Look: College basketball analyst Evan Miyakawa's roster outlook for Tennessee
Tennessee Basketball should be ranked between No. 18 and No. 26 entering the 2025-26 season, with a roster led by transfer point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, returning center Felix Okpara and five-star freshman small forward Nate Ament.
That’s the roster outlook provided by college basketball analyst Evan Miyakawa at EvanMiya.com. Miyakawa has the ranking range for the Vols between No. 12 and No. 19 on defense and No. 22 and No. 32 on offense.
“Tennessee’s roster features an interesting mix of veterans and younger players with considerable potential,” Miyakawa wrote. “The biggest win for the Vols this offseason was acquiring transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie from Maryland, the third-best player in the portal, according to EvanMiya.com.”
Ja’Kobi Gillespie is highest-rated player on Tennessee roster
Gillespie is Miyakawa’s highest-rated player on roster with an Overall Bayesian Performance Rating of 6.68. Gillespie offensive rating is 4.48 and his defensive rating is 2.20.
Okpara is next, with a 4.08 overall rating (1.98 offense, 2.10 defense) and Ament is third at 4.05 (2.30 offense, 1.75 defense). There’s a considerable drop-off from there, with rising junior forward Cade Phillips fourth at 2.86 overall (1.60 offense, 1.26 defense).
“Along with Felix Okpara,” Miyakawa added, “Gillespie will provide some much-needed experience to pair with Tennessee’s exciting young talent, headlined by freshman phenom Nate Ament. The Roster Outlook tool says that this roster would typically have a preseason ranking between 18th and 26th.”
The Vols didn’t lose any players to the NCAA Transfer Portal, but return just four scholarship players in Okpara, JP Estrella, Cade Phillips and Bishop Boswell.
Gillespie, Amaree Abram and Jaylen Carey, the power forward from Vanderbilt, were Tennessee’s three NCAA Transfer Portal additions during the spring. The Vols also signed five prep prospects in their 2025 class, headlined by Ament and ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 4 in the SEC.
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Along with Ament, Tennessee signed four-star guard Amari Evans, four-star center Dewayne Brown II, three-star guard Clarence Massamba and three-star point guard Troy Henderson.
Miyakawa’s ratings had Carey (2.62) behind Phillips (2.86). Then it’s Evans (1.58), Estrella (1.33), Brown (1.31), Abram (0.55), Henderson (0.35) and Boswell (-0.01).
Vols ranked No. 23 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25
ESPN’s updated Way-Too-Early Top 25 for next season has Tennessee at No. 23 overall.
“Tennessee has been busy reloading the roster,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote, “with top-five recruit Nate Ament and Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie representing two of the most impactful newcomers for any team in the country.”
Ament is the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 class in the On3 ratings. He’s a consensus five-star prospect and is ranked as the No. 2 small forward in the class and the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia.
“Ament has incredible long-term upside,” Borzello wrote, “while Gillespie was among the best point guards in college basketball this past season. Louisiana Tech transfer Amaree Abram also adds shooting.”
