Freshman power forward Tobe Awaka starting to 'impose his will' for No. 8 Tennessee

Julian Phillips saw all he needed to see from Tobe Awaka not long after the two got to campus. Tennessee basketball’s 6-foot-8, 250-pound freshman forward couldn’t be moved. Phillips, his five-star teammate on the wing, knew Awaka was going to make his presence known in the paint.

“After playing with him (in) the runs we were doing during the summer,” Phillips said on Friday, “I kind of knew he was really strong for his age. A lot of guys can’t really move him around. I knew he was a guy that could impose his will on the court.”

Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee’s sophomore point guard and Awaka’s former AAU teammate, saw it firsthand, too, back when the two were playing in New York.

“He was always that bruiser,” Zeigler said. “He was going to rebound the ball, he was going to do something even if it was foul somebody.”

Midway through his freshman season, Awaka is already doing plenty for the Vols. He scored a season-high nine points in the 87-53 win over Mississippi State on Tuesday, two games removed from grabbing a season-high 11 rebounds against Austin Peay on December 28. 

Rick Barnes on Tobe Awaka: ‘He’s coming along quicker than I might have thought’

Awaka is averaging 6.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 12.6 minutes over his last five games. He averaged just 5.4 minutes over his first seven appearances of the season, totaling eight points and 20 rebounds.

“I told him on his recruitment,” Zeigler said, “that this is the best place for you. We fit your style of play, not so much that you fit us, but we fit you. 

“To see him out there on the court doing what I’ve been seeing him do for a year, two years now, it’s a really good feeling.”

It’s a feeling the eighth-ranked Vols (12-2, 2-0 SEC) want to keep going at South Carolina (7-7, 0-1) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: SEC Network) at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

Awaka’s increase in minutes started in the win over Maryland in New York on December 11, when he was forced into a season-high 17 minutes while sophomore center Jonas Aidoo missed the game with flu-like symptoms. Awaka scored seven points and had eight rebounds in his first meaningful minutes of the season. 

He played 17 more minutes against Austin Peay, going 3-for-5 from the field, scoring six points to go with his 11 rebounds. He played 16 on Tuesday, scoring his nine points on 4-for-5 shooting against Mississippi State. 

What Awaka is doing in games is what he’s proven he can do, and do consistently, in practice. For Rick Barnes, that’s where minutes are earned. That’s where trust is earned from the Tennessee coaching staff.

“I’ve seen it in practice,” Barnes said on Friday, “that’s where you see it, and what he does. You go back, what he did, he earned our confidence because what we saw him do every day in practice.”

Up Next: No. 8 Tennessee at South Carolina, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The work ethic that his veteran teammates bring to practice, Barnes said, has been matched by Awaka during his first season with the Vols. 

“You see how hard Santi (Vescovi) and Zakai and Josiah (Jordan James) and Jahmai Mashack go every day,” Barnes said. “Well, that’s what Tobe does every day. And when a guy goes like that, it’s just a matter of getting him in the right games at the right time. 

“When we put him in the games, we weren’t even sure at times — the Maryland game — what he would do at that point in time. He was ready for the opportunity. He took advantage of it. 

“From that point on,” Barnes added, “we knew that he would be a factor and we would have find a way to make sure that he’s involved every game.”

And this is just the start. Awaka, according to Barnes, is more skilled than he even knows. And he’s making a name for himself faster than the coach expected.

“He’s coming along quicker than I might have thought,” Barnes said. 

Especially with seniors Olivier Nkamhoua and Uros Plavsic, along with Aidoo, ahead of him on the depth chart.

“He came into a situation with three older guys in front of him,” Barnes said. “He kept working, kept competing. He’s earned the opportunity and all the good things are happening to him. 

“His line the other night, I told our post guys, I would take it every night. Nine points and six rebounds. If we could get that from all those guys, we would be pretty good.”