The votes have all been tallied, and after a month of debate and analysis, we proudly present RockyTopTalk's Tennessee Basketball All-Decade Team.
The five starters were the winners of four rounds of voting, one for each position plus the automatic inclusion of one Chris Lofton. The rest of the 12-man lineup is comprised of those who received the highest percentage of remaining votes. You can check out all of our analysis at each position and see the voting breakdown for point guard, perimeter players not named Chris Lofton, post players, and the five spot.
STARTING LINEUP
PG CJ Watson (2003-2006)
- Second Team All-SEC 2006
- 2nd all-time UT history in assists and steals
- Career Avg: 12.0 points, 4.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals
- Averaged 9.5 PPG for Golden State this season
SG Chris Lofton (2005-2008)
- 2007 SEC Player of the Year
- First Team All-SEC 2006, 2007, 2008
- Second Team All-American 2007, 2008
- SEC all-time leader in three pointers made
- 4th all-time UT history in points
- 3rd all-time UT history in steals
- Career Avg: 16.6 points, 42.4% 3PT
SF JaJuan Smith (2005-2008)
- Second Team All-SEC 2008
- 3rd all-time UT history in three pointers made
- 4th all-time UT history in steals
- Career Avg: 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds
PF Ron Slay (2000-2003)
- 2003 SEC Player of the Year
- First Team All-SEC 2003
- Highest UT Season Scoring Avg of Decade (21.2 PPG - 2003)
- Career Avg: 14.4 points, 5.9 rebounds
C Wayne Chism (2007-present)
- Second Team All-SEC 2009
- Career Avg: 10.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.0 blocks
Bench and more after the jump...
BENCH
- PG Tony Harris (1998-2001)
- G Scooter McFadgon (2004-2005)
- G/F Dane Bradshaw (2004-2007)
- F Vincent Yarbrough (1999-2002)
- F Tyler Smith (2008-present)
- F/C CJ Black (1997-2000)
- F/C Brandon Crump (2002-2005)
It's interesting to look at this team - the lineup is certainly solid, and could compete with any group from the SEC this decade. However, it's not loaded with NBA talent...because the only Vol to really succeed at the highest level this decade is CJ Watson. So while the Vols certainly made strides this decade and had some great SEC players...the overall talent level still has room to grow.
We'll have more to discuss on this chapter of Tennessee Basketball history, in what was arguably the best decade of UT Basketball we've ever seen. But the games and performances that made this decade great were carried on the shoulders of these 12 players...a solid group that helped resurrect the program and move Tennessee Basketball forward.