Editor’s Note: The Insider is a recurring entertainment feature built around publicly available information, informed analysis and educated speculation. It does not claim access to confidential sources inside the Tennessee basketball program, nor should any predictions be interpreted as factual reporting of non-public information.
Everybody is trying to solve Tennessee’s starting lineup like it is a five-man puzzle with one missing piece. My guy tells me the folks inside the program are looking at it a little differently: they’re less worried about the first five and a lot more interested in the last five.
That’s where Jalen Washington changes the conversation.
Before Washington came aboard, the cleanest guess was a smaller, faster lineup built around Terrence Hill Jr., Juke Harris, a shooter, and a mobile frontcourt. It made sense on paper, especially with Tyler Lundblade’s shooting and Jalen Haralson’s ability to cover ground on the wing.
But Washington gives Tennessee something it did not have as clearly before: a true, SEC-tested center who can protect the rim, finish around it and keep a defense from treating the paint like a free-for-all. From what I’m hearing, his arrival didn’t just fill out the roster; it made the staff sit back down and look at some things.
The Washington-DeWayne Brown pairing is one of them.
Now, I can already hear the pushback. “Can they shoot enough?” Fair question. “Can they guard smaller lineups?” Also fair.
But the people around this team do not appear scared of finding out.
Barnes has never been a coach who locks himself into one style because the internet decided it was modern. If Tennessee can own the glass, protect the basket and make life miserable for teams trying to drive, he will live with some ugly possessions here and there.
And let’s be honest: this roster has enough guards and wings that the Vols do not have to play big every night. Hill and Harris are still the two names everybody expects to see first, while Lundblade, Dai Dai Ames and Haralson each give Tennessee different answers depending on what a game calls for.
That’s the point. This is not about declaring Washington and Brown the permanent starting frontcourt in August.
It’s about admitting that the big lineup has moved from “maybe if things get weird” to “we might actually want this.”
My sources tell me Tennessee likes the idea of being able to change the feel of a game without changing its whole identity. One night, that could mean four perimeter players flying around the floor; the next, it could mean Washington and Brown making every rebound a small wrestling match.
The early talk around this team has been all about new faces and whether Barnes can get them to fit. The better question might be whether opponents can prepare for all the ways Tennessee plans to fit them together.
Insider prediction: By the time SEC play gets rolling, the Vols will have at least two different closing lineups that fans trust, and one of them will be a lot bigger than people expect.