Ad Disclosure
Optimism is high for the Tennessee basketball program heading into the 2021-22 season, thanks in large part to a 6-man recruiting class that is considered among the best in the nation.
Jonas Aidoo (6-11, 230), Kennedy Chandler (6-0, 172), Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 235), Quentin Diboundje (6-5, 206), Jahmai Mashack (6-4, 192), and Handje Tamba (6-11, 212) are the incoming freshmen for Rick Barnes’ Volunteers, a group that was rated third nationally by 247Sports.
Those 6 will also be joined by Justin Powell, who heads to Knoxville after 1 season at Auburn. The 6-6, 185-pound Powell was widely considered one of the best available transfers in the the NCAA portal this past spring, and he picked Tennessee over programs such as Gonzaga, Louisville and Virginia.
While Volunteers fans are excited to see this group on the floor this coming season, they also now know what number each of the 7 newcomers will be wearing, as the new jersey numbers were tweeted out by the school’s sports information staff on Monday.
The new guys, numerically speaking ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/McEMVfyVPO
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) August 23, 2021
The newcomers went for low numbers for the most part with Aidoo choosing No. 0, Huntley-Hatfield choosing No. 2, Diboundje choosing No. 3, and Chandler, considered by most observers to be the jewel of the class selecting No. 1. Rounding out the numbers for the newcomers will be Mashack wearing No. 15, Powell wearing no. 24, and Tamba wearing No. 32.
Tennessee, which is coming off an 18-9 season, has been tabbed by ESPN as the No. 17 team in the country in in its ‘Way Too Early” rankings for 21-22.
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
