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What Rick Barnes said about Freddie Dilione's injury vs. Wofford

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey11/14/23

GrantRamey

Freddie Dilione V
(Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK) Tennessee guard Freddie Dilione V (1) defends Wofford guard Jackson Sivills (0) during an NCAA college basketball game between Tennessee and Wofford at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.

Freddie Dilione V is dealing with a foot injury, according to head coach Rick Barnes, and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning.

Dilione, the redshirt freshman guard, didn’t play in the second half Tuesday night against Wofford after exiting with a limp in the first half. He played two minutes in No. 7 Tennessee 82-61 win before leaving the game with a slight limp.

Barnes said Dilione told Tennessee staffers that he felt a pop in his foot.

Dilione took his left shoe off after getting to the Tennessee bench and later went to the tunnel with team trainers. He wore a boot on his left foot in the second half while sitting at the end of the bench next to team trainer Chad Newman.

“He’s been having problems with the, I would, for the lack of saying it, probably playing with fasciitis,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference, “and he’s been working hard the last couple weeks.

“His arches have been hurting him, 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 Friday. He didn’t play in the game in the second half. 

He had seven points in 16 minutes against Tennessee Tech last week in the season-opening win over Tennessee Tech, going 3-for-5 from the field with three rebounds and three assists.

Freddie Dilione was a four-star prospect out of North Carolina

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.

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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.

Up Next: Maui Invitational

Tuesday’s game was the final tuneup before the Vols go to Honolulu for next week’s Maui Invitational, where they’ll start play in the first round against Syracuse on Monday. The game, the first of three in three days, will start at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN2.

Either No. 3 Purdue or No. 11 Gonzaga will be the opponent the following day. The other half of the eight-team bracket includes No. 1 Kansas playing Chaminade and No. 5 Marquette facing UCLA.

Another road test awaits Tennessee after the Hawaii trip, with a game at North Carolina on November 29 in the first edition of the ACC-SEC Challenge. It’s a 7:15 p.m. ET start on ESPN at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill. 

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