Tennessee will open its 2023-24 season versus Tennessee Tech on Nov. 6.
Tipoff between the Vols and Golden Eagles is slated for 6:30 p.m. EDT in Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes met with media ahead of the regular-season and discussed progress of sophomore forward Tobe Awaka.
“He is a much different player right now than he was,” Barnes said. “His confidence is totally different, and Tobe was a player that no one ever ran a play for or tried to play through him.”
Barnes discussed playing Awaka and Jonas Aidoo to give Tennessee a better post presence.
“We’ve, obviously, tried doing things with him and Jonas because we think they both have skills that we can take advantage of,” Barnes said. “It’s up to us to put them in positions where they can be effective.
“Tobe’s rebounding is a great talent. It’s something he has an unbelievable passion for. He’s got great instincts for it and there’s not an area that he hasn’t improved in.”
Barnes said Awaka’s experience with Team USA during the summer helped him improve.
“What he did with USA Basketball was a big confidence booster to him, and I think he has an incredible future ahead in basketball for himself because he works so hard,” he said. “It really matters to him and he’s learning a lot of things right now.
“He’s being asked to do some things that we didn’t ask him to do a year ago, but we’re asking him to do more and be more of a force on both ends.”
Awaka appeared in 34 games for Tennessee last season, averaging 3.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 blocks and 0.2 steals per contest.