What anonymous coaches told ESPN about the No. 1 Tennessee

Chaz Lanier has looked like the star transfer for Tennessee Basketball through the first 11 games of the season. After being the leading scorer in college basketball last season at North Florida, he is averaging 18.9 points per game. game with the Vols while shooting 45.4% from the floor and 47.1% on 85 3-point attempts.

That was one of the biggest takeaways from the Vols as ESPN recently quoted anonymous coaches. Rick Barnes lost Dalton Knechtthe best transfer and one of the best players in the country last season, replacing him without missing a step by adding Lanier.

“(Lanier) picked the perfect spot,” an anonymous trainer told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello“a system that suits him really well. They move him around a lot. He always comes off a pin down, a wobble, which creates shots for him.

“He also makes tough shots, guys draped over him. He makes you pay for a defensive mistake. You counter a screen and don’t chase, he makes you pay.”

Chaz Lanier has scored 17 or more points in 9 of 11 games

Lanier has scored 17 or more points in all but two games this season, including the 19 he scored against Western Carolina in Tennessee’s 84-36 win Tuesday night and the 17 he scored in the 66-64 win at Illinois Saturday.

He scored 26 against Virginia and 25 against Baylor in two wins in the Bahamas at the Baha Mar Championship in November, scored 19 at Louisville in the second game of the season and had 26 against Syracuse and 22 against Miami.

Lanier leads a Tennessee team that has been ranked No. 1 for the past two weeks after a perfect 11-0 start to the season, the program’s best start since the 1999-2000 team also started the season with 11 straight wins.

Tennessee ranked No. 1 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency

Despite the new roster — Lanier is one of three starters Barnes added from the NCAA Transfer Portal, along with stretch forwards Igor Milicic and center Felix Okpara — There has been no failure in the defensive elite standard that Barnes has.

Tennessee is ranked No. 1 in KenPom.com‘s adjusted defensive efficiency yielding just 88.3 points per 100 possessions. The Vols were No. 3 last season, no. 1 two years ago, no. 3 in 2021-22 and no. 5 in 2020-21.

“It always starts with the staff” a coach told ESPN. “Barnes has done a good job of recruiting guys who defend. Guys who move laterally, who have a level of toughness, a level of physicality about them. But he also creates that.

“Their identity is clearly on the defensive side. They have a lot of hard-working guys. Some of the plays they make are scrambling, rotating, blocking shots. They are not a one-effort team. They cover up mistakes.”