. Then followed it up with a dunk. The run was underway. Knecht scored 11 of his 39 total points in a two-and-half minute span and his 3-pointer with nine minutes, 55 seconds to go erased Tennessee's deficit for good.

The Vols won, 92-84 and their league championship hopes were within reach.

"When I see a shot go in...the basket feels a lot bigger," Knecht said. "My teammates just keep giving me the ball and keep telling me to keep shooting it."

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Josiah-Jordan James notes 'the joy and happiness' of his Vols career

Jonas Aidoo pulled down a dunk and with it, the SEC title was in sight.

Tennessee had just swelled its run to eight unanswered points and led South Carolina by 14 with less than 10 minutes remaining at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. It wouldn't come that easy, though.

The Gamecocks, who had just a month before handed the Vols a shocking loss in Knoxville, clawed their way back, using a a run of their own to pull within three with inside two minutes left.

There was a lot on the line. South Carolina was also vying for the top spot in the league standings as was Auburn and Alabama in the first week of March. If Tennessee was going to win its first SEC Championship in six years and its first outright since 2008, it was going to need another strong close.

Who else but the Vols' defense to deliver?

Tennessee got the stops it needed as the clocked ticked towards the final minute. So important were those stops that Tennessee didn't even make a field goal in the last two minutes of regulation and still won, 66-59 behind some gusty free throws from Aidoo and Vescovi to pull away.

Regardless of what laid ahead, this Tennessee team would finish a momentous campaign with at least one ring.

"There’s no doubt that’s what (the team) wanted to do," Barnes said "It’s a group of guys that came together. (Winning the SEC) is something that they wanted to do...I think we’ve learned from every game."

The questions started before the final buzzer at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

The shooting woes that had plagued previous Tennessee teams in March had shown up again in a surprising loss to Mississippi State that bumped the 1-seed Vols from the conference tournament after just one game.

Tennessee didn't stand much to lose by an early tournament exit except maybe one of the four 1-seeds in the NCAA Tournament the following week. But outside of the program, there may have been some doubts that the Vols finally had the offense needed for a deep run.

In the Round of 32 against 7-seed Texas at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, Tennessee proved it could still win the old fashioned way--the way Rick Barnes even probably prefers.

The Vols shot poorly, just 33.8% from the field and an even more abysmal 12% from three-point range. If Tennessee was going to survive, it would need its defense and it delivered.

Twice in one Longhorns possession did James and Aidoo disrupt the would-be game-tying shot, adding more frustration on a night where the Vols created plenty for Texas on the offensive end.

As Tyrese Hunter's shot missed off the side of the iron, so too did the Longhorns best chance to even the score. Tennessee held on 62-58 after late free throws from Knecht and were heading to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight season.

"We've been through the ringer. We've been through stuff like us," junior guard Jahmai Mashack said. "We've been in big moments in big games. It's nothing new to us, man. This is what we do, man. What (makes) us a great team our tough love. We know how to get on to each other. That's what it takes, game-to-game. That was a crazy game that we just played, but we knew how to handle it. We knew how to stay in the moment, don't think about the future, don't get your feelings involved.

"We're going to get on each other for making mistakes. There were times we did, but we corrected it. We don't stay in that moment...That's what makes us a great team."

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: In Elite Eight defeat, Tennessee basketball gets glimpse of future

Tennessee experienced nearly all of the emotions of March in the span of a few minutes.

The Vols were on the cusp of history in the second half of their Sweet 16 game against 3-seed Creighton last Friday at Little Caesars Arena. In the blink of an eye, Tennessee had turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 20-3 run to lead 55-39 with 14 minutes left in the second half.

The Vols didn't just look they were going to make their second Elite Eight ever, they looked like they were going to do it in emphatic fashion. The frustrations of untimely NCAA Tournament exits appeared to be let out.

The Bluejays didn't go away, though.

A Creighton offense that had plenty of shooting options itself outscored the Vols 13-5 between the 10 and six minute mark and were suddenly back within striking distance.

To the frustration of many teams before, though, Knecht snatched the momentum right back with a three and Tennessee had all the separation it needed to rely on its defense down the stretch and win 82-75 for an Elite Eight berth.

The win did more than just keep the Vols' season alive, it solidified their argument as one of the best teams in program history.

"We just played with confidence like we always do," Knecth said. "We made our shots. We went on that 18-0 run. Just going out there and playing defense, playing physical. We were we just confident shooting our shots, being ready."

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