Last night, Julian Phillips was selected 36th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. Recent trade news has him pinned to end up in Chicago with the Bulls. He was the lone former Tennessee Volunteer representative to be selected last night. The Phillips pick also continued a streak of now three years with a Vol picked. He is also the tenth Tennessee player drafted into the NBA since 2013.
However, there has been a ton of success with Tennessee in the NBA Draft ever since head coach Rick Barnes took over the program in 2015. T o put it in perspective, the Tennessee Volunteer basketball program has had 16 basketball players selected in the NBA draft since 1993. Nearly half of those players (7) have come in the era in which Barnes has been coaching. Three of those seven players were picked in the first round. The success under coach Barnes began with the 2019 NBA Draft. This saw three players get picked, starting with Grant Williams (22nd overall, Boston Celtics), followed by Admiral Schofield (42nd overall, Philadelphia 76ers) and then concluded with Jordan Bone getting picked (57th overall, New Orleans Pelicans). Schofield was traded later to the Washington Wizards.
The Vols saw more players go in 2021. They had two first-rounders in Keon Johnson (21st pick) and Jaden Springer (28th pick), who went to the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively. Johnson was later traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. This draft marked the first time the Vols have had multiple first-round picks in the same draft since 1977, when Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld were selected. The past two drafts (2022 and 2023) have seen one Tennessee player get drafted. Kennedy Chandler was elected by the San Antonio Spurs in 2022 and then later traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. And, of course, Phillips became the 7th to get drafted under the tenure of Barnes in Knoxville. Tennessee has a rich history in the NBA Draft. In particular, the success in recent years under coach Barnes has put the Volunteers on the map as a prime NBA Draft hub.
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