Rick Barnes updates the status of injured Tennessee guard Freddie Dilione V
Rick Barnes still doesn’t have a definitive timetable for guard Freddie Dilione V, who has been out since November 14 while dealing with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left foot. What he does know is Tennessee will take its time with the injury.
“I think it’s day-to-day,” Barnes said before Tennessee’s practice Monday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena. “We got back (from Hawaii), he didn’t do do anything with us (in practice). We gotta get him healthy. That’s a tough one. If you don’t get it fixed, it, it’ll linger all year. And we don’t want that.
“We’re still in November and we got a long way to go. So we gotta make sure we get him totally healthy and before we can get him back out there.”
No. 10 Tennessee (4-2) plays at No. 17 North Carolina (5-1) on Wednesday (7:15 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) in the ACC/SEC Challenge game at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
DIlione was injured in the first half against Wofford on November 14 at Thompson-Boling Arena. He was ruled out for the Maui Invitational last week just before the Vols opened the tournament with a 73-56 win over Syracuse.
Barnes said during a Zoom press conference before the Maui tournament described the injury as a “partial tear” in the plantar fascia.
“I think it varies on the degree that it’s partially torn,” Barnes said. “Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you. That’s what I remember them telling me about it.”
Freddie Dilione V exited in the first half against Wofford
Dilione didn’t play in the second half against Wofford after exiting with a limp in the first half. He played two minutes before leaving the game. Barnes said after the game that Dilione told Tennessee staffers that he felt a pop in his foot.
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“His arches have been hurting him,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference, “and he just said he felt like something popped and we actually had a MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning anyway so it comes at a good time. He’ll be able to get it (MRI) early in the morning and we’ll see.”
Dilione was scoreless in three minutes in the 80-70 win at Wisconsin on November 10. He didn’t play in the game in the second half. He had seven points in 16 minutes against Tennessee Tech in the season-opening win on November 6, going 3-for-5 from the field with three rebounds and three assists.
Up Next: No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 17 North Carolina, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
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.
He finished his high school career in January, leaving to enroll early in Knoxville to start his career at Tennessee.
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.
