Jordan Gainey feeling 'pretty comfortable' as a point guard possibility for Tennessee basketball

The turnover total wasn’t listed in the Tennessee box score after the Vols beat A.S. Stella Azzurra Monday in Rome. But the Vols were credited with 19 steals and, with each one, the same process would play out.

The Tennessee player that had the ball in his hands after forcing the turnover would push it up the floor, either on the run or with an outlet pass, as the Vols looked to score in transition and play uptempo basketball. 

Included in the mix was junior guard Jordan Gainey, the USC Upstate transfer who has spent the summer working on his point guard skills after staying put at shooting guard earlier in his career.

“The thing with how we play and the things we’ve been working on here in practice,” Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey, Jordan’s father, said before the Vols left for their 10-day trip through Italy, “it’s important for all of our guards to be able to handle the basketball, for all of our guards to be able to push the break and know what to do from that point guard position.”

Jordan Gainey played team-high 68 minutes during three Italian exhibition games

Jordan Gainey appeared to give the Vols what the Tennessee coaching staff was looking for during the three Italian exhibitions. He played a team-high 68 minutes, 14 seconds, averaging just over 22 minutes per game.

He scored 38 points over the three games, had seven assists and four steals, against four turnovers. He shot 39.3% (13-33) from the field and 39.1 percent (9-23) from the 3-point line during the trip.

Gainey had 12 points in just under 24 minutes against the Lithuania U21 national team on Friday, 13 points in 21 minutes against the Lithuanians on Saturday then 13 more points against A.S. Stella Azzurra on Monday. 

“I was pretty comfortable,” Gainey said of his point guard play on Saturday, after the 116-90 win over Lithuania. “Really just being able to get everyone involved, make sure everyone gets where they’re needed and we’re in the right spots. Just trying to get a great feel of everything going on.”

It was what Gainey did on the defensive end that helped him settle in and stay on the floor.

“He was really on the ball at the point of attack, using his length,” Justin Gainey said. “Getting his hands on balls, deflections, a couple steals. And that’s what we need from that position. At the point of attack, you’ve got to be pesky, you’ve got to be disruptive. I thought he came in and did a good job of that.”

‘At Upstate, they just needed him to score and be a volume shooter, scorer’

Gainey piled up offensive numbers during his two seasons at USC Upstate, averaging 14.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from the 3-point line. 

In 32 games last season he averaged 15.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.7 minutes per game, shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from the 3-point line. 

As a freshman in 2021-22, Gainey shot 47.1 percent from the field and 49.3 percent from the 3-point line and was named the Big South Freshman of the Year. He made 74 of 150 3-point attempts as a freshman and 70 of 203 as a sophomore.

Justin Gainey said Jordan’s work at point guard this summer is about adding versatility to his game and giving the Vols another ball-handling option in the backcourt, alongside Freddie Dilione V, Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, Jahmai Mashack and others as the team awaits the return of Zakai Zeigler from his torn ACL.

“That’s something (Jordan) can do and he showed he can do,” Justin Gainey said. “At Upstate, they just needed him to score and be a volume shooter, scorer. So, I think he’s settling in nicely to that role and he’s just, as all our guards, being prepared to play all guard positions because as you know last year when Zakai went down, we had to rely on different guys to handle the ball and I think we did a great job with that, with Jahmai stepping up, with Josiah being able to step up and obviously Santi. 

“So the more and more ball-handlers we can have, the more guys can kind of assume that point guard responsibility, the better.”