Tennessee basketball brought in three true freshmen for the 2023-24 season.
The group of J.P. Estrella, Cameron Carr and Cade Phillips didn't see much playtime during tight contests, but used the year to learn and develop.
This resulted in a fair amount of trust being formed by the NCAA Tournament and heading into their sophomore campaigns.
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In games where none of the trio saw the floor, head coach Rick Barnes still had tasks for them. While they took in the game from the bench, he would ask each player what they learned that night.
This is something Barnes has done with all of his young players. This group was able to take a front row seat to one of the best teams in program history, though.
"I used to ask Cam after almost every game, what’d you learn today? What’d you learn? And I’m telling you what I respected about him and Cade, like Cade would make the comment, 'I realize you don’t have to do something every time you get the ball.' Cam would say to me along with the other guys, 'So much harder than you think.' And the fact that when you watch those guys play as hard as they play for as long as they play, he made the comment you can’t know that until you watch it and see it every day."
These lessons were applied throughout the season. Ultimately, this even led to time on the court in critical situations. In the Vols' Elite Eight appearance, Barnes opted to use Estrella at center instead of the typical starter Jonas Aidoo.
This paid off as Estrella gave Tennessee a burst that he likely wouldn't have been able to give at the beginning of the year.
Now, there's a hope these players will continue to step forward with their sophomore seasons on the horizon.
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"I’ve watched (Carr) elevate his play all through the season. I’ve watched all of them do that," said Barnes. "And again, we’re excited about those guys and we think that those are the guys that we know are gonna make giant steps forward because of what they went through this year, what they got to see up close and personal, the physicality of it. Once you get into the tournament, the league play, the intensity on every possession, all that. It’s something that you can talk about it, you can talk about it to everybody, but until they actually are a part of it and see it, I’m not sure they understand it until they go through it. And that’s where these younger guys understand what they really know what they’re getting into."
With the transfer portal window closed, the Vols are getting a clearer look at their roster. They have lost Aidoo and Tobe Awaka in the post while Freddie Dilione V and DJ Jefferson have left the backcourt reserves.
Coming in are Felix Okpara and Igor Milicic Jr. in the post and Darlinstone Dubar who projects as a wing. Bishop Boswell also will join the team as a four-star freshman guard.
There are other players with projections of joining Tennessee's roster by the time next year starts, but this trio of freshman will still be counted on to fill holes. Barnes takes an objective look at his roster and wants to put together pieces that compliment each other.
"It’s all evaluation about our program," said Barnes. "And again, we’re building a roster. I mean, when you build a roster, you’re trying to do everything to complement who you have. And so our evaluation is really important. You know, we’ve built out the program that we use that helps us to get started with it, but it still goes back to our eyes and our field and talking to a lot of people getting the intel that we need. But it’s constructing a roster and it’s all based on putting the team together that really complements each other."
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