Tennessee Basketball: James Daniel says goodbye to the Vols

James Daniel saw his prolific college basketball come to a close on Saturday night as a shot from Loyola-Chicago’s Clayton Custer rattled around the rim and fell through the net, sending Tennessee home early from the NCAA Tournament.

The 2015-16 season’s leading scorer in D-1 at Howard averaged 5.6 points and 2.8 assists per game for Tennessee this year in a reserve role. He crossed over the career 2,000 point threshold this season playing for the Vols.

Today, he bids farewell with this Instagram post.

Daniel is the only player that will see his eligibility expire for Tennessee. With just one scholarship currently open, Rick Barnes and his staff are after a couple of guards to fill that void. Of course, that doesn’t mean that’s all the movement we’ll see this offseason.

For Daniel, he provided some veteran leadership to a backcourt that could use it. Both Jordan Bone and Lamonte Turner made more of an impact, but being able to turn to Daniel off the bench was an asset for Rick Barnes.

While he will be missed, it’s time for Bone and Turner to really step up to the plate and be consistent difference-makers from the point guard position. We’ll see if Barnes is able to add another point guard to the picture in the coming months.