High praise.
Add Dennis Gates to the growing list of coaches who believe Tennessee could win a National Championship. From the very beginning of the season, Tom Izzo kicked off the praise following a scrimmage in East Lansing. Since then, several others have followed.
Missouri’s head coach agrees after the Volunteers took care of business on Tuesday night in Columbia.
“What a great, great team we played tonight,” Gates said after the game. “Unbelievable team. I think Rick Barnes’s best team he’s ever had. They’re well balanced. They have everything you need. That’s characteristics of a national championship team.”
It wasn’t a pretty night for Tennessee, either. Neither Dalton Knect or Zakai Zeigler had it early, but some key post play and second chance points from Tobe Awaka and Jonas Aidoo kept the Vols alive. And then Knecht got rolling, and it was all over with.
It was a team effort, and a nice reminder of the multiple ways Tennessee can win.
“They have inside play, they have depth, they have shooting, they have a potential national player of the year, great point guard, assist-to-turnover ratio and they have veterans,” Gates said. “So when you look at their program, you look at where they are compared to last year, they’re healthy, right?”
Gates, of course, was referencing the injury to Zakai Zeigler at the end of last year. Gates and Missouri were able to take advantage of his absence, downing Tennessee in last year’s SEC Tournament. The Zeigler injury particularly hurt when a clear path opened up to the Final Four after Tennessee’s win over Duke. However, the Vols ran into a hot FAU team, and badly needed their sparkplug in that contest.
“I think Zakai Zeigler, his injury last season impacted their progress in the tournament, but they’re healthy now and they’re doing a great job,” Gates commented.
Once again, this team is just different. There are a ton of pieces and ways they can beat you, anchored of course by the usual lights-out defense. But Dalton Knecht takes them to another level. Honestly, that Missouri game on Tuesday night is one this group loses last year. Having that guy on the roster that can take over in big spots is exactly what Rick Barnes has been missing since Grant and Admiral left.
Tennessee still has a lot of business to tend to over the next few weeks. They finish with a tough stretch — Texas A&M, Auburn, at Alabama, at South Carolina and Kentucky. That all coming before the SEC Tournament. Tennessee is going to have a chance to earn their first No. 1 seed in school history, but it certainly won’t be easy.
Regardless of what happens, come March, this will be Barnes’ best shot to do some real damage in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.