Tennessee basketball will face same hurdles in LSU as it did with Kentucky

Tennessee and LSU will be playing for first place in the SEC on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. But the basketball teams near the bottom of the standings should be encouraged by the matchup.

Remember where UT and LSU were just two years ago? Hint: It wasn't near the top of the conference.

Tennessee was 16-16 overall and 8-10 in the SEC in 2016-17 – Rick Barnes' second season as coach. LSU was in far worse shape. The Tigers lost 21 of 31 games and were 2-16 in the SEC.

The transformation of the two programs has been dramatic. And it reminds the rest of the league just how fast things can change for the better. 

It also reminds them there's more than one path leading from the bottom or middle of the league to the top.

Barnes has succeeded by signing three-star recruits and helping turn them into four-star players. After his first two seasons at Tennessee, he had a record of 31-35. However, his third team went 26-9 and tied for the SEC regular-season championship. This team has been even better.

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The Vols are 24-2 overall and 12-1 in the SEC. They were ranked No. 1 for four weeks before Kentucky beat them 86-69 on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.  

Their success is tied to back-to-back recruiting classes. In 2015, UT signed three-star players Lamonte Turner, Admiral Schofield and Kyle Alexander. In 2016, it added three more significant three-star recruits: Jordan Bone, Grant Williams and Jordan Bowden.

Those six players are the biggest reason Tennessee is contending for another conference championship and is also in the running for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. 

LSU (21-5, 11-2) has progressed even faster than the Vols in two seasons under coach Will Wade, who has recruited some of the top players in the country. His 2018 class included five-star recruits Naz Reid and Emmitt Williams, plus four-star recruits Darius Days and Javonte Smart. 

In his first season, Wade signed Tremont Waters, who quickly became one of the nation's premier point guards. Wade also added Oregon transfer Kavell Bigby-Williams (6-foot-11, 250 pounds), who is a native of London, England.

The recruiting of both Barnes and Wade has paid off. Barnes signed less-heralded recruits who fit his system and could handle tough coaching. Wade's five- and four-star players have performed up to their recruiting ranking.

As a result, the Tennessee-LSU matchup shapes up similarly to Saturday's game between Tennessee and Kentucky. The Vols have the advantage in experience and with their four-guard rotation on the perimeter. But like Kentucky, which overwhelmed the Vols by 17 points, LSU's strength inside could pose problems for UT.

Reid (6-10, 250) is a force inside as a scorer and rebounder, but he also has made 38.1 percent of his 3-point tries. Like Reid, fellow freshman Smart is scoring in double figures.

Four LSU players are scoring at least 10 points a game, but four others can score in double figures on any given night. For example, in the victory over Kentucky, Emmitt Williams came off the bench to score 12 points in 19 minutes.

You know what that means. UT's Grant Williams will need more help in the post from Alexander and backups John Fulkerson and Derrick Walker.

The teams far below Tennessee and LSU in the SEC standings shouldn't be concerned about such matters, though. Instead, they should see two talented teams contending for a championship and remember that just two years ago neither one had a winning record.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

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