From second-to-last to runner-up, that is the theme of the day for Tennessee basketball at SEC Media day.
The Vols were picked to finish 13th in the SEC a year ago by the media, this time around they're picked to finish second in the conference behind Kentucky.
The expectations for Tennessee hoops has sky-rocketed since capturing a share of the SEC championship. Head coach Rick Barnes joked that the biggest difference between the event on Wednesday and last year's Media Day is that now everyone wants to talk to them.
In terms of how the team is handling those expectations, Barnes made it clear that the team was disappointed with the way they finished the 2018-18 season, upset by No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Since then, he's been challenging his players to get out of their comfort zone.
"We've never believed in putting players in a box," said Barnes. We've asked Jordan Bowden, we've asked Kyle Alexander, Derrick Walker, John Fulkerson, guys that we think can do more."
Vols forwards Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams both earned preseason recognition while representing their team in Birmingham.
Williams was picked to repeat SEC Player of the Year honors and could be the first player to do so since Arkansas' Corliss Williamson won the award in 1994 and 1995.
Williams is coming off a sophomore campaign where he averaged more than 15 points, 6 rebounds and just under two assists per game. He also tallied 44 blocks and 21 steals.
In the past, Coach Barnes has said that the biggest and toughest jump often comes between a player's sophomore and junior season and says Williams has embraced the demands and expectations placed on him.
"We looked at all parts of his game and said, we want you to expand your game and do some different things and I think that's important for him going forward. He's embraced it all and he's worked hard to be better conditions. But, he knows that he can never forget who he has and the kind of player that has been successful. I guess people would can him an undersized post player, he's not that. Grant Williams is a basketball player. He can do a lot of different things on the basketball court."
The men's event wrapped up on Wednesday and the women's teams will take the podium on Thursday.