ESPN projects Tennessee basketball's next first-round pick in the NBA Draft
Freddie Dilione V is sticking as a first-round projection in ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft, with Tennessee’s redshirt freshman point guard slotted at No. 24 overall to the Boston Celtics by ESPN NBA Draft analyst and DraftExpress co-founder Jonathan Givony.
Givony updated his mock draft on Friday, with G League Ignite small forward Ron Holland projected to go No. 1 overall, ahead of USC point guard Isaiah Collier.
Dilione was a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class out of Word of God Christian Academy in Fayetteville, N.C. He’s was ranked No. 44 overall prospect nationally according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was ranked No. 3 among shooting guards and No. 1 in the state of North Carolina.
Freddie Dilione: 4-Star SG, No. 44 On3 Industry Ranking, No. 3 SG, No. 1 NC
He finished his high school career in January, leaving to enroll early in Knoxville to start his career at Tennessee.
“It helped me get so far ahead,” Dilione told Volquest in March. ‘G’ (Garrett Medenwald), the strength coach, got my body right. Coach (Rick) Barnes got my mental right, just learning the game of basketball. I think I’ll just be so far ahead.”
“I think it’s huge, I do,” Barnes said back in January. “You look, (enrolling early has) been going on in football forever. The fact that he and his family decided they wanted to do it. I think it’s going to really help him a lot. Gives him a big head start on things.”
Five-star freshman wing Julian Phillips became Tennessee’s latest NBA Draft pick back in June, when he was selected at No. 35 overall, going in the second round to the Chicago Bulls.
He became the seventh Tennessee player to get drafted during the Rick Barnes era at Tennessee, following Grant Williams, Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone in 2019, Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer in 2021 and Kennedy Chandler in 2022.
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‘I’m just a natural bucket-getter. Scoring comes easy to me’
Dilione should be relied on heavily by Tennessee in the backcourt this season as a versatile piece for the Vols, with the ability to play both on the ball and off. He started playing point guard in 10th grade after growing up off the ball, but describes himself as being ready for either role.
“I’m just a natural bucket-getter,” Dilione said back in March. “Scoring comes easy to me.”
During Tennessee’s three exhibition games in Italy in August, Dilione played 66 minutes, 19 seconds. He scored 33 points and had 16 assists to go with seven steals and six turnovers. He went 13-for-33 from the field, 3-for-13 from the 3-point line and 4-for-6 at the free-throw line.
He said back in the spring that he’s comfortable both on and off the ball in the backcourt and is willing to play wherever the Tennessee coaching staff wants him.
“Very comfortable,” Dilione said of playing on the ball. “As I got older, and bigger and stronger, my handles got better. I got way more comfortable.”
“Wherever Coach (Barnes) puts me at,” he added. “I can handle the ball, I can play off the ball, too. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”
